The alarm calls of several Blue Jays and American Crows drew me over to the eastern Severinghaus/Wilson nexus in Sapsucker Woods on Wednesday morning (6:40 AM). There I found two BARRED OWLS. One owl fought back, especially chasing the crows (first time I’ve seen counter-aggression from this species), while the other owl perched quietly, apparently unseen by the corvid mob.
On Monday, I believe that many people saw one Barred Owl along this stretch where the two trails overlap, between the map stand (the aforementioned eastern intersection point), and the shelter (the western intersection point). On Monday, Miyoko and I saw this owl north of the trail toward the pond, but today, the owls were south of the trail. I am mindful that these owls are presumably breeding here, and that disturbance could stress them at a sensitive time. But I hope that other people might happen upon these birds as I did. Certainly, a chorus of alarm calls in this area is worth checking out! I didn’t find too many other migrants on a quick circuit of the pond – a NORTHERN PARULA, an OVENBIRD possibly newly arrived on a territory, a SOLITARY SANDPIPER, an EASTERN KINGBIRD, and others. I hope I was just too early, and that some more new birds are around. (Radar indicated descending birds at 5 AM today.) Mark Chao -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
