Hi all,

Ran up to Big Island Wildlife Area (Marion County) around dusk this evening, and was rewarded with a half-dozen Short-eared Owls, seen from the observation platform on the north side of State Route 95, a bit to the west of State Route 203. The owls were putting on quite a show, hunting the fields and on occasion coming quite close to the platform. These beasts are one of the world's more antisocial animals, and it was fun to watch numerous agonistic encounters between the owls, or an owl versus a Northern Harrier, complete with terrier-like yapping by the owls. I'd say that if you want a great Short-eared Owl show, this would be an excellent place to visit. Given the numbers of raptors in the Big Island/Killdeer Plains area right now, there must be an exceptional crop of meadow voles, so I suspect the birds will be around for a while.

Went on up to Killdeer Plains afterwards, in the dark. A pair of Great Horned Owls was duetting back and forth near the Sportsman's Center. At the junction of the next road due west of the center - 75 and 123 - there was a pair of Eastern Screech-Owls calling up a storm, and a Barred Owl was booming from a nearby woodlot.

Not a bad showing of owls for an evening.

Jim McCormac

Jim McCormac
Columbus, Ohio
Like Nature? http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/
Like Birds? http://www.ohiobirds.org/



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