On Tuesday morning, I watched 14 American Crows trying to persuade a GREAT HORNED OWL to volunteer to give up its perch in the hemlocks by the East Trail gate. Eventually, the crows re-accommodated the owl to another dense hemlock stand in the center of the East Trail loop. Alas, they were now so far from the trail that I could hardly see the crows, let alone the owl. But probably anyone on the whole east side of the sanctuary could have heard the crows continuing relentlessly to blame the owl for at least half an hour.
This was the first Great Horned Owl that I’ve found by day on any of my countless trips to Sapsucker Woods. The owl’s first perch was also probably the lowest I’ve ever seen for this species – probably only about 6-8 feet off the ground. Other highlights include a bright yellow BLUE-HEADED VIREO singing by the Severinghaus Trail gate and a HERMIT THRUSH near the shelter on the East Trail. For at least a couple of weeks, one AMERICAN WOODCOCK has been displaying in the weedy field north of the overflow parking lot of the YMCA in south Lansing, near Ciao! and BJ’s. I find that this bird is a little easier to spot during takeoff and descent than usual, maybe because of the lighting or the small size of the plot. But you’ll probably need your binoculars if you want to watch the whole display flight against the dark sky. Most nights, I hear just one woodcock here, but last night I heard a second far to the north, plus this first woodcock’s echo against the wall of the Y. 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/[email protected]/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/ --
