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Inside…

Top Owl Routes in 2017 .......... 2 2017 Owl Results ..................... 4 Trend Figures .......................... 6 Additional Species Trends ..... 8 Program Updates .................... 9 Nipissing Owling ................... 11

Contact Info ........................... 13

Ontario Nocturnal Owl Survey Newsletter February 2018

2017: Number of Surveys Stays Steady

Effort for the Ontario Nocturnal Owl Survey remained at a high level, with surveys decreasing to 198 ─ down by a whopping two routes (Fig. 1, Fig. 2). Completed northern Ontario surveys increased to 84 and central Ontario surveys decreased to 114. The overall number of owls reported still continued to increase, with 870 owls of seven species

recorded. However, the number of owls recorded per route remained consistent in northern Ontario (with 3.3/route recorded in both 2017 and 2016) and a slight increase in central Ontario (with 4.4/route in 2017 and 4.2/route in 2016). Carolyn Bonta recorded the most owls in central Ontario – a total of 22 Barred Owls – along her Opinicon Road route in the Frontenac Arch Biosphere region. The highest count in northern Ontario went to Kyle Myschowoda’s Pine Ridge Road route, due north of Red Lake. The Pine Ridge route was our second-most northern route in 2017. Kyle reported 13 individual owls, including 9 Boreal Owls, 3 Northern Saw-whets, 1 Great Horned, and 1 unidentified. Kyle is one of the many OMNRF naturalists in Ontario’s Northwest who participate in owl surveys, and we are very delighted to have them on board. Barred Owls, Great Gray Owls, and Northern Saw-whet Owls were all stable in northern Ontario, with no significant trends in the proportion of stops occupied (Fig 3). By contrast, the proportion of stops with Boreal Owls in northern Ontario decreased (-2.7%). The data show that Barred Owls in central Ontario increased by 2.0% per year between 1995 and 2017 (Fig. 3). Central Ontario’s Great Horned Owls and Northern

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The Bigger Picture: Did you know that Nocturnal Owl Surveys are conducted in

every Canadian province as well as two territories? Learn more at

http://www.birdscanada.org/volunteer/natowls/

Saw-whet Owls decreased significantly; between 1995 and 2017, Great Horned Owls decreased by -3.7% per year, while Northern Saw-Whet Owls decreased by -3.7% per year(Fig. 3). There is considerable annual variation in the trends and the population indices, as shown in Fig. 4. Graphs for game bird species – American Woodcock, Ruffed Grouse, and Wilson’s Snipe – continue to show a large amount of year-to-year variation with no obvious patterns over time (Fig. 5). A big “thank-you” to the dedicated Owl Survey participants – volunteers who travel Ontario’s remote roads to collect important data, and rearrange their schedules to match road conditions and weather patterns. Thanks also to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources’ Terrestrial Assessment Program for its continued support. Happy owling! Kathy Jones, Ontario Nocturnal Owl Survey Coordinator Table 1. Top Five Most Productive Ontario Nocturnal Owl Survey Routes in 2017 for Northern and Central Ontario.

Route Name Route Total Owls

Surveyor

Northern Ontario

Pine Ridge Road 81 13 Kyle Myschowoda and Chris Hague

Hwy 629 37 12 Jessica Malone-Daniher and Jacob Daniher (Red Lake OMNRF Owl Team)

Upper Nungesser Road

172 11 Daniel Gough and Morgan Ewan (Red Lake OMNRF Owl Team)

Transmitter Line 242 9 Natasha Formsma and Karen Formsma

Windigo Lake 380 8 Roy Hoffman

Central Ontario

Opinicon Rd 371 22 Carolyn Bonta

Bob's Lake 313 21 Colleen Ringelberg and Wanda Bowles

Fort St. Joseph 162 20 Ken McIlwrick, Carter Dorscht, Ron Dorscht, and Barry Lyons

Milford Haven 6 19 Bob Knudsen & Sault College NEOS Students

Canoe Lake 205 15 Mike Burrell

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2017 Owl Results

The table below shows the number of individuals of each species detected, and the number of owls per route for each species, as detected during the 2017 Ontario Nocturnal Owl Survey in central and northern Ontario. Table 2. 2017 Ontario Nocturnal Owl Survey Results

Region Central Ontario Northern Ontario

Individuals Owls/Route Individuals Owls/Route

Barred Owl 500 4.39 26 0.31

Boreal Owl 4 0.04 69 0.82

Eastern Screech-Owl 0 0.00 0 0.00

Great Gray Owl 1 0.01 26 0.31

Great Horned Owl 13 0.11 32 0.38

Long-eared Owl 8 0.07 10 0.12

Northern Hawk Owl 0 0.00 0 0.00

Northern Saw-whet Owl 58 0.51 104 1.24

Short-eared Owl 0 0.00 0 0.00

Unknown Owl 8 0.07 11 0.13

Additional Species

Ruffed Grouse 29 0.25 128 1.52

Wilson’s Snipe 60 0.52 50 0.60

American Woodcock 209 1.86 179 2.13

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Figure 1: Number of Ontario Nocturnal Owl Survey routes sampled per year between 1995 and 2017 as a function of region (central, north) and combined (both). Fig. 2. Map of Ontario Nocturnal Owl Survey routes sampled in 2017 (n = 198 routes).

