Short-eared Owl. Photo by Kanae Hirabayashi.

Two Short-eared Owls were at Montrose yesterday morning. Both birds flushed from the dunes at the east end of the beach. Short-eared Owls are regular mid and late fall visitors to Montrose, and they occur most often after the passage of a cold front with accompanying westerly winds. When they flush from the dunes they often end up out over Lake Michigan where they are often set upon by marauding gulls. The photo at right was taken by Chicago birder and Montrose regular Kanae Hirabayashi.