4/12/14 to 4/13/14 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)
Last night, I once again drove to the William C. Whitney Wilderness Area to listen for owls. I found 7 owls on Sabattis Circle Road and the road to Sabattis Station - added to the 2 Barred Owls at our home, 9 owls in one night might be a new record for me. I was out until 2:30 a.m. and if I didn't have an Audubon meeting this morning, I would have stayed out all night since I was in owl heaven. I found 2 Northern Saw-whet Owls, 3 Great Horned Owls (a pair hooting back and forth, and another bird with prey), and 2 Barred Owls. Back toward Sabattis Station I had to swerve to avoid something white in the road when I came over the crest of a hill. It looked like it might be a dead animal and I decided to look more closely on the way out. As I approached it later on, I could see it was a Snowshoe Hare (transitioning from white to brown fur) - and suddenly an owl flew up from the road into a tree. It was a Great Horned Owl about 10 to 15 feet up in a branch. The scene was a bit comical as the owl looked back and forth from me to the hare - it almost appeared as if the owl feared I would take its meal! I was driving our Prius (which makes loud beeping sounds in reverse) so I put the car in neutral so it would coast back down the hill without sound - to distance myself from the owl and prey. The owl never moved. It watched me for a while and then flew to a tree over the hare. I was worried that I was keeping the owl from its food, and that it likely had young to feed, so I left. The owl's strange body and head movements were fascinating and I wish I could have taken a video of the whole scene. It is really impressive that Great Horned Owls can kill such large prey. The surprise of the night was finding a vocalizing *Green Heron (4/12/14) near the Round Lake outlet into Little Tupper Lake! I also heard the chewer again - it was definitely a Beaver since it gave a loud tail splash when I got out of my car to listen to a Northern Saw-whet Owl! Last night, I kept count of American Woodcocks from the outlet of Little Tupper Lake past Sabattis Bog to the intersection with Route 30, and then back to Sabattis Station - about 11 miles (I didn't do any stops on the way to Little Tupper Lake from the Long Lake end). I found 27 Amer. Woodcocks - at nearly every stop and many were in the road, and one I nearly hit as it suddenly shot across the road in front of my car. One of the birds in the road refused to move, so I watched it for a long time. I am out at night a lot in breeding season and Route 30 between Long Lake and Tupper Lake also has remarkable numbers of woodcocks - you can stop nearly anywhere along that road and hear several. An adult *Golden Eagle was observed soaring over Long Lake this afternoon by Charlotte Demers and myself as we drove to Long Lake from Tupper Lake. Joan Collins Long Lake, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
