Tall, standing vegetation. The Prairie overlook at Finley, and Royal
Avenue at Fern Ridge Reservoir are two examples of uncultivated land used for
roosts. The present roost at Seward and McClagan Rouds, Linn Co (just west of
well known eagle roost) is in a field of organic flax. This is tens of acres of
knee-high stubble. 15-16 SEOWs left that field in a five minute period two
separate evenings at the first of the year. Lars
On Jan 17, 2016, at 2:32 PM, Brandon Wagner wrote:
Hey Tyler and all,
I think the Short-eared Owls I saw would have been visible from Morrow Rd.
They were heading SE. The first few seemed to be closer together, and then
they spread out as time went on. If I had to guess, I would think they
might be roosting near the S-curves in Morrow Rd? Merely a guess though.
I'll see if I can figure it out soon, since this is so close to home.
Anyone know what kind of field they are most likely to roost in?
Cheers!
Brandon Wagner
Independence
On Sat, Jan 16, 2016 at 10:03 PM, Tyler Hallman <hallmanator@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I wonder where they're all roosting. Any ideas right around you?_______________________________________________
On Saturday, January 16, 2016, Brandon Wagner <bmwboarder@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Hi friends,
This evening I had some fantastic birding right from my front yard. Last
night I thought I may have seen a Short-eared Owl while running out to the
car. I didn't have binoculars with me, so I wasn't very sure. So today I
decided to hang out outside while darkness fell. It turned out so good!
At first there was a Northern Harrier flying north. And two Kestrels on
the wires. Then two Bald Eagles flew by. Then a Double-crested Cormorant
cruised through, a new yard bird for me! A Red-tailed Hawk called it a
day
and flew to the trees. The light was beginning to fade, and it was
getting
to be later in the evening than the last night when I saw the mysterious
bird, so I was beginning to doubt.
Then a pair of Harriers headed north. And then, I saw a lofty and squatty
bird crossing paths with the Harriers. It came closer to me, and it was a
SHORT-EARED OWL!!!! Woohoo! I was literally standing in my front yard as
one flew right over, giving me good looks at its round face, short tail,
and dark bars part way up the underside of the light-colored wings. No
vocalizations. And then another appeared! I ran to my front window and
pounded on it so that my wife could see it (from inside the house!). I
headed back to my post by the apple trees. Another Owl appeared and
floated slowly by. And then TWO more! I was becoming ecstatic. I could
no longer see the bars on their wings, but their flight and body shape was
easily recognizable after studying the first few owls. They don't fly
very
fast, unlike the Harriers that were heading north. The harriers have a
more slender body and much longer tails. And the Short-eared Owls flap
much deeper. As Bill Tice has told me before, moth like. Indeed. Four
more Short-Eared Owls fluttered by. Between 5:18pm and 5:34pm, a total of
9 Short-eared Owls flew by my house!
Adding to the fun, a few groups of Wilson's Snipes flew over, giving their
distinct call.
This all came a day after my family and I pulled into our driveway late in
the evening and lit up a Barn Owl sitting on a fence post near our house.
It sat still long enough for my 2 year old daughter to get unbuckled and
sit up and see the owl sitting there in the lights. "Cutey Owl", she
said.
All this fun (for me) took place along Clow Corner Rd, north of
Independence. I added yard bird #104 and #105 tonight. It is not too
often
that I add two new yard birds in one day anymore!
Cheers!
Brandon Wagner
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--
Tyler Hallman M.S.
Ph.D. Student
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
Oregon State University Corvallis
"You miss one hundred percent of the shots you never take."
-Wayne Gretzky
"We're becoming paleontologists describing things that are already
extinct."
-Luis Coloma regarding herpetologists
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