On Friday my wife and I went up the Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge along Oil City Road in search of Short-eared Owls - wow! As the sun set they began to appear one at a time until, at the peak, there were 8 Owls visible at the same time flying low over the snow and ice covered marshes. Also, we had been alerted by some other birders of the presence of a Barn Owl that had been appearing over the eastern edge of the marsh visible from the parking area and viewing platform at Oil City Road, and sure enough, he appeared - late, his white face shining as the light was fading.
In addition to the owls, earlier during the afternoon, there were perhaps as many as 4 to 6 Rough-legged Hawks. They kept appearing and disappearing, but at one point there were 4 visible at one time seen at various distances. There were also numerous Northern Harriers and among them 2 "Grey Ghosts." -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
