Yesterday (Sunday, 22 January), Laura Long and I visited the Short-eared
Owl site near Zion Crossroads (Louisa County) that has been described
earlier (David Spears's 4 Jan VA-BIRD post includes directions and local
geography details).
Laura and I arrived at the appropriate spot along Rt 617, a mile east of
Rt 15, at 04:55 p.m. We stopped near the lone house and were delighted
to immediately see a Short-eared (SE) Owl about 50 yards ahead, perched
on the wooden fence. As we quietly exited our Jeep, Laura spied a second
SE Owl in the grass near the first.
The birds soon got up, flying low over the surrounding fields, mostly
south of Rt 617, but also occasionally wandering across and north of the
unpaved road. At 05:00 p.m., one of the owls dove into the south-side
field and disappeared. It soon came back into view, rising into the sky
with a small animal in its talons.
A female Northern Harrier then appeared. Owl and harrier flew fairly
tight circles around each other as they rose ever higher. The harrier
made multiple awkward attempts to steal the owl's catch. When both
birds were 6 or 7 stories above the ground, the owl suddenly released
its catch, and the harrier dove all the way to the ground, pursuing the
plummeting animal.
We now noted the second SE Owl's re-appearance. It had likely been
nearby while we were concentrating on the harrier-owl dinner tussle. The
two owls flew in relative proximity, close to terra firma, patrolling
the fields about 100 yards south of Rt 617. We last saw the female
Northern Harrier at 05:10 p.m.
One of the SE Owls then perched for several minutes in a medium-sized
tree, offering a fine opportunity for high magnification scope study.
Facing east, the bird's body remained quite still, though it repeatedly
swiveled its striking head from south to north and back. This bird
eventually flew off to the west and out of view.
From 05:13 to 05:25 p.m., as the daylight dimmed, no owls were in sight.
Scanning the fields with scope, binocs, and naked eye, we soon spotted
one of the SE Owls perched in a field of corn stubble a bit east of our
location and south of Rt 617. This bird took flight, and we had another
long, though increasingly dark, continuous observation interval from
05:25 - 05:40 p.m. The bird flew back and forth across the road and was
never very far from us.
With a crack of thunder and an impressively brilliant bolt of lightning,
large raindrops began to pelt us at 05:40 p.m. Laura and I reluctantly
retreated to the Jeep and started home, having very much enjoyed our
late afternoon visit with these two cooperative Short-eared Owls.
Mark Adams
Charlottesville
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