Blasts from the Past: Great Gray Owls near Ottawa, Ontario

Given that Great Gray Owls seem to be in Southern Canada in some numbers this year, we've been waiting for one to show up in New York State.  Yesterday we got word of one near Massena (a spot I birded last week) and, while I won't be able to chase this one this week, it's hopefully a good sign of more to come.  In the meantime, here are some photos from a great Owl-oriented trip to Ontario in 2009.  We saw 7 species of owls in 4 days (Snowy Owl, Great Gray Owl, Long-eared Owl, Barred Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Boreal Owl, Northern Hawk Owl).  Dream birds in New York but a little more regular up there in Canada.

Great Gray Owl (2 birds, 4 shots)

Finishing with a sunset photo -  think we had three individual Great Grey Owls
in view at the same time in this one area.  A really neat trip, and great birds.