2017 Owl Routes

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Figure 3: Ontario Nocturnal Owl Survey Trends in distribution of owls between 1995 and 2017 in northern and central Ontario. Statistically significant trends are shown with green bars (positive trends) or red bars (negative trends), whereas white bars indicate statistically stable trends. Vertical lines are 95% confidence intervals.

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Figure 4: Ontario Nocturnal Owl Survey Trends, 1995-2017, showing the mean proportion of stations occupied (with owls) per route in central and northern Ontario.

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2017 Additional Species The numbers of “non-owl” target species were down by roughly 40%, with 175 Wilson’s Snipe (213 in 2016); 81 Ruffed Grouse (227 in 2016), and 509 American Woodcocks (533 in 2016). These numbers once again portray the great fluctuation in the presence and number of these species at the time of the owl survey.

Figure 5: Trends for Ruffed Grouse, American Woodcock, and Wilson’s Snipe, 2001-2017, showing the mean proportion of stations occupied per route in central and northern Ontario.

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The owl survey is modernizing …. yet staying the same Updates and changes to the Ontario Nocturnal Owl Survey The Ontario Nocturnal Owl survey remains true to its original protocol but, as technologies and analytical techniques change, we have become aware that some revisions are necessary to keep up with the times. Here is how the program is adapting to accomodate modern technologies and future visions. Refreshed goals and objectives: The goal of the Ontario Nocturnal Owl Survey is to monitor changes in owl populations in central and northern Ontario, to help identify factors influencing these changes, and to contribute to owl management and conservation in Ontario and Canada.

New data forms: While the survey protocol has not changed, technology and data collection have. We will be refreshing and modernizing components of the protocols this summer but, to start, we have new data forms. The data form changes are simple and straightforward, but please don’t hesitate to call if you have any questions. New analysis and graphs: Thanks to Doug Tozer (Ontario Program Scientist) and Myles Falconer (Senior Project Biologist), we have a robust method for analyzing and displaying owl data trends. While some of this relates to behind-the-scenes technique, we started sharing those new trends in 2016, and will continue to do so in the future. A stop is a stop is a stop. In the “old days,” you used to start at an intersection, travel by odometer a set distance, stop, and survey. To a certain extent, this is still true, but we would like you to consistently stop at the same locations every year. Once a stop is indentified at a specific location, we can’t reuse that identifier (for our purposes, the stop number) at a new location. Thus your stop 1, 2, and 3, etc. will be stop 1, 2, 3. But, we are talking about owls and cars and safety and the dark, so we do need to be realistic and flexible. If you move +/- 100m, that is OK, but try to stay close to your original station. If you need to move beyond 100m, then the stop will have to receive a new number. You only need to provide a map or location information if the route changes, basically if you go beyond that 100m range and, ideally, call Kathy beforehand. Also, if you need a map of your route, please ask and we will provide one. Stop description forms and maps are no longer needed annually. With today’s aerial photography and satellite images, there are more effective tools for identifying habitat than to have you describe it from a roadside stop. We recommend that you limit any stop description forms to landmarks (road/landscape/human-made features) that will help you find that stop in the future. As these notes will be entered into our main database, we will have them on record for future years and you do not have to provide them annually. The same can be said for maps and GPS points – if you are surveying the same locations each year, then you don’t need to provide location information annually.

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NatureCounts, our Online Web portal is progressing: We are halfway through updating the NatureCounts system. While the look and the buttons are not finalized yet, you can now use it for: Data Submission Newsletters MP3 broadcast files

Protocols Stop coordinates Owl survey vehicle sign

Data forms Training CD MP3 files Contacting Kathy

Data entry Owl surveyor in action cards (to hand out to concerned citizens).

To use NatureCounts, go to www.birdscanada.org/birdmon/onowls and log in, or create a login. Please register in advance to ensure you have approval before you need those last minute resources. At present, all the resources are listed under the button “Submit Data” but, eventually, they will have their own button. Action items for 2018/2019. Although summer is already starting to look busy, there are still some owl items we want to work on. These include finishing the NatureCounts portal, transferring all historical and present owl data to NatureCounts, refreshing central and northern protocols, finalizing data forms, and updating the website.

Looking into the future - the National Dataset. With the upcoming transfer of all Ontario owl data directly into the NatureCounts system, we are one step closer to a blended dataset and can move forward with planning one of the biggest items on our long term wish list: a cross-Canada analysis of owl population trends.

