Normally great grey owls live further north in Ontario but on occasion their food supplies run low and they come further south to hunt voles and mice. After weeks of hearing about the wonderful invasion of the great grey owls in the Ottawa area both on the news and in the newspaper, we decided we had to see one of these creatures for ourselves.

A prior owl hunting excursion had not been very successful and we blamed the fact that we had chosen the wrong time of day (noon). So we did a bit more research on the internet and decided that dusk or dawn were better times and that March Road, Dunrobin Road and Kinburn Side Road west of Kanata seemed to be the hot spots for sightings. Some birders had reported over 50 sightings in a single day! (We'd be happy with just one!)

So a late afternoon pre-scouting trip proved successful as Rubby spotted our first great grey owl on Dunrobin Road. Harvey (decided all the owls had to have names that started with "H") was sitting in a tree scouting for voles and mice in the surrounding fields. Unsure of how close we could get, we took photos every few steps of the way across the field, stopping to check out the tracks from a recent owl meal in the snow. We were amazed that we could basically get right under the tree where the owl was perched before it flew to a telephone pole where it just looked slightly annoyed.

Our pre-scout had been successful, but would we be as lucky the next day when Opa would join us for a morning session? We got back to the area around 10am and luckily the fog had kept the lighting conditions low and gave the trees a frosty coating. The first sighting was Harriet in a tree across a field and insisted Rubby and Rolf follow her across the field to get a closer look. Harriet was a beautiful owl who was just settling down for a good day's sleep after a long night of hunting.

The next sighting was made by Rubby. Harold was a darker scruffy owl perched in a shrub behind a shop. He was a little bit edgy and flew off fairly quickly. We caught up with him a bit further down the road at a gas station. The gas station attendant asked us if we were out looking for owls... apparently we weren't the first ones by that day. In fact we soon caught up with 2 other cars parked by the side of the road snapping pictures and at that one intersection we saw Henrietta, an amazing closeup of Horation, and half a dozen other owls.

We hope you enjoy our photos - we had a great day and the owls were a hoot! ;-)

Our first view of Harvey from Dunrobin Road.

Harvey seems curious about us but I guess we're no voles!

Finally getting annoyed by our presence, Harvey takes off.

 
Amazing to watch in flight, Harvey finds another perch to hunt from.

It's amazing how such a huge bird can be supported on such a tiny branch.

Marks from one of Harvey's previous kills.

 
Harvey scans and listens for sounds of mice and voles under the snow...
something appears to have caught his ear!

Harriet looks absolutely stunning in the frost covered branches.

Harriet seems to be relaxing in the morning sun... I guess she's getting ready for bed.

 
A sleepy bird...

 
... I think she wishes these humans would go away so she could nap in peace!

One last look... Good night (good day?) Harriet!

A little further along Dunrobin Road Rubby spotted Harold.

 
A little more agitated than Hariett, Harold flew off to a higher perch.

 
We caught up with Harold a little further on.

Whoooo are you people and what do you want?

Harold finds yet another perch and gives us the cold shoulder.

At the intersection of a thousand owls (and owl enthusiasts!),
we found Henrietta sitting on a post.

 
The surrounding farm fields make for great hunting for the great grey owls.

Another photographer pointed out Horatio sitting on a dirt pile of a construction site.

Horatio let us get extra close!

A short flight as Horatio finds another post across the road.

 
We spotted several more owls in the trees along the fields.

As we ended our owl hunting adventure, we spotted one more great grey owl in a field...
getting ready to have a snack?!

Location of our owl sightings:
We took the 417 west of Ottawa, went north on the March Road/Eagleson Road exit and went right on Dunrobin Road. Most of the sightings were along Dunrobin Road in the area before Kinburn Side Road.