2025 is an irruption year for Great Gray Owls. Full time residents of the northern Boreal Forest, Great Gray Owls move south in years where there aren’t enough red-backed voles to sustain them in their traditional hunting grounds. Hungry and exhausted from their long flight south, Great Gray Owls have taken up temporary residence in Ontario and Quebec this winter. They are crepuscular meaning they’re most active at the edge of light. Dawn or dusk is an excellent time to try and find owls.
Finding a Great Gray Owl this winter was both magical and a reminder of the importance of practicing ethical photography when observing wildlife. When an unusual species is spotted close to a heavily populated area like the GTA, word gets out and bird enthusiasts and photographers flock to the spot it was last sighted in the hopes of catching a glimpse. When we came upon this owl, there was a crowd of photographers on the side of the road, talking loudly, “chimping” their shots and celebrating their find perhaps forgetting that owls hunt using sound. Their face is shaped like a satellite dish designed to focus sound to their asymmetrical ears. Disrespectful, noisy crowds put pressure on wildlife and disrupt the owl’s ability to hunt. They’re only in this area because they’re hungry and need to build their resources to head north again in the spring. It’s my hope that we can enjoy nature from a distance and be mindful of protecting, not harming it along the way.
