Snowy owl population surges in northeastern Ontario

An arctic bird species is experiencing a sudden surge in its population in northeastern Ontario.

The increase in the snowy owl population is a rare occurrence that usually happens once every 10 to 15 years as the birds fly south to expand their territory, according to Laurentian University biology professor Chris Blomme.

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"They were breeding. There were lots of young, reproduced and successfully reared to flying stage. Therefore, they were expanding their ranges or looking for new territories as a result of the larger number of birds available," he said.

Four snowy owls were spotted in Mindemoya on Manitoulin Island during the Christmas Day bird count, and there have also been a couple of sightings in Sudbury, Blomme said.

The best place to spot snowy owls is in open fields on top of fence posts or telephone poles, he said.

"When you're looking for them, if you're interested in finding them, you usually look for them on top of fence posts or telephone poles because they like to get a vantage point over the area to look for the food that they're hunting."

Chris Blomme spoke with CBC Sudbury Morning North radio show host Markus Schwabe about the snowy owl sightings in northeastern Ontario. Listen below:

Morning North5:40Snowy owls invading the northeast

Christmas bird counts in the northeast are reporting an unusually high number of snowy owl sightings in the northeast. Laurentian University biology professor Chris Blomme says it's a snowy owl irruption. He told us more about why we are seeing snowy owls.​