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Posts Tagged "Circus cyaneus"

Northern Harrier in the Snow and Sky

Posted on Mar 2, 2015

Northern Harrier in the Snow and Sky

I recently photographed this Northern Harrier flying through some heavy snow. These are the most typical sort of views you will have of the species while surveying for them in the field. The long and thin raptor can often be easily identified swooping low over the land, watching for prey, by the big white patch at the base of the tail. They can be seen in grasslands, farm fields, and coastal areas. If you are one of our friends in Chautuauqa County please remember that we at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History are assisting the New York State Department of Environmental...

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Winter Raptor Count – RTPI on WGRZ TV

Posted on Feb 16, 2015

Winter Raptor Count – RTPI on WGRZ TV

A tremendous thanks to Terry Belke of WGRZ TV in Buffalo for producing this article and video segment on the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History’s winter raptor surveys for his popular series “2 The Outdoors”. The video features RTPI President Twan Leenders and some footage and photos of our target species, the Northern Harrier and Short-eared Owl. There is some seriously wonderful video to be seen, so please check it out! RTPI is assisting the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for a second season of wintering raptor surveys in Chautauqua...

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Northern Harrier January sightings

Posted on Jan 13, 2015

Northern Harrier January sightings

What is wrong with this January eBird map of Northern Harrier sightings? It certainly