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Several members of the Nipissing Naturalists and their Bird Wing group conduct the Ontario Nocturnal Owl Survey, and a friendly competition has developed. The competition requires a written summary of the night. The member with the best results and write-up gets to keep the group’s owl trophy for a year. Here’s an excerpt from the 2017 trophy-winning report. OWLING….at Night by the Sturges and etc. (Dogs and Friends)

By Gary Sturge Where to begin….the beginning, well April 12th was a decent day and the evening was clear and 5° C, not a bad start. Daughter Doctor Rachel accompanied us as our secret weapon, and so it started. Stop 1, Now to set the stage, I’m as deaf as a post, an owl has to land in a nearby tree and throw a rock at me to get my attention before I hear it. Con is our ears and she is pretty darn good but Rachel is like a directional microphone and she heard a pair of dueting Barreds well off first (not sure what they were singing). Con was next and finally when they flew out to the car (they threw rocks) I heard them.

Score 2

Stop 2, was just peepers, (incidentally, this was about the only place we heard any number of the suckers on the route.) Stop 3, right off there was action (at least for the 2 that could hear), 2 dueting Barreds making their way towards us. Once they flew out and over us, I heard them too. All the noise started up a 3rd Barred from afar who was coming to meet everyone, but this just pissed off the female already with us so she got very agitated and sounded angry (maybe an old girlfriend of her partner). This was a good time to leave for the next stop.

Score 5

Stop 4, half way through the route, from way off, Dr. Super Ears heard a Barred, and because of direction it was classified as one of the previous pair and thus a Repeater.

Score kinda 5 ½, say 6

Stop 5, no action initially until “Old Stone Ears” standing apart from the others, heard a WU, no not a WHO like Horton and later barking (not a dog) but the defensive call of the Great Horned Owl, this verified by the Dr.

Score 7

Stop 6, led us in, around and about, to another road….. and there in the dark amongst the tall deciduous trees we got nothin’…. Stop 7, was likewise though we did get a distant dog bark and a shooting star, but they don’t count.

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Stop 8, virtually at the end of the road near the homes and cottages on a Lake. We did again score, with all present hearing a pair of lovely dueters who came near but not into view.

Score 9

Now this route is a backtracker so you now have to turn around and run back to an earlier road where the route continues and so we proceeded on…. Stop 9, here in spite of the running torrent nearby we finally pulled in a candidate Barred on the 3rd call, after thanking him or her we moved on.

Score 10

Stop 10, just past the swamp at the end of the road, we stopped and tiredly pulled out the boom box and started up. We were very satisfied, a very productive and enjoyable night, but one last Barred flew out to us on the second call to say thanks, good night and have a safe drive home…which we did.

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WHAT A NIGHT! Blame it on Rachel’s presence, beginner’s luck, and hey we’ll take it! Final tally: 10 Barred Owls and 1 Great Horned Owl.

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It’s already March of 2018… Participants should have already received their Nocturnal Owl Survey packets in the mail earlier in March. Participants who are new or have requested maps will receive them by email later in the month. Online resources: For survey protocols and data sheets: www.birdscanada.org/volunteer/onowls . For downloadable MP3 audio files, login to: http://www.bsc-eoc.org/birdmon/onowls . Owl Route locations and activity: https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?snapid=S853701MXCA If you see an available route near you and are interested in surveying, or have a team member who is ready to survey on their own, call us and register for that route. Note that new participants need to contact me directly before I can register them to survey. Be Social! Bird Studies Canada is on Facebook and Twitter. I am on Facebook, Twitter & am slowly embracing Instagram. Post about your evening, and include lots of pictures about the good, the bad, and the out-of-focus. We LOVE people photos, but owl photos are great as well. Tag us or use the hashtag #owlsurvey so we can find and share your story. Thanks to our volunteers and sponsors! We heartily thank the volunteers, who have become far too numerous to mention by name, for their participation in the 1995-2017 surveys. These people generously donated their valuable time and equipment (broadcast systems, vehicles, flashlights, etc.) to venture forth on cold, dark nights to survey owls. They are making essential contributions to owl conservation across Ontario. We would also like to thank the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry – Provincial Wildlife Monitoring Program for their support of this program, and our local Wiggan’s Foodland in Port Rowan who supplied our volunteers with much appreciated hot chocolate. Kathy Jones, volunteer@birdscanada.org; @BSCOnt; www.facebook.com/VolunteerBSCOntario ; https://www.instagram.com/bsc_ont_volunteer Ontario Nocturnal Owl Survey Bird Studies Canada P.O. Box 160 Port Rowan, ON N0E 1M0 519-586-3531 Toll-free 1-888-448-2473 www.birdscanada.org/volunteer/onowls

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