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For those of you not on the NHBIRD listserve, this may be interesting. I copied it from yesterday's digest. Chris >Rick Heil has stuck his neck out with a Great Gray Owl >prediction.......now let's see if someone in NH can be the first to find a >Great Gray Owl this winter! > >Click on the CHARTE under CHOUETTES LAPONES for a map of where they have >shown up, just north of New Hampshire: > >http://geocities.com/eperviere_lapone/hiver04-05.html > >Steve Mirick >Bradford, MA > >Subject: Great Gray Owls on their way to New England. >From: "rsheil" <rsheil AT juno.com> >Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 14:15:16 -0500 > > The Great Gray Owl invasion is advancing forward on the eastern front. >These magnificent northern owls may be on their way to New England and >Massachusetts too. Much closer to us than Minnesota, Great Grays are >currently pouring into southeastern Ontario. Some 40+ were seen in the >Ottawa, Ontario area just this past weekend (8-9 January 2005). That region >is only about 300 miles from Boston. > Typically, Great Grays, when they do occur in Massachusetts, don't reach >us until late winter, or even early spring. Massachusetts records since >1940 showing arrival dates (most from Birds of Massachusetts by Veit & >Petersen, 1993) demonstrates this: > >27 March 1942 Lincoln >9 Jan. 1952 W. Beckett >22 Jan. 1973 Gill >5 Jan. 1977 Andover >29 Jan. 1980 Oakham >10 Feb. 1984 Hadley >1 Feb. 1996 Rowley > > In addition to those mentioned above there was THE major incursion during >the winter of 1978/ spring 1979. During this unprecedented (at the time) >invasion there were 97 sightings of Great Grays in New England, including at >least 18 from Massachusetts. This flight began in late December in southern >Ontario and Quebec (Vickery and Yunick. 1979 Great Gray Owl incursion across >northeastern N.Am. American Birds 33: 242-244.), but the first owl to reach >Massachusetts was not until 28 January when a Great Gray appeared at the >Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in Topsfield. Two more owls were found on >3 February (Newbury and Amherst), but the main surge did not occur until the >second and third weeks of February when an additional nine owls were >located. New owls, or at least new locations were still being discovered to >the second week in March. > So. I'll stick my neck out (a little) and optimistically predict that the >first New England Great Gray of this flight will be found in VT, NH, or ME >within a week, and Massachusetts will have one (or more?) by 10 February. > >Richard Heil >S. Peabody, MA >rsheil AT juno.com >http://www.savethenorthpool.com