2016 12-01 Delta-Staten Island
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Skies were clear. It was sunny but cool. The biggest environmental factor was the wind which blew non-top with gusts over 25 mph, in my opinion. The ground was only slightly muddy from the rains last week.
Driving down the road we saw very few raptors in comparison to our earlier trip to this location. Raptors were scarce. One possible American kestrel was sighted on a telephone wire but was hard to photograph due to back-lighting. At least one red-tailed hawk and one northern harrier were seen, but were very skittish and difficult to photograph. We continued down the road to the water tank with hopes of finding the great horned owl.
There were several open fields with mowed-down plants, perhaps rice, that contained a large number of sand hill cranes. There were a huge number of noisy cackling Canada geese on the ground and in the air. The strong winds mentioned above were from the west and created choppy conditions and whitecaps on the surface of the fields that were flooded. The winds also appeared to blow the coots down-wind and up against the levee on which the roadway was built. As we drove slowly along this roadway it caused the coots to synchronously take flight upwind like fans at a football game doing “the wave.”
Upon arriving at the water tank we did an extensive binocular survey of the underside of the platform holding the tank, especially looking at the hole where the owl was last time. It was so windy that it was very difficult to stand straight while looking up at the tank through binoculars. No owls were sighted there. A quick look at the ground below the tank turned up a lot of pellets.
Adjacent to the tank there is a storage barn where 5 or 6 large harvesting tractors are being stored for the winter. I was thinking perhaps, due to the wind, our great horned owl may have sought shelter inside this barn. Most of the front of this storage barn is open so the tractors can get in and out. We went inside, quietly moving around the edge of the building, and looking up into the rafters. At the far eastern edge of the rafters a large barn owl was seen roosting. It was very dark and impossible to photograph with the equipment on hand. Later I read online that there have been records of great horned owls preying on barn owls. I thought it curious the two species had been roosting so close to each other.
On our way out up the road there were several ponds with a large number of resting and feeding tundra swans. The swans were not present the last time we came here three weeks ago. A few took flight while we watched, and the scene was made more dramatic by the recent snowfall in the Sierra’s. Two hawks were observed mobbing a California gull on top of a levee near the road. The hawks moved a few dozen yards away from the gull as we drove slowly by.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
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Read MoreSkies were clear. It was sunny but cool. The biggest environmental factor was the wind which blew non-top with gusts over 25 mph, in my opinion. The ground was only slightly muddy from the rains last week.
Driving down the road we saw very few raptors in comparison to our earlier trip to this location. Raptors were scarce. One possible American kestrel was sighted on a telephone wire but was hard to photograph due to back-lighting. At least one red-tailed hawk and one northern harrier were seen, but were very skittish and difficult to photograph. We continued down the road to the water tank with hopes of finding the great horned owl.
There were several open fields with mowed-down plants, perhaps rice, that contained a large number of sand hill cranes. There were a huge number of noisy cackling Canada geese on the ground and in the air. The strong winds mentioned above were from the west and created choppy conditions and whitecaps on the surface of the fields that were flooded. The winds also appeared to blow the coots down-wind and up against the levee on which the roadway was built. As we drove slowly along this roadway it caused the coots to synchronously take flight upwind like fans at a football game doing “the wave.”
Upon arriving at the water tank we did an extensive binocular survey of the underside of the platform holding the tank, especially looking at the hole where the owl was last time. It was so windy that it was very difficult to stand straight while looking up at the tank through binoculars. No owls were sighted there. A quick look at the ground below the tank turned up a lot of pellets.
Adjacent to the tank there is a storage barn where 5 or 6 large harvesting tractors are being stored for the winter. I was thinking perhaps, due to the wind, our great horned owl may have sought shelter inside this barn. Most of the front of this storage barn is open so the tractors can get in and out. We went inside, quietly moving around the edge of the building, and looking up into the rafters. At the far eastern edge of the rafters a large barn owl was seen roosting. It was very dark and impossible to photograph with the equipment on hand. Later I read online that there have been records of great horned owls preying on barn owls. I thought it curious the two species had been roosting so close to each other.
On our way out up the road there were several ponds with a large number of resting and feeding tundra swans. The swans were not present the last time we came here three weeks ago. A few took flight while we watched, and the scene was made more dramatic by the recent snowfall in the Sierra’s. Two hawks were observed mobbing a California gull on top of a levee near the road. The hawks moved a few dozen yards away from the gull as we drove slowly by.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
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