Larimer Short-eared Owl Update on 2/25

[DAVID A LEATHERMAN]

Three Short-eared Owls were first seen on Sunday (2/22) along Buckeye Road (Larimer CR82) near the Rawhide Power Plant.  These owls were first seen about 4:30pm perched on roadside poles about 3.9 miles west of I-25 (Exit 288).  After 5pm they began to hunt south of the road in tall, tan grass and one was seen eating a vole just beyond the fenceline on the south side of Buckeye Road.  This area south of the road is marked by three, low, square, camo-pattern goose blinds.  Once, one of the owls actually landed on the middle blind.

On Monday (2/23) the owls were spotted by Ken Pals at 2:30 roosting amid a cluster of tall rabbitbrush shrubs near the 1599 Buckeye Road mailbox.  This point is about 4.2 miles west of I-25.  The owls flushed up on a pole and wire above this mailbox, where they apparently remained until almost 6pm.

Last night (2/24) several people had both ends of the activity zone staked out.  No owls were seen until well after sundown (6:10 or so).  Barely visible, at least one owl was confirmed flying amid human structures (houses, outbuildings, white tank, and a blue barn with gray roof) on a private road marked "No Trespassing" on the south side of Buckeye Road west of Buddy Rooster Lane (this area is about 3.7 miles west of I-25).  At one point I saw three big birds on fence posts along that "No Trespassing" road but cannot say for certain they were owls or harriers, but owls would seem more likely.  Needless to say, nobody was satisfied with the looks they got, or almost got, last night.

Three days, three very different activity schedules, all within an area south of Buckeye road from 3.5 to 4.2 miles west of I-25.  My guess would be the weather this evening will suppress owl activity altogether and searching would not be worth it.

My guess is also that the snow we are supposed to get tonight MIGHT put them back along Buckeye Road in search of rodents on Thursday (2/26) evening, if it's not too windy.  Just a guess.

I would also point out the few folks who live south of Buckeye Road in a scattered "development" of sorts probably live there in part to avoid people.  Birder cars seemed to get them curious last night as they passed by and returned to their homes after work, and I would not be surprised if owl seekers get asked what they are doing at some point.   Obviously, birders should stay on Buckeye Road, not jump fences, not go down any of the private roads.  The Rawhide Power Plant property north of the road has not had any owl activity that I know of and is populated by bison and under constant video surveillance. 

Also, I should mention the Visitor Overlook on the south side of Hamilton Reservoir (south of the power plant, proper) has NOT been open any of the last three nights and it will probably remain closed if they get any more snow tonight.

Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins

[David Wade]

This evening (2/26), Georgia Doyle and I spotted 2 maybe 3 of the Short-eared Owls on Buckeye Road (Larimer Co Road 82) near the Rawhide Power Plant. At about 6:08 pm after a long chilly stake-out for the owls we were parked just west of the entrance to Visitor Overlook (closed today) and about 200 meters east of Buddy Rooster Lane. As the light faded away our hopes of seeing the owls were dimming too, so, when a large owl just seemed to materialize on a pole ahead of us, we both thought it was one of the Short-eared owls. When we moved towards it to get a better look it leapt of the pole and then, another owl coming from the Overlook area appeared right behind it. The lead owl landed atop another pole on Buddy Rooster and the trailing owl gave it close aggressive  buzz-by then swooped up and around back towards us. We could clearly see the bat-like fluttering  of a Short-eared Owl. The lead owl moved further south onto another pole. Magically, a third owl emerged from the ether to join the SEOW in mothy flight. As this was happening we moved onto Buddy Rooster Lane and I was thinking, okay thats the known 3 Short-eareds.  The two SEOW  in the air gave the pole sitting owl a few more buzz-bys causing it to rise onto the sky too. I found the 3 owls with my binoculars and poof, a fourth! owl joined the menagerie - WOW. All the owls were flying around in all directions and it was tough to focus on any single one but one owl did land on another pole. In a desperate attempt for a photo, I raced ahead towards the owl on the pole where we both saw the "horns" of a Great Horned Owl. With confidence I can say we saw 1 Great Horned Owl and 2 Short-eared Owls, without confidence we saw 3 Short-eareds. 

My suspicion is the SEOW were roosting in the Junipers of the large wind-break at the Visitors Overlook the last three days. Right at dusk, they cross the Buckeye Road, fly down Buddy Rooster Lane a bit, then turn west and hunt the grasslands from there. My advice would be to post yourself on Buckeye Road near Buddy Rooster Lane just before 6 pm.

Finally, during our stake-out we saw a Belted Kingfisher on the telephone wires along Buckeye Road. A bit incongruous on a cold snowy day but not surprising considering Hamilton Reservoir is less than a mile away.

David Wade

Ft Collins CO