Short-eared Owls have settled into a variety of sw Oregon locations where they
are usually rare, so my first vote goes to availability of prey. That’s always
the default factor, I suspect. It may be that the dry summer and mild winter
were what the meeces needed.
Alan Contreras
Eugene, Oregon
acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx
www.alanlcontreras.com
On Jan 21, 2018, at 9:09 AM, Linda Gilbert <oregonjunco@xxxxxxx> wrote:
We just completed our January Lorane raptor route and had 74 birds, which is
double the 7 year average for this count. Our December count was 71. We had a
rough-legged hawk which is a first for this count going back 10+ years.
Looking for explanations, we could have become better observers, accounting
for some of the difference. The vole population might be up. I haven't heard
anything about vole numbers in the main Willamette Valley. Conditions might
be unfavorable in the Willamette Valley due to changing farming practices and
other factors, driving some of the raptor population to side valleys like the
Lorane. Then of course there are weather and climate factors but this
winter's weather does not seem that unusual. Anyone have any knowledge or
thoughts?
Linda Gilbert (with co-raptor- counters Janie Thomas and Cynthia Stockwell)
Eugene
