Crowing over owls' return

Karst advocates say birds a good reason to protect more land

Eric McGuinness
The Hamilton Spectator
STONEY CREEK (Aug 1, 2009)

The presence of a breeding pair of long-eared owls in the Eramosa Karst Conservation Area -- the first seen in urban Hamilton in 40 years -- is being used to bolster arguments to expand the park to include 32 hectares the Ontario Realty Corp. wants to sell to builders.

Friends of Eramosa Karst say the city's new Official Plan designates the ORC land as part of a "core natural heritage area," but that's not enough to stop the provincial agency. They hope, however, to keep building a case against development, noting that the Hamilton Conservation Authority board agrees.

A news conference yesterday at which biologist Joe Minor announced finding a pair of long-eared owls -- and possibly owl chicks -- was used to argue that expanding the 73-hectare conservation area would protect wildlife habitat threatened by urban sprawl.

As if to emphasize the point, a Home Depot sign on Stone Church Road was easily visible from the conservation area parking lot on Mount Albion Road where Minor spoke. Rezoning and property sold signs sprout on vacant farmland down the road.

"Making the park 40 per cent bigger is absolutely huge from an island biogeography standpoint," Minor said. An island in biogeographical lingo is an area of suitable habitat surrounded by an expanse of unsuitable habitat.

"The number of species that will survive sprawl is increased greatly with size."

The Friends of Eramosa Karst calls the ORC property "karst feeder lands," saying water running through the property feeds underground karst features that include sinkholes, disappearing streams and caves.

It says stormwater ponds needed for residential growth would disrupt the natural flow.

Marcus Buck, who co-authored a report that led to the Eramosa Karst being provincially designated an Earth Sciences ANSI (an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest), said yesterday there are other karsts, but few with the number and variety of geological features found in upper Stoney Creek.

"Of the 26 streams here, 25 vanish into sinkholes. That's pretty remarkable. There's a lot more stuff here than at other karst sites."

Minor said some long-eared owls winter in the area, but they usually migrate north in summer. No nests have been found within 60 kilometres of Hamilton since the early 1990s.

A LOOK AT THE LONG-EARED OWL (ASIO OTUS)

A crow-sized owl with long ear tufts fitting the popular image of owls. An uncommon winter resident of the Hamilton area. Rare in summer.

Nests were found in Mount Albion pine groves from the late 1940s until 1968.

Owl pellets there contained remains of many meadow voles, one rabbit and the skull of a short-tailed shrew. Nests in the Bronte area of Oakville disappeared after being surrounded by sprawl in the 1960s.