Leader : Rob Bate
(NOTE: Venue was changed to Shawangunk Grasslands due to absence of Short-eared Owls at Walkill NWR)
The trip up to the Shawangunk Grasslands and Blue Chip Farm was a great success yesterday. It was but four of us, Edith, Janet Schumacher, Donna and myself, but we were all treated to great views of our sought after birds, Short-eared Owls, Rough-legged Hawks and Northern Harriers. We searched for the Cackling Goose but could not find it in the large flock of Canadas; a Snow Goose stood out like a white thumb though, evidently long resident with the larger flock.
The Roughies, both light and dark morphs, were perched up nicely when we got to the grassland and the Harriers were working the fields and surrounding areas. Finally around 4:30 the Short-eared Owls began to appear, first just one flying and later up to 5 flying at once. They perched up in easy scoping distance at times giving everyone lifetime views of the birds. A "Gray Ghost" Harrier also put in an appearance and at times there could be maybe twelve or so raptors in the air and perched up in view at the same time.
Evidently the reason why there were no owls at Wallkill NWR this year could be that the torrential rains in the spring and summer flooded all the fields drowning all the voles and mice; no food - no owls.
Shwangunk Grassland, Ulster, US-NY
Feb 18, 2012 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
19 species
Snow Goose 1
Canada Goose 500
Mute Swan 2
Mallard 8
Black Vulture 3
Turkey Vulture 25
Northern Harrier 8
Red-tailed Hawk 4
Rough-legged Hawk 4
Short-eared Owl 6
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 10
American Crow 30
Black-capped Chickadee 1
American Robin 1
European Starling 100
Common Grackle 25
House Finch 5
House Sparrow 5
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
