Avid birders tend to have a modest number of birding locations (perhaps 6-8) that they visit on a regular basis. Over time, however, some of these destinations become congested with walkers, bikers or vehicle traffic; we thus search for other local birding spots that offer a mix of natural habitat and a reasonable degree of solitude.
This morning, I visited a new spot myself, a 2 mile long country road lined by crop fields, pastures and woodlands; one of the latter stretches along a creek bed. During my brief tour (just over half an hour), I encountered 11 avian species. Most of these were common permanent or winter residents but one was a lone short-eared owl, the first I have seen this season.
Unlike most owls, short-ears are often active during the day, hunting in open country from a fencepost or by flying low across a grassland or crop field; they feed primarily on birds and small mammals. By April, they return to breeding areas throughout the northwest quadrant of the Lower 48 and northward into Canada and Alaska.
