I spotted five Rough-legged Hawks (3 dark morphs, 2 light) and five Short-eared Owls during my mid/late afternoon visit to the Shawangunk Grasslands today. At least twice as many owls were reported just recently, but with NE winds and the wet snow covering the landscape, I was still blessed with the best seat in the house standing at the eastern end of one airstrip: directly above me, two owls engaged one another concerning a Meadow Vole that had been caught minutes before the encounter. Indeed, standing still enough, I found that any of the hunting owls would routinely fly close enough at eye level to make the spotting scope unnecessary. Quite a show!! The height of activity for both the rough-leggeds and the owls were seemingly in lockstep with the crows traveling to roost, so perhaps the cloud cover thickening in advance of sunset proper played a hand here.
\\ Arthur -- Arthur W. Green <[email protected]> Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch, Bedford, NY http://www.bedfordaudubon.org/hawkwatch.html http://www.hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=534 -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
