Outdoor Ontario
Birding Reports => Toronto Reports => Topic started by: Soaring Hawk on May 31, 2010, 08:29:30 PM
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So I took the ferry to go birding near the airport and Hanlan's Point on the toronto islands this weekend. Since my area of expertise for birding is with the raptors, understanding
Their hunting habits is a good tool for keeping tabs on the species population, health, and wherabouts.
I was so stunned yet intrigued to stumble accross the "crimescene" lol and evidence of a owl hunt that occured the night before on the beach.
I found a large whitish grey wing sitting in the sand, along with another wing and scattered black, white, and grey feathers nearby. The wing was
Close to the size of a canada goose. I was able to positively identify them as Black-Crowned Night Heron remains.
I was worried at first that maybe someone's dog had attacked the heron, or even a fox or coyote...... But to my surprise as
I was further investigating the scene, I spotted three Plumes from a Great-Horned owl mixed in with the random heron covert feathers
On the ground.....
So from the physical evidence left behind, I was able to determine that the habitat wad healthy enough to support both a
BCNheron and a very strrong GH owl who was able to win the fight!!! Anyways... The point of my story
Is that birding doesn't always require one to look up in the trees or skies, but to understand the habitats
And ecosystems that we are birding in....... And you will always notice new things each time.
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This is really CSI birding, soaring hawk, you are a "bird detective" :D