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Posted by Rock Jetty on 16:49:20 09/25/06
Folks, as we were doing our regular sampling in the S332 areas (known as the "Manfredi Marsh" areas or the "232 Wetlands" in days of past), a colleague and I flushed a relatively large bird (as opposed to the Eastern Meadowlarks that we're always flushing) as we walked well into the rocky glades west of the S332C impoundment. The bird perched about 20 yards away on a small shrub about two feet off the ground. It looked at us and made a sharp, raspy single-note call (several times) while bobbing its head up and down.
Unfortunately for me I was carrying a GPS in one hand and a machete in the other, this last for the thick vegetation right off the impoundment berm. Where were my binoculars? In the car! Fortunately though, my eyesight is still decent, and I could tell for sure it was an owl. Even though I had never seen this species before, a process of elimination (not Barn, Barred, Great-horned, Eastern Screech, or Burrowing) quickly pointed to Short-eared.
I started to move closer to the bird and it took off again, giving me good looks at its dorsal side and overall body shape (rounded head and wings) and then perching in a snag farther away. The bird's dorsal pattern was very buffy, almost rufous. Given the amount of walking we were doing and how far we were from the car, going back for the binocs was not an option. I also didn't go to where the bird originally flushed from to see if there was a kill.
I didn't have a field guide with me (still don't, until I get home) so I don't know if this was the northern or the caribbean race. I called Toe and he was going to get back to me on that. Any feedback on that buffiness (it's the thing that stood out the most for me) would be helpful.
This area is restricted, it's managed by the South Florida Water Management District so I have mixed feelings about this posting. Yet this area, as well as most open fields in south Dade, are great habitat for these owls as well as Northern Harriers whom they associate with.
The moral of this real-life story is:
Machetes are cool...but binoculars are better for viewing Short-eared Owls.
Cheers,
RJ
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