On the little road into the parking lot for Rail Trail in ANWR around 10 AM
I was astonished to see what I thought was a Short-eared Owl flying toward
me high over the trees at the end of the parking where you walk into Rail
Trail.
Short-eared and Long-eared Owls have a distinctive flight. I know of no
other birds that look like they do in flight, maybe Common Nighthawk does a
little bit...
This one was high up, coming out of a mostly forested area, An Oregon Ash
swale and forest mix. I got out of my car in time to get on it going
overhead, and I think it looked more like LONG-EARED OWL in that there was
no obvious color difference from breast to belly, and it was high up in the
air over trees. Ear tufts were not visible as it was in flight. It
quickly disappeared in the general direction of the Eagle Marsh area
I have seen both species in the Salem area, but rarely. I am going to call
it a Long-eared if there are no objections from this body of readers. I
have two records of LEOW (and a few more than that of SEOW) in Marion
County, one in Salem at Minto Brown decades ago, and one at Aumsville Ponds
County Park just a few years ago
Roy Gerig Salem OR
