Helen, Though unlikely it is, of course, possible. The long ears and thin body of the LEOW should be distinctive though. I can't recall ever seeing a LEOW on a pole before (but then again I do not get to see them that often). Hope some others chime here on this subject. God Bless,
Paul Roisen Sioux City, IA Woodbury County 712-276-0371(H) 712-301-2817(C) ________________________________ From: Helen Harvey <[email protected]> To: IA-BIRD <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, January 16, 2012 9:49 AM Subject: [ia-bird] LE vs SE owl @ owego Yesterday I took a friend to Owego, south of SIoux City, at dusk to view the short-eared owls. We got some fantastic views of probably 6 different SEOWs- many in flight, one interaction between two birds, and fairly up-close views of two individuals who remained perched on sign posts as our car ground to a halt and another car drove past. (Also a northern harrier) After sunset, just south of the main complex (in that triangular field area), as we looked almost 1/4 mile to the west, I saw an owl silhouetted on an old phone pole. The owl had ear-tufts so obvious that my first thought was GHO. We couldn't get close to that owl, but as we continued down the road, a SE owl flushed off the road sign, flew to and landed on the next phone pole down from the owl with the prominent ear-tufts. The two birds appeared roughly the same size. We saw these ear-tufts in binocs, from just under 1/4 mile away, but ruled-out GHO due to the size. What are the odds that it was a long-eared owl? Thanks! helen Sioux City --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected] --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
