Hi Priscilla and all,
Along with the prairie restoration areas on the west side of Eugene,
this has also been a good winter for Rough-legged Hawk sightings close
in to town around Corvallis, and also reasonably good at Finley NWR.
On the other hand, I've seen much fewer than usual on private farmland
around southern Polk County and northern Benton County. I also haven't
seen as many as I'm used to seeing, on a couple visits to the
Lebanon/Tangent/Brownsville area.
One idea that a few of us have been kicking around is that the long-term
shift from perennial grasses to annual grasses on grass-seed farms,
along with conversion of some fields to filbert orchards & vineyards,
might be reducing habitat for wintering Rough-legged Hawks, with the
result that more of them are crowding into prairie-restoration lands
where perennial native bunchgrasses have been established and provide
good habitat for voles.
Perhaps some of the same trends have been causing more Rough-legged
Hawks to push farther south into Lane County.
One winter probably isn't enough to judge, but this seems like something
to keep an eye on.
Good birding,
Joel
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
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