Hello Cayuga-area birders, I am hoping your checklists are already full of our wintering species! Every year, NYS DEC regions statewide begin collecting data for Short-eared owls and Northern harriers. This data is used to formulate strategies to manage habitat on which they depend, protect these areas from potential disturbance, and overall learn more about their habits and migratory patterns. There are so many areas here in DEC Region 8 that may be suitable for these birds to forage, roost, or just hang out-therefore we depend on volunteers to help us survey so we may maximize observations. I am responsible for coordinating surveys out of the Hector Ranger Station (5218 Rt 414 Hector, NY). We meet once every two weeks on Thursday evenings to get volunteer surveyors ready and out to their assigned location by 30 mins before sunrise. Once the survey begins, we encourage folks to record any raptors they see, but especially focus on short-ears and harriers for their activity/behavior. The survey then lasts till 30 minutes after sunrise, and once completed, we convene back at the meeting location to drop off data sheets and converse about our sightings. The meeting times from now until April will be between 4:00 pm and 6:30 pm, about an hour before survey times begin. Our next survey will be held Thursday, March 5th. We will be meeting at the address above at 4:30pm to allow time for a brief introduction to our target species and the survey process. And, like every other survey meeting, it will include snacks and great company! We encourage any interested individuals to participate in as many or as few surveys as you would like throughout the season. And if you cannot participate but would still like to help, it would be greatly appreciated if you could reach out with details regarding early short-eared owl observations (usually occur in late autumn). We keep our eyes peeled on eBird but understand that folks may want to keep sighting location information private. Meeting Times: 3/5: 4:30 pm 3/19: 5:45 pm 4/2: 6:00 pm 4/16: 6:15 pm (Last Day) 4/30: 6:30 pm
If you would like to know more about these surveys or are interested in participating, please email me at danielle.mey...@dec.ny.gov<mailto:danielle.mey...@dec.ny.gov>. We hope to see you soon! Danielle Meyers Wildlife Technician, Division of Fish and Wildlife New York State Department of Environmental Conservation 6274 E. Avon-Lima Road, Avon, NY 14414 P: (585) 226-5386 | F: (585) 226-6323 | danielle.mey...@dec.ny.gov<mailto:danielle.mey...@dec.ny.gov> www.dec.ny.gov<http://www.dec.ny.gov/> | [facebook-icon] <https://www.facebook.com/NYSDEC> | [twiiter-icon] <https://twitter.com/NYSDEC> | [instagram-icon] <https://www.instagram.com/nysdec/> [cid:image012.jpg@01D5E71E.DCFC1200] -- 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/ --
