[birdky] Short-eared Owl Inventory- Reminder- Please contribute information
- From: "Heyden, Kathryn (FW)" <kathryn.heyden@xxxxxx>
- To: "birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 21:06:22 +0000
This will be my last reminder about this year's Short-eared Owl inventory! The
owls are starting to move north and soon we likely won't be seeing them
anymore. Thus, please report any Short-eared Owls you encounter for this
effort! Participation is easy! We might be able to get some interesting
"late" dates for these birds. Here is more information:
2013-2014 Kentucky Short-eared Owl Inventory
Short-eared owls are a Species of Greatest Conservation Need, listed in
Kentucky's State Wildlife Action plan and are of concern to many conservation
organizations. The 2013-2014 Kentucky Short-eared owl Inventory will serve as a
status assessment for this species in our state and may inform future research
and conservation for this rare bird.
Short-eared owls roost communally, and are often seen in numbers at dawn or
dusk. Sightings of 1-30 owls in scattered hotspots throughout the state are
not unusual in a winter where we get numbers of these birds. Short-eared owls
are often found in un-mowed grassy areas in rural locations. More information
on the species and ID can be found at:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Short-eared_Owl/id
How to Contribute Data for the 2013-2014 Kentucky Short-eared Owl Inventory:
1. If you see one or more short-eared owls, please take note of the
location and count the number of birds. If you own a GPS, record the
coordinates of the location.
2. If you do not own a GPS, please visit Google Maps
(https://maps.google.com/) to determine the GPS coordinates for the location
where you saw the birds. This is very quick and easy to do. When you open the
Google maps website, navigate to where you saw the birds on the map by
searching for the nearest address, intersection or town. Pan and zoom to as
close as you can get to where you observed the birds on the map. Then right
click on that location and choose "What's here?" from the resulting menu. The
coordinates (e.g. 37.4574, -86.7480) will then pop up in the Google search bar
at the top of the page. Record those coordinates, along with your count of
birds.
3. Report your count of owls, date of observation and GPS coordinates
either directly to myself at
kathryn.heyden@xxxxxx<mailto:kathryn.heyden@xxxxxx> or to
www.ebird.org<http://www.ebird.org>. Use whichever method is easier for you.
Photos are welcome.
While searching, please consider that short-eared owls are susceptible to
disturbance, and communal roosts will relocate if they are disturbed too much.
Please try to maintain a distance when observing the birds and try not to
affect their behavior. Posting sightings to the listserve is good so that
everyone knows what kind of numbers are being found. However, it may not be
wise to post specifics or coordinates for where the birds were observed to the
list serve for the protection of the owls and the private landowners who host
them. If you lose my information and forget who I am, you can always post to
the listserve that you have some short-eared owl information and I will contact
you from there. :^)
A summary of the data collected will be published to our website this
spring/summer for everyone to read. Exact locations of the owls will not be
released publicly for the protection of private landowners. However, max
counts of owls and other statistics will be tabulated for each county and
county occurrence will be mapped.
Thanks very much to anyone who is willing to participate.
-Kate
Kate Heyden
Avian Biologist
Nongame Branch
KY Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
#1 Sportsman's Lane
Frankfort, KY 40601
Phone: 1-800-858-1549 ext. 4475
Fax: 502-564-4519
kathryn.heyden@xxxxxx<mailto:kathryn.heyden@xxxxxx>
www.fw.ky.gov<http://www.fw.ky.gov/>
Did you know... Department of Fish and Wildlife receives NO state tax dollars
and manages wildlife for all citizens?
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