Late on one of those recent nights when the aurora borealis was active, I walked off the back roads and into the night with Borealis Bruce.
The night was like those not-so-real cell photo-filtered images or virtual photos we see on social media. These were the eyeful milk-white bands of aurora borealis with hints of natural traces of reds and greens shimmering and dancing in waves above your wonderment. Through the silky curtain of white translucence, the constellations still could be seen. It was a relatively new moon phase.
That’s what greeted us at the end of a cautionary signed, rutted, unmaintained, back road in Hilliardton Township northeast about 20 minutes or 25 km NNE of Temiskaming Shores.
It was a tranquil night.
Stepping out of the vehicle, we were greeted with the constant replay of a haunting, hooting-like Northern Saw-whet Owl recording lure, echoing through the spacious boreal forest of mixed vegetation.
Headlamps on and not too far down the former skid trail a path veered north into the thick presence of Labrador tea and Leatherleaf shrubbery. You can hear the bristle-like contact noise against your synthetic attire.
It’s cool enough to see your breath.
The focused light catches the changing colours of the tamarack, the ground is moist here and you can hear the squish in each step. At full amplitude, we pass by the miniature recording device.
Soon crossing some well-worn corduroy trail logs Bruce stops us. “We’re at the nets.”
The blackness almost makes them indiscernible. He tells us the variables for capturing owls are just right. More on that later in this wise story. There are five nets set in a north-south orientation, with two nets perpendicular to the longer capture line, 39’ long, and 8’ high.
That’s Bird Boy or Boreal Bruce, as Bruce Murphy is affectionately known.
Those delicate mist nets gently intertwine the migrating owls — mostly Northern Saw-whet Owls and boreal owls. This unique experience is part of the Hilliardton Marsh Research & Education Centre.
The retired high school teacher remains the founder of the concept with the title Education and Research Coordinator. He is a volunteer who coordinates the many community volunteers that drive these hands-on research programs. His own passion developed during a childhood Grade 6 field trip to the Toronto Island field school where a single chickadee was banded.
Because of 2022 FedNOR funding ($700,000), a new visitor/education 25 ‘ X 45‘ centre was built on-site with some additional bunkies for researchers and volunteers.
The emphasis is on program development for families, seniors and schools.
Owls are different, is it because of their silence in flight or their eerie vocalizations? We have a great deal to learn nocturnally.
Hilliardton Marsh Research & Education Centre
If you are a birder or not, the Hilliardton Marsh, is an interesting place to visit at any time of the year. It comprises 728 hectares (1,798 acres) and is designated as a provincially significant wetland. The centre has banded more than 100,000 birds since 1996.
The centre provides opportunities for school groups and the general public to learn about birds and wetlands. It facilitates and conduct research about the marsh, birds, & wildlife that make it their home.
The property was restored to a wetland by Ducks Unlimited. Prior to the restoration of the marsh, the agricultural landscape was dry and provided virtually no habitat for waterfowl or other wetland-dependent species. The wetlands had lost 85 per cent of their original wetland habitat but the centre now has five engineered cells with elevated berms just off of the Blanche River, the source of the diverted water.
There are approximately 11 km of trails for bird and wildlife viewing and the berms provide great vantage points for viewing and photography.
“This is where I get most of my thrills as we continue to connect people to birds and a love for the planet,” Murphy said.
A marsh is different from a swamp, fen or bog, it is an area of low-lying land that is flooded in wet seasons and typically remains waterlogged at all times. Hilliardton Marsh Research & Education Centre is one of two observatories in northern Ontario, the other being Thunder Cape Bird Observatory east of Thunder Bay. The marsh environment is home to more than 600 species of waterfowl, songbirds, mammals, fish and plant life.
But it is the fields of the surrounding Little Clay Belt surrounding the centre that are important to this early fall owl banding program.
Owl banding challenges
“Initially we were just trying to catch Northern Saw-whet Owls but what seemed randomly with the Northern Saw-whet Owl call we were catching boreal owls,” he said. “Later someone clued us into the fact that boreal owls appeared in a four-year cycle when we started using the boreal owl call our numbers of boreal owls skyrocketed to the point where we set a record of 209 in one season. We often have the title of most-banded boreal owls in North America maybe we should call our area the boreal owl capital of the continent!”
