Went to Crenshaw Road in Rectortown about 4:15. Not much doing when I got
there - no harrier activity at all. Saw a pair of bluebirds & a female house
finch. About 5:00 I wandered back to the pavilion to look at it (& to move
around a little); found some whitewash & an owl pellet by the bales of straw
under the pavilion. Walking back out to the road I looked off to the right in
the back of the field (across the road) & saw 8 owls in the top of one tree
with another owl in the adjacent tree! They sat there perched for 5-10 minutes
so I decided to drive down the road to try & get closer to them & get some
pictures, using the car as a photo-blind. Before I got to the first house, I
flushed an owl out of a tree along the road; it flew about 2 trees & landed in
a tree along the road with yet another owl. Got my fill of pictures with these
birds. At least a dozen short-eared owls perched & in sight at the same time.
Drove on down the road a little ways to turn around & saw
another owl in a tree by the road about 1/10 mile further along.
Returned to the original parking spot by the pavilion. The owls had started
flying; at one point there was a "kettle" of six of them swirling around in the
back corner of the field. They all seemed to head down over the hill rather
than working the field in front of me. After things had quieted down by 5:30,
I drove back down the road again & saw 3 of them in a tree over the road (1/4
mile?) (same birds as before or new ones?). Left the area about 5:40 with 2
owls still perched in the original trees but none in sight flying/hunting.
Also saw 3 red-tailed hawks.
William E. Parkin
