Northern Hawk Owl

Our friend Anne sent us a message telling us about a location in Schomberg where a Northern Hawk Owl had been spotted.  She sent pictures, news articles and a shot that Ron had taken on his cell phone.  We were inspired to go and check it out ourselves.  I'm so happy that Anne persisted in sending us the information as it was so exciting to go out and see it sitting perched in the tree's. It flew often from one side of the pond to the other, and it was humorous to see the photographers following.  Maybe it was teasing us.  We were rewarded with a few nice photos so I am happy that we went.  We didn't stay long (30 minutes) but it was most definitely a thrill to see.

Below is some information that I found on the internet describing them.

A bird of boreal forests, the Northern Hawk Owl behaves like a hawk but looks like an owl. Its oval body, yellow eyes, and round face enclosed by dark parentheses are distinctly owl. Its long tail and habit of perching atop solitary trees and hunting by daylight, though, are reminiscent of a hawk. It is a solitary bird that tends to stick to the boreal forest, but some winters it moves south into the northern United States, delighting birders near and far.

Find This Bird

For nonmigratory birds like the Northern Hawk Owl that breed in the boreal forest, spotting one usually requires a trip to the frigid north. However, hawk owls do turn up from time to time in southern Canada and the northern United States. They don't seem to fear humans much and perch atop solitary trees in the middle of the day, so when they are around they can be easy to spot. At night they roost in tree branches, often close to the trunk and tucked in amongst the branches, where they can be more difficult to locate.

Cool Facts

• • The Northern Hawk Owl can detect prey by sight up to half a mile away.
  • Northern Hawk Owls are thought to detect prey primarily by sight. Along with their tendency to hunt in the daytime, their symmetrical ear openings are cited as evidence for daytime hunting—their ears presumably have less acute hearing than the asymmetrical ear openings of species such as Boreal and Great Gray Owls. Even so, hawk owls can still find prey by sound, even when it is under a foot of snow.
  • The Northern Hawk Owl sometimes wanders or invades areas far to the south of their normal range. Invasion years tend to occur when small-mammal populations decline following a good reproductive season.
  • The oldest recorded Northern Hawk Owl was at least 5 years, 11 months old when it was found in Alberta, Canada.

It’s beginning to look like Christmas

This weekend we celebrated our first family Christmas. The vanBolhuis Christmas was celebrated at our church on Saturday. Jim and Debbie did an excellent job organizing the event. With games planned and a nice spread of food we all enjoyed a nice evening. Mom was able to join and really enjoyed seeing her family of roughly 54 all together. What a blessing!!

On Sunday morning we woke up to freezing rain.  This brought some worry especially since the kids needed to drive home due to commitments on Monday. We agreed to wait until later in the day and if the weather didn’t clear they would spen another night. When Ralph woke up and came downstairs Brody was already in the kitchen. He was happy to help Ralph prepare breakfast and coffee. Breakfast was delicious and Ralph really enjoyed an extra set of hands. Little Brody is a chef in the making. 

After church we spent the afternoon making snowflakes and playing games. So much laughter and fun filled the air. What a beautiful start to the Christmas season. 

Brody’s Christmas tree that he made during the family Christmas.

Our neighbours left gifts for the kids which they opened this weekend. Needless to say they were thrilled with their new tops. 

A frosty morning

The alarm was set for early this morning.  I really wanted to get out to look at the colours. After a bit of a slow start we headed out and drove down Highway 27 to Kirby Side Road. The sun was just cresting the horizon. We were just a little too late to get a really beautiful sunrise, but that's ok because it wasn't the main purpose of our drive.  I was determined to get a few nice pictures of the leaves changing colours.  Sadly Ralph wasn't feeling that well but he insisted on coming along.  We didn't have a lot of time as I had an appointment at 9:30 but it was enough to get some nice "golden hour" pictures.

There was plenty of frost on the fields this morning and it was actually really cold for our hands.  When I asked Ralph what the temperature was, he shared that it was 0 Celsius.  It was cold.  After taking a few sunrise shots we continued driving until we found this field with the wheat and trees off to the back.  It was so beautiful to look at.

Covenant Reformed Photo Walk

Today I was asked to lead a Photography Workshop and Photo Walk with our church.  I was pretty excited to do this. I love to share what I have learned about photography and it was such a beautiful day for a walk.

We spent the first hour talking about photography basics.  Ed Abano joined me in sharing what we have learned over the years and how using these tips can help make your pictures more appealing.  Later as we were walking, I smiled as I heard saw some of the tips being followed.

The weather and temperature this afternoon was perfect.  Sadly there wasn't much colour, but we all enjoyed the time hiking.  What a great way to get to know each other better.  Afterwards we spent time together at the Potluck dinner.

Sunburst

Our only colourful tree

Reflections

Thistles abound

Our group of Photographers

A Grandover kind of day

We woke up to a chilly morning. Our final day of golf was being played at the Grandover Resort. The temperature was chilly reaching only a high of 16c.

It’s a pretty golf course and it felt like we had the course all to ourselves. We tee’d off at 8:36 and finished around 12:30. We all enjoyed ourselves and wondered if this might be the last round of the season.  We enjoyed a glass of wine and beer before pointing the truck north to our next stop which is in Grove City, PA.   The GPS indicated that it would take about 7.25 hours. Traffic wasn’t that bad but we did have rain for most of the drive. We were thankful that it stayed dry while golfing.  We stopped for dinner on the drive north and arrived close to 11:00 pm. It was a full day.

Congratulations to Teresa for winning the "On the Green in Regulation" challenge. Teresa and Ralph were tied with 3 points each. Teresa also had a tie breaker in her arsenal with a "chip in" from off the green. It was a close challenge with everyone collecting points. Way to go Teresa.

In the ProShop they were selling these "Bow ties" made by a local artist.  They are made with birds feathers.  They were very striking and so beautiful!