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Re: short eared owls



This is off-topic for the list, so I'll include a snippet of ObCarolinabirds
at the bottom...

Greg Dodge mailed me about the location of the Short-eared Owls that Steve
Schultz, his wife Tracy, and I went to see.  Here are directions:

, the owls are quite easy to find - they are actually N. of I-64.  Take US
15 about 2.7 miles N. from I-64 to VA 617.  Turn right onto VA 617 and go a
mile or so until the road makes a sharp left then right turn in front of a
large white farm house - just past this farm (which will be on your right)
is a small pond.  The owls are in the fields around the pond and those on
the opposite side of the road as well.  This is all private property, so do
NOT leave the shoulder (such as it is) of the road (which is a gravel one).
Just pull as far to the side as you can.  You should be able to get good
views of the owls as they hunt, and with a little perserverance, you can
probably find them sitting on the ground.  A scope is worthwhile for this
purpose.  I would recommend arriving around 3:45-4:00, then waiting around
until dusk - if you don't want that long of a look, get there a little
later, but some should be active before dusk (we had them in the air several
times, at one point I had three flying across my binocs at the same time).
There will probably be one or more harriers around as well.

Happy Birding,

-Sandy

--
Sandy Cash
Durham, NC
scash@mindspring.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg" <cbirdpro@ix.netcom.com>
To: <scash@mindspring.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2001 3:22 PM
Subject: short eared owls


Sandy,

I saw a posting by Steve Shultz in which he says you went up to VA to see
the snowy owl and stopped off at an area that has short eared owls.  I'd
contact Steve himself but his last posting indicates that he is headed out
of town for a few days. Could you, or rather, would you tell me a little bit
about that location (s-e owls).  He (Steve) states that it is near the
intersection of US 15 & I 64, easy enough.  Is it south of 64 near Zion
Crossroads? or north of the highway?  Can the birds be approached?  Are they
on private property?

My purpose is to get video footage of the birds.  The only other location
that I  am sure of getting fairly close to short eareds is in coastal NJ­a
bit too far for me to go right now, so a trip to VA sounds real good, if it
seems the birds are in an area condusive to photography.

By the way, I was at Windmill Point Saturday, Dec. 30 and got some nice
footage of the Snowy Owl.  There were other birders there at the time, so I
waited until they left and got within 30' of the owl.  The owl showed very
little concern for my being there.

Anyway, any help you can give me will certainly be appreciated.

thanks,

greg
--
Greg Dodge
Durham, NC
http://www.brownbagproductions.com