Date: 2/6/25 6:26 am From: Joan Collins <joancollins...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Jefferson Co. Raptors
Hi Everyone,
Mary Beth Warburton and I led a Northern New York Audubon field trip to Jefferson Co. on February 4-5, 2025. As usual when we hold this field trip, we offered for participants to join us for owling the day before and every participant stayed overnight! I just wanted to get a quick message out regarding the remarkable late-afternoon - evening we had on Feb. 4. Our group of 9 birded Favret Road starting around 3:30 p.m. The numbers of Short-eared Owls were astounding. It seemed impossible to count them - they were in every direction, and more and more came out as it got later. They were interacting (often as many as 6 flying around together), vocalizing, capturing prey, having tiffs with Northern Harriers, etc.! They were out over the fields, behind homes, in the bushy habitat, on low perches, on telephone poles, up the road - every direction you looked. I am certain I'll never see such a spectacle again. And then we headed to Ashland WMA on the advice of one of the local participants and we found 7 more! Jack Peneston was doing eBird reports and he put 25 in for Short-eared Owl to be conservative. We didn't cover the side roads off Favret, or Point Peninsula (in late afternoon - early evening) where there are more. It would be really interesting to get a better idea of the sheer numbers in Jefferson Co. this winter - it would take several birders and several afternoons/evenings to figure it out. On Wednesday, we birded from 7:30 to 2:30 (in 11 below zero during the early morning!). We covered Point Peninsula and found 3 Snowy Owls in the morning hours (likely you would see more late in the day), remarkable numbers of Rough-legged Hawks (with many vocalizing on Point Peninsula!) (remarkable numbers everywhere we went with open habitat), and a Northern Shrike. Water was all frozen: Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River in areas we visited so no waterfowl except Canada Geese in the fields.
Jack Peneston not only did eBird reports, he was photographing all the birds. I dropped him off at the hotel to get his car at 3:30 p.m. yesterday. He had a 3-hour drive home and hadn't slept much in the hotel, but he said, "I'm going back to Favret Road!" He said he got home at 9 p.m. I love his enthusiasm! He sent lovely photos of Short-eared Owls with prey from his second afternoon-evening with the owls! Obviously the food sources are excellent for raptors in Jefferson Co. this winter.
Just a note: we went back to Favret Road on 2/5 at 2:30 p.m. on our way back to the hotel and Short-eared Owls were not out yet. The prior day, we were there around 3:30 p.m. and they were in every direction. So that would be an ideal time to arrive to see them.
While we were all watching a young Snowy Owl on a telephone pole on the morning of 2/5 (Hardscrabble Rd. on Pt. Peninsula), Mary Beth spotted one a great distance away on the ground. I looked with my scope and saw it waddling like ET in the snow! It picked its head up and had a large prey item in its beak!
It was a wonderful trip with great company, lots of enthusiasm, remarkable numbers of raptors, and beautiful sunsets. Jefferson Co. is one of my favorite places to go birding year-round.
Joan Collins
Long Lake, NY
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