Owl Prowl 2011

Yesterday, Mark Burns and I led our annual Mass Owl Prowl for the Brookline Bird Club. The intent of this trip is to locate, either by sight or by sound, all seven species of owl wintering on the Massachusetts mainland in one day. We started out like gangbusters at 4:30 AM, but the owling fizzled off after dawn and we ended the day with a disappointing score of 3-4. The day began in the low double digits and warmed up to a balmy 22 degrees by mid-afternoon. Fortunately for us the winds were light throughout the day. We ended the day at 5:30 PM with 51 species, followed by dinner at Lorenzo's in Middleboro. OWLS EASTERN SCREECH-OWL 5 4 on Crooked Lane, Lakeville, 1 on Wood Street in Middleboro GREAT HORNED OWL 5 We had 4-5 GHOWs hooting simultaneously from all four compass directions near Raven Brook at the Cumberland Farms fields in Middleboro. This was about 30 minutes after sunrise, and they all abruptly stopped calling at the same time. Pretty neat experience. We also got to see a GHOW on the far side of the Cumberland Farms fields at sunset (probably one of the ones we heard in the morning). BARRED OWL 1 River St, Middleboro INCIDENTAL SPECIES Canada Goose Brant Mute Swan Gadwall American Black Duck Mallard Common Eider White-winged Scoter Bufflehead Red-breasted Merganser Wild Turkey Red-throated Loon Common Loon We enjoyed an impressive raptor show over the course of the day: Bald Eagle 1 crossing Route 3 in Plymouth Northern Harrier 5-6 4 female/immature birds at MAS Daniel Webster, 1(2) at the Cumberland Farms fields (one definite male, possibly a second male) Red-shouldered Hawk 1 Great Herring pond, Plymouth Red-tailed Hawk several throughout the day at various locations ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK 2-3 1 dark-phase bird at MAS Daniel Webster, 1 (possibly 2) light-phase birds at the Cumberland Farms fields Merlin 1 Cumberland Farms fields, Middleboro American Coot Bonaparte's Gull Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker NORTHERN SHRIKE 1 striking bird in adult plumage off of Route 105 in Middleboro Blue Jay American Crow Black-capped Chickadee White-breasted Nuthatch American Robin Northern Mockingbird European Starling American Tree Sparrow Song Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Snow Bunting Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird House Finch American Goldfinch House Sparrow Thanks to those that came out to brave the cold, and many thanks to the individuals that shared with me their owl sightings and locations over the past couple of weeks leading up to Saturday. It was very much appreciated. Eddie