[mou] Short-eared owls in Fillmore County

[Val/Roger]

Hello, fellow birders:
Yesterday (March 8) Kim Gordon and I set out to find those short-eared owls,
traveling down Hwy. 52 to Rochester, then Hwy. 63 southward through Spring
Valley. We followed Craig Mandel's excellent directions to find Beaver Creek
Wildlife Management Area:

 "To reach this location from Hwy. 63, go 1.9 miles West on CR 26, then
approx. 3/4 of a mile South and look for a group of small Coniferous trees
on the East side of the road with a parking lot." [the reason Craig doesn't
name the road that you go 3/4 mile south on is because there are no signs
indicating its name. Keep an eye on the odometer here.]

It was raining and we worried that this would reduce our chances to see the
owls. But the the minute we pulled into the small parking lot near the
coniferous trees, seven (7!) short-eared owls shot into the air, then
perched on fence posts and began hunting over the fields on either side of
the road. 

The rain stopped and we were able to watch the owls, and a female northern
harrier, hunting over the fields for a good hour, until night fell.

It was a spectacular sight; the short-ears sometimes look like gulls when
they're high in the air, with those long wings. When perched on posts, their
bodies resembled hawk owls'. And those great faces with the white facial
disks and the black shadowing around their big, yellow eyes--this is a great
owl!

Hope everyone gets to see them this late winter. And for those that count by
county, I believe the WMA is in Fillmore County.
 
The sights were also enjoyed by Kim's dog, Finn the Red Menace, a great
birding dog, maybe in the league with Laura Erickson's Photon.
Regards,
Val Cunningham
St. Paul, Minn.