Other amazing statistics. “We are about 100 Northern Saw-whet Owl short of 10,000 banded which is crazy when we started I never thought we would have ever come close to that number.
We now know that Northern Saw-whet Owls are the most abundant owl in North America the only thing that changed was passive netting (no lure) versus using the call now we are tracking real numbers by knowing how to sample them.”
The Hilliardton Marsh Research & Education Centre have been amazed at the longitudinal result. “Our success because we live in the boreal we are so fortunate to catch so many owls. We have so many of our owls show up all across the eastern states and southern Ontario and it is really cool to be part of a cooperative banding network involving thousands of volunteers who care. It really humbles me and being in the boreal allows us to play a huge role in the research.”
There are other impressive stats. In 2012 Hilliardton Marsh broke a North American record with 202 boreal owls. As a comparison, before the audio owl calls were used as a lure, in 1996 only 62 saw-whets were banded in the entire province; with 31 at Hilliardton Marsh.
About the owl banding process, Bruce had the following to say.
The season was a challenge again this year due to extremely warm conditions in September which seem to be becoming a theme year after year.
In 2021 during COVID managed to band 354 northern saw-whet owls which is a bit below our average of 403 and we banded 26 boreal owls (58 is the average) and two long-eared owls.
On the education side, he says it is incredible to see the love of owls in people who visit the marsh. Conversely, there is an endurance part of research not seen by the public.
“At times the long nights can take their toll on me especially when we band songbirds in the morning. I do not get to see Joanne (his bird banding partner) as much and I know I am often surviving on fumes and knowing we have a group coming, I often think ‘Do I have the energy to be on my game?'
“I might be able to catch an hour of sleep if things work out well in the afternoon and perhaps the night before we got to bed at 3:30 a.m. because we had an exceptional night and our volunteers were super pumped and allowed us to catch 40 or 50 owls.”
Here’s the reward. “We know we have a narrow window now with warm, climate change Septembers, but the season remains six weeks in length. My fatigue and all the effort that goes into a public owl night washes away when we show the group the first owl of the night. The look on kids and adults alike gives me every reason for what ‘we’ do, night in and night out.”
Giving a hoot
There is the expression “I don’t give a hoot” but on the contrary, there are others who do because as volunteers they like and care about owls. It is the ‘we’ from just above.
Volunteers make this place viable. They come and go from near and afar, but their work is invaluable says Bruce.
A former student of Bruce’s Jacob Lachapelle nicknamed, Oiseau, is from nearby Belle Valley. He fell in love with banding on a Grade 5 trip to the marsh, now he is the Bilingual Outreach Coordinator with an MA from the University of Guelph. His passion for owls is definitive, “I love what I do here.” And it shows with the care when the bands are delicately attached.
Volunteers matter, an interesting anecdote about saluting such help. “I (Bruce) had a student that made it out all but perhaps five nights for owl banding season we sometimes catch an owl called a Long-eared owl it seemed that every night he missed we caught one. It got to the point that anytime someone would ask if we were going to catch a Long-eared owl he would freak out and think the question would jinx our chance. I decided to blow up a photo of a Long-eared with the caption HE WHOOOO SHALL NOT BE NAMED !”
All of them are the real “night owls” because they like working in the dead of night.
Owls are stereotyped for their hooting calls, but several species don’t hoot at all.
These well-versed volunteers are eager to share what they know.
Owls stand out among all living bird groups. These slightly anthropomorphic winged creatures have conquered the night, while nearly all other birds are confined to the daylight. And just so you know, owls can rotate their heads 270 degrees, and lots of little neck bones and flexible arteries allow for the mobility.
We humans can rotate our heads less than a third of that. While the stereotype of the “wise owl” is well established, owls can be regarded as demonic symbols or harbingers of doom. Connections to witchcraft are often made as well.
Owls have also risen to prominence as icons in popular culture, such as the famous Hedwig, the snowy owl featured in the Harry Potter series.
