Hi Bill and all,
I'd guess that the tree farm is not beneficial to Short-eared Owls,
Rough-legged Hawks, Ferruginous Hawks, Prairie Falcons or Northern
Harriers, all of which prefer open landscapes with just widely scattered
perches. Kestrels likewise are grassland/savanna birds, though they need
cavities (natural or nest boxes) for nesting, and a few perches for
hunting.
If anything, the presence of these tree plantings may make it more
difficult for these grassland "specialists" to use the vicinity, as it
puts them into competition with "generalists" such as Red-tailed Hawks
and Great Horned Owls . The idea of "specialists" vs. "generalists" can
be good to keep in mind, when considering local measures of bird
diversity.
Good birding,
Joel
On Tue, 2016-01-26 at 18:35 -0800, Bill Bradford wrote:
Cathy, we're quite jealous of the raptors you found at the tree
farm.
We're in the 4th year of surveying Boardman-area raptors as part of
the ECAS project, and the stretch of the route the goes through the
tree farm (Homestead Lane) has never been that productive for us. We
regularly see a few Redtails and Kestrels, occasionally Merlins, and
rarely (once) a N. Saw-whet. The only two Great-Horned Owls we've seen
so far were dead, at the base of a utility pole.
There have been some nifty birds in adjacent areas (SE & Barn Owls, N.
Harriers, Prairie Falcons, Rough-legged & Ferruginous Hawks, Bald
Eagles, accipiters) but we've never had that kind of diversity at the
tree farm itself. Your list was inspiring -- we'll definitely be
keeping our eyes open!
Lora Minty & Bill Bradford
Portland
On Tue, Jan 26, 2016 at 3:43 PM, Cathy Nowak <cathy.nowak@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I did both diurnal and nocturnal raptor surveys for the tree
farm when Potlatch still had it. I found saw whet, western
screech, barn, short-eared (at the edges), long-eared and
great-horned owls as well as red-tailed, rough-legged and
ferruginous hawks and at least one golden eagle perched right
in the middle of one of the blocks of trees. Kestrels also
nested in the nest boxes – it was the first time I saw kestrel
pellets. There were also mule deer and the occasional elk as
well as at least one black bear using it. Artificial it may
be but it functions on some level as wildlife habitat.
M. Cathy Nowak
Certified Wildlife Biologist®
Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area
59116 Pierce Rd
La Grande, OR 97850
541-963-4954
From: obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Alan Contreras
Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2016 9:37 AM
To: Wayne Hoffman
Cc: Joel Geier; OBOL
Subject: [obol] Re: Boardman poplar farm to be cut and
converted to dairy/irrigated conventional crops
And Saw-whet Owls, which apparently use boxes there.
Alan Contreras
acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx
On Jan 26, 2016, at 9:21 AM, whoffman@xxxxxxxx wrote:
And Least Flycatchers.
Wayne
______________________________________________________
From: "joel geier" <joel.geier@xxxxxxxx>
To: "obol" <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2016 6:36:30 AM
Subject: [obol] Boardman poplar farm to be cut and
converted to dairy/irrigated conventional crops
Possibly of interest to Morrow Co. listers:
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2016/01/boardman_tree_farm_will_be_cut.html
I guess Red-eyed Vireos etc. will be a little less
well represented in
the county, after this artificial forest is cleared
off.
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
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