NY - one or two Short-eared Owls

Short-eared Owl - Washington County Grasslands WMA, February 21st, 2017

Last week I made the two hour journey west to the Fort Edward Grasslands IBA in extreme eastern New York State. The site had been recommended to me some years ago by a birder that I'd met at Turner's Falls and had always been at the back of my mind for a winter visit. More recently, Laura Gaudette and JoAnne Russo made the journey from Putney, Vermont and spoke so highly of the experience that I could hardly resist the opportunity for a visit before the winter petered out. 

On reaching the area, I found numerous birders cruising the quiet country roads looking for raptors and it wasn't too long before I encountered my first Rough-legged Hawks and Northern Harriers. But having driven for over two hours to get the site I didn't want to stay in the car and decided to stretch my legs by walking down to the public viewing deck in the center of the IBA. Despite the birder traffic along the roads I was genuinely surprised to find myself alone on the deck, perhaps a little unnerving since I could a see a concentration of birder's cars on a nearby street leaving me to wonder if I was in the right place after all!

But, raptors were on view all the time from the deck as Rough-legs, Red-tails and harriers hunted around the area and sparred with each other. As dusk approached, I began to get to concerned that the hoped-for Short-eared Owls had already moved out for the winter. Then thankfully around 17:10hrs, the first owl appeared and, after briefly sparring with two harriers, flew right past the deck at close range. Moments later, another flew past me. I was surprised how vocal they were and watched them chasing over the fields barking and screaching, surprsingly audible at distance. With these two birds still in view, I quickly became aware of more owl vocals behind me and turned around to see a concentration of nine owls in a tight swirl remaniscent of a flock of migrating nighthawks. I could hardly believe it, 11 Short-eared Owls in the air simultaneously! At the same, and seemingly out of nowhere, the fields were suddenly 'cloaked' in quartering in Northern Harriers with at least 12 in view including three gray males. From then on, the owl and harrier activity continued until it was almost too dark see, though the owls remained vocal well into the dusk. On the other hand, the Rough-legs had dispersed early with around a one hour pause between the last Rough-leg sighting and the appearance of the first Short-eared Owl.

All in all, a wonderful experience and special thanks to Laura and JoAnne for encouraging me to give it a go - what an amazing place for raptors!

Short-eared Owls - Washington County Grasslands WMA, February 21st, 2017.

Four of the flock of nine visible from the viewing deck. 

Northern Harrier - Washington County Grasslands WMA, February 21st, 2017.

Minimum of 12 individuals during the afternoon, including three males.

Rough-legged Hawks - Washington County Grasslands WMA, February 21st, 2017.

Minimum of six individuals seen from the viewing deck. 

Short-eared Owls - Washington County Grasslands WMA, February 21st, 2017.

OH - "the warbler capital".....more than just warblers.

Henslow's Sparrow - Ottawa NWR, Ottawa Co., OH. May 13th, 2016.

Very few birds are missed in NW Ohio in May thanks to the leaders of "The Biggest Week in American Birding" who keep tabs on all the good finds and provide up-to-the-minute information via a very active twitter feed. As a result, we were often provided with some rare treats such as exceptional views of roosting Eastern Whip-poor-wills and Common Nighthawks, and even the odd rarity such as the Curlew Sandpiper in full breeding plumage near Swanton - not too shabby!

Eastern Whip-poor-will - Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 14th, 2016.

 Common Nighthawk - Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 15th, 2016.

Common Nighthawk - Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 15th, 2016.

Curlew Sandpiper (right) - with Dunlin, near Swanton, OH. May 12th, 2016.

Sora - Pipe Creek Wildlife Area, Erie Co., OH. May 15th, 2016. 

Eastern Screech-owl - Maumee Bay SP, Lucas Co., OH. May 11th, 2016.

American Woodcock - Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 14th, 2016.

Veery - Maumee Bay SP, Lucas Co., OH. May 11th, 2016.

Eastern Wood Pewee - Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 15th, 2016.

OH - "the warbler capital"

Canada Warbler - Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 11th, 2016.

As much as I tend to be a little guarded about talking-up locations when it comes to birds and birding, I've yet to come across any place in North America that could match North-west Ohio in May for warbler diversity. May 2016 was my fifth consecutive visit which, combined with an excurision into Michigan for Kirtland's Warbler (and other breeding birds and migrants) gave our Birdfinders group 31 species of warbler for the tour. That tally matched the previous tours but the species compostition was different on all four trips! Although the famous boardwalk at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area was crowded at times, the rich array of habitats close by served us well and we often slipped away to find some of our own birds. If North American warblers are your thing, then NW Ohio has to be a 'must visit' location - I certainly haven't seen anything quite like it in my travels in the US.

 Blackburnian Warbler - male, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 15th, 2016.

 Blackburnian Warbler - female, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 14th, 2016. 

 Bay-breasted Warbler - male, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 14th, 2016.

Bay-breasted Warbler - male, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 13th, 2016.

 Chestnut-sided Warbler - male, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 15th, 2016.

Blackpoll Warbler - male, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 13th, 2016.

 Cape May Warbler - male, Maumee Bay SP, Lucas Co., OH. May 11th, 2016.

Cape May Warbler - male, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 14th, 2016.

Black-throated Green Warbler - male, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 15th, 2016. 

Golden-winged Warbler - female, Maumee Bay SP, Lucas Co., OH. May 15th, 2016. 

 Magnolia Warbler - Maumee Bay SP, Lucas Co., OH. May 15th, 2016. 

 Magnolia Warbler - male, Maumee Bay SP, Lucas Co., OH. May 15th, 2016.  

Mourning Warbler - male, Maumee Bay SP, Lucas Co., OH. May 15th, 2016.  

Northern Parula - male, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 15th, 2016. 

Prothonotary Warbler - Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 14th, 2016. 

Northern Waterthrush - Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 14th, 2016. 

Wilson's Warbler - male, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 15th, 2016. 

Philadelphia Vireo - Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Lucas Co., OH. May 15th, 2016. 

MA - gulls at Turner's Falls: Feb, second week.

Kumlien's Iceland Gulls ( 3 first-cycle) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 15th, 2017.

It's been another productive week for gull watching at Turner's Falls with good numbers of birds turning up on either side of a major winter storm event on the 12th/13th. Glaucous Gulls were notably absent in what seems to be a relatively poor winter for that species locally. However, Kumlien's Iceland Gulls continued in good numbers throughout with 4 - 6 present on each day that I checked including the first adult of the winter on the 13th-14th. The adult Lesser Black-backed Gull remained throughout but was joined by a third-cycle bird on the 10th -11th and up to two first-cycle birds, also on 10th -11th. Brian Kane and I also observed a first-cycle Nelson's Gull (Glaucous x Herring hybrid) on the 11th, the first such hybrid that we've seen this winter. With Barton Cove being completely frozen most of the gulls have been using the power canal where up to 4 Ring-necked Ducks and a Greater Scaup continue, all of them drakes.

Kumlien's Iceland Gulls (first-cycle) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 13th, 2017.

Kumlien's Iceland Gull (adult) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 13th -14th, 2017.

Lesser Black-backed Gull ( third-cycle) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 11th, 2017.

Lesser Black-backed Gull (first-cycle) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 11th, 2017.

Center bird in all images above.

Lesser Black-backed Gulls (third-cycle, left, first-cycle upper middle) with Kumlien's Iceland Gull (first-cycle) -Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 11th, 2017.