In conversation, the volunteers know their owl trivia, better than a Jeopardy game show, priceless and beyond “…for five hundred…”
A wise place
The Hilliardton Marsh Research & Education Centre is continentally significant for waterfowl migrating to and from the James Bay and Hudson Bay lowlands. Because of the five-star habitat, it is an important stopover for the owls.
And now there are the Motus towers. The Motus Wildlife Tracking System is a program of Birds Canada and an international collaborative research network that uses cooperative automated radio telemetry to simultaneously track hundreds of individuals of numerous species. Each implanted transmitter for an adult owl costs $400 which creates superb migratory data. Bruce says the $8,000, for each tower makes them the future of research.
The Hilliardton Marsh Research & Education Centre is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institute’s Project Owlnet it is a continent-wide effort to monitor the migratory ecology and population dynamics of the northern saw-whet owl. This study involves intensive continuous effort in mist-netting and banding. This diminutive owl is solely nocturnal. Their migratory route takes them from
northern Canada to southern Georgia. Due to their small size, they are prey for larger owls and so they tend to remain silent while on the migration. Joanne says, “In order to capture or attract these owls to our banding station, we play a lure tape.”
After they are caught there is a rapid protocol. “All owls that visit our station are measured, weighed banded, and released unharmed. We hope that these owls will be recaptured at another station so that we may learn more about their movements.”
“Part of the passion about banding is to see the look on young and old alike when they hold an owl for the first time. You can never anticipate the impact it will have but you know they are forever changed.”
Owl audio
The status of the Northern Saw-whet owls has changed because of the lure call.
“Owls are such incredible creatures that people are drawn to. I could tell people that we caught an incredible rare warbler at the marsh but tell them that we caught 40 saw-whet owls last night and they are instantly engaged, show them an owl up close and I have a friend for life," he said. "More importantly, it hopefully gives people pause to think about the importance of the boreal forest which is where these birds breed.
“There are obvious research reasons. The more we learn, the more questions we have, and there is so much to learn... but I would say the real reason is that owls are so freaking cool! I mean they are cute and powerful and mysterious and secretive all at once!
"Everyone loves owls. The fact that they are nocturnal and rarely seen by most people makes them so much more alluring. At school, my students love to learn about night creatures, and adults are no different. When we are walking through the forest without headlamps anticipating owls in our nets, it is like going on a mini adventure every time. And I never get tired of the reaction of our guests when we take a saw-whet out of a bird bag for them to see for the first time! That choral "awwwhhhhh" is priceless!
“I often have to pinch myself to realize how lucky we are to live in the boreal forest and to be able to get a chance to show visitors these wonderful creatures.”
Owl moon
What about a full, “owl” moon? The award-winning story ‘Owl Moon’ by Jane Yolen is one of my favourites. The author creates a gentle, poetic story that lovingly depicts the special companionship when a young child and her father go owling, as well as humankind's close relationship to the natural world.
Bruce says the full moon phase is counterintuitive. He says a full moon reduces the chance of catching owls, the new moon phase is best. (The full moon was just two days past called the Hunter’s Moon and captures were high.)
Another factor is that owls move best when the air is cold.
“We have had occasions when we have caught 40 owls at 2° C and then it goes to 15°C and we catch one owl. Is it the prey that feels vulnerable or is it the owls cannot fly well with a full moon, kind of like driving our cars into a setting sun?”
And if it is windy?
“Wind makes the nets move so owls will avoid capture.”
Some final Boreal Bruce thoughts.
“I have never figured out why everyone loves owls but it is real and I know the connection created when people come to see an owl in the handheld or a chance encounter in the wild, it can be life-changing.
“Whenever I feel tired and ever doubt why we are doing this research and education I am energized by the moment the connection between owl and human happens. it makes me think we have the power to save our natural world.”
Through this nocturnal experience, I ponder and reflect.
As Halloween approaches we have these perceptions of owls as they look at us out of the darkness with a rich sense of mystery. It is their eyes.
Mother Nature is always speaking to us about protecting our habitat. And contrary to the meaning of “I couldn’t give two hoots” Bruce and others have been taught by the teacher, herself, with wise words from the night on the back roads.