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On Thursday, 27 April, there were at least two, and possibly three, Burrowing Owls present at Glacial Ridge NWR in Polk County. One of the= owls was seen sitting beside a pocket gopher mound for a half-hour or s= o before flying off and engaging a second owl. What I believe was a thir= d owl appeared briefly during the altercation, but the owls were several hundred meters in the distance at this point. The identification of th= e third owl is based on a brief observation of flight pattern and very distant silhouette. The first two owls were well observed. So the goo= d news is that at least two Burrowing Owls are present, and their behavio= r suggests an interest in sticking around. The bad news is that the owls are not particularly accessible. At this= time, large portions of what will eventually become Glacial Ridge Natio= nal Wildlife Refuge are undergoing wetland restoration, are being burned, o= r are being seeded to native grass by Nature Conservancy restoration ecologists. The owls were on a portion of Nature Conservancy property = that will shortly be prepared for seeding as short grass prairie. The restoration might displace the owls temporarily, but the area is vast, = and one would expect that the owls will move around and return. Perhaps the best way to see the Burrowing Owls would be to respond to Jeanie Joppru's 4/28 email requesting survey help at Glacial Ridge. Otherwise, to look for the owls, you will probably need to do some cross-country walking... water-resistant footwear is recommended. Drive west on County Road 45 from where it leaves US 2 in Mentor. Afte= r crossing State Route 32, drive 3.3 miles. The owls were about a mile t= o a mile-half north of the railroad tracks that parallel CR 45. The first = owl had been perched on an area of higher ground beyond the visible large p= iles of rocks in the area )which are on lower, previosly tilled ground). Th= e area of higher ground is one of the "ridges" in the system, but these differences can be subtle when seen across the entire landscape. One c= ould try scanning for the owls from the railroad grade (be careful, there ar= e trains--long ones), but probably one would need to start walking north (with just a slight westerly component) to find them. Make sure you ar= e west of the large ditch that runs north about 3.1 miles plus from the R= oute 32 intersection (this ditch is also not necessarily easy to spot from t= he road unless you are right on top of it). Also present on Thursday was a flock of 500+ Lapland Longspurs, largely= males in full breeding plumage. And there were lots of Prairie Chicken= s, Marbled Godwits, Wilson's Snipe (no phalaropes that day), waterfowl, cranes, Northern Harriers, and a Peregrine Falcon. This is going to be= one spectacular area when restorations are complete! = --0__=09BBFBCCDFD3166C8f9e8a93df938690918c09BBFBCCDFD3166C Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Content-type: text/html; charset=US-ASCII Content-Disposition: inline <html><body> <p>On Thursday, 27 April, there were at least two, and possibly three, = Burrowing Owls present at Glacial Ridge NWR in Polk County. One of the= owls was seen sitting beside a pocket gopher mound for a half-hour or = so before flying off and engaging a second owl. What I believe was a t= hird owl appeared briefly during the altercation, but the owls were sev= eral hundred meters in the distance at this point. The identification = of the third owl is based on a brief observation of flight pattern and = very distant silhouette. The first two owls were well observed. So th= e good news is that at least two Burrowing Owls are present, and their = behavior suggests an interest in sticking around.<br> <br> The bad news is that the owls are not particularly accessible. At this= time, large portions of what will eventually become Glacial Ridge Nati= onal Wildlife Refuge are undergoing wetland restoration, are being burn= ed, or are being seeded to native grass by Nature Conservancy restorati= on ecologists. The owls were on a portion of Nature Conservancy proper= ty that will shortly be prepared for seeding as short grass prairie. T= he restoration might displace the owls temporarily, but the area is vas= t, and one would expect that the owls will move around and return.<br> <br> Perhaps the best way to see the Burrowing Owls would be to respond to J= eanie Joppru's 4/28 email requesting survey help at Glacial Ridge.<br> <br> Otherwise, to look for the owls, you will probably need to do some cros= s-country walking... water-resistant footwear is recommended.<br> <br> Drive west on County Road 45 from where it leaves US 2 in Mentor. Afte= r crossing State Route 32, drive 3.3 miles. The owls were about a mile= to a mile-half north of the railroad tracks that parallel CR 45. The = first owl had been perched on an area of higher ground beyond the visib= le large piles of rocks in the area )which are on lower, previosly till= ed ground). The area of higher ground is one of the "ridges"= in the system, but these differences can be subtle when seen across th= e entire landscape. One could try scanning for the owls from the railr= oad grade (be careful, there are trains--long ones), but probably one w= ould need to start walking north (with just a slight westerly component= ) to find them. Make sure you are west of the large ditch that runs no= rth about 3.1 miles plus from the Route 32 intersection (this ditch is = also not necessarily easy to spot from the road unless you are right on= top of it).<br> <br> Also present on Thursday was a flock of 500+ Lapland Longspurs, largely= males in full breeding plumage. And there were lots of Prairie Chicke= ns, Marbled Godwits, Wilson's Snipe (no phalaropes that day), waterfowl= , cranes, Northern Harriers, and a Peregrine Falcon. This is going to = be one spectacular area when restorations are complete!<br> <br> </body></html>= --0__=09BBFBCCDFD3166C8f9e8a93df938690918c09BBFBCCDFD3166C--
