Tag Archives: Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl and Franklin’s Gulls, October 29, 2015

Snow Buntings

Snow Buntings (click to see the larger version)

The gusty west winds produced a Short-eared Owl and 9 Franklin’s Gulls this morning, October 29. The owl flushed out of the dunes and the Franklin’s flew south over the east end of the beach. I only spent an hour in the field so I imagine there were more Franklin’s moving. I also had a Greater Yellowlegs on the beach, a Wilson’s Snipe in the dunes, 2 Snow Buntings, and 15 or so Pine Siskins at the point. The Snow Buntings posed obligingly on the fishing pier for a photograph (try to ignore the graffiti).

Long-eared and Short-eared Owls, April 1, 2014

I had both Long-eared and Short-eared Owls this morning, April 1. The Short-eared Owl flushed from the dunes at the east end of the beach and flew out over the lake. This is fairly typical behavior for Short-eareds at Montrose. The Long-eared owl was roosting comfortably in the protected area on the east side of the Point. I saw nothing else of note.

Franklin’s Gulls, October 26, 2013

Karen and I spent a couple hours at Montrose on October 26.
The highlight were a 100 or so Franklin’s Gulls. Most were flying over
and continuing south but a few spent some time on the beach. The largest
flock was about 50 birds, the smallest 4. This is one of my best counts
of Franklin’s Gulls at Montrose ever, a consequence no doubt of the
recent strong westerly winds. In addition to the Franklin’s we had a
number of other birds of interest, including:

American Bittern – 1 in the dunes
Bonaparte’s Gull – 6, all first cycle birds
Short-eared Owl – 2 flying around the dunes and over the lake
Greater Yellowlegs – 1 on the beach
Wilson’s Snipe – 1
American Woodcock – 1
Lapland Longspur – 1
Snow Bunting – 2
American Pipit – 1

West winds in late October do a birder good.

Long-eared and Short-eared Owls, April 13, 2013

Long-eared Owl. Photo by Kanae Hirabayashi. (click to see the larger version)

Both Long-eared and Short-eared Owls were at Montrose on Saturday, April 13. The Long-eared Owl was roosting in a vine tangle near the Magic Hedge and the Short-eared Owl was flying around the point. Two Long-eared Owls were in the same area the day before. Seeing both Asio owls in the same day at Montrose is unusual, and I can’t remember the last time I’ve done this. It continues to be an unusually cold spring in the Midwest and as a result migration is behind schedule.

Short-eared Owl, April 4, 2013

I had a Short-eared Owl this morning, my first of spring at Montrose. I was standing at the end of the fishhook pier when the bird flew in front of me and out over the lake. I suspect the bird flushed out of the dunes. I also had a small group of Redheads and Greater and Lesser Scaup in the lake off the end of the pier. Other than that I saw nothing else of note.