11/12/18 Magic. Yesterday was cold (30) with wind and snow all day/evening, but we persevered in checking out what birds might be visiting up Hwy 79. The visibility was low, so we didn't find much at Winfield Dam. B.K. Leach was rather subdued, but arriving at Clarence Cannon NWR around 1PM, we were treated to a magnificent experience. Immediately upon driving up to the visitors center, a Short-eared Owl flew over the car. Thinking this was a bit unusual, we drove through the refuge and found that they were literally everywhere we went. In one particular spot, we stopped to film and photograph them, still not believing what we were seeing. (They were defying all the stereotypes about them - that they did not like wind, snow or to hunt during the day.) We counted 23 owls in just this one spot - 14 on my side of the car, 9 on Andy's side.

The owls seemed to dominate the particular area we filmed, but Northern Harriers were also everywhere - literally. Ducks were in the hundreds, Eagles flew about, Pipits were plentiful, Lapland Longspurs were easy to find, a flock of pure Rusties was foraging and so much more. We made a video of the owls to share. If the link does not work for you, copy and paste it into your browser: