Northern Hawk Owl

[Carl Alessi]

I am not sure how this group is handling the reporting of sensitive bird species now.  Since this bird has already been reported here, I will as well.  I have not included the exact location in this post and waited 24 hours to report it.  The bird did not seem to be bothered by the  highway traffic. We did not encounter anyone else looking at the bird.

We took a drive up route 11 yesterday and initially did not see the NHOW.  Driving south from Eagle Lake the Hawk Owl flew from the tall grass with a small brown object which he(she)  proceeded to scarf down.   Bird seen on wire by on east side of the road. Seemed to be actively hunting in adjacent fields and tall grass under the wire and beside the road. We parked off the road  50-75  yards south of the bird and stayed by our vehicle. The bird then  flew and landed on the wire within ten yards of us, providing excellent looks and photo ops.  He (she?) proceeded to fly several more times to different spots on the wire. Plunged into the grasses several times.   Finally flew into a copse of trees on the west side of the road.

[Dana Valleau]

Carl,

Great photos and report! There is an abundance of meadow voles this year in the fields, woods, and structures in the area. We could use the help of any predator to thin them out. I only saw a large and beautiful bull moose in that area this morning.

You raise a good point on sharing the locations of sensitive species. While rare I did not even consider and overlooked the hawk owl as a sensitive species as in my experience the ones I have observed have not been visibly disturbed by human activity. Any reminders and thoughts on how to report locations are welcome!

Birding has been good this past week with a northern shrike in T14 R6, a flock of Bohemian waxwings in Eagle Lake, a first year golden eagle near the junction of Rte 161 and New Canada Road, 3 redheads in a pond along Rte 161 in New Canada, and a good number of evening and pine grosbeaks scattered throughout.

Dana

Dana Valleau

72 Sherman Road

Liberty, Maine 04949

Mobile: (207) 215-4582

On Oct 30, 2022, at 10:44 AM, Carl Alessi <cfale...@gmail.com> wrote:

I am not sure how this group is handling the reporting of sensitive bird species now.  Since this bird has already been reported here, I will as well.  I have not included the exact location in this post and waited 24 hours to report it.  The bird did not seem to be bothered by the  highway traffic. We did not encounter anyone else looking at the bird.

We took a drive up route 11 yesterday and initially did not see the NHOW.  Driving south from Eagle Lake the Hawk Owl flew from the tall grass with a small brown object which he(she)  proceeded to scarf down.   Bird seen on wire by on east side of the road. Seemed to be actively hunting in adjacent fields and tall grass under the wire and beside the road. We parked off the road  50-75  yards south of the bird and stayed by our vehicle. The bird then  flew and landed on the wire within ten yards of us, providing excellent looks and photo ops.  He (she?) proceeded to fly several more times to different spots on the wire. Plunged into the grasses several times.   Finally flew into a copse of trees on the west side of the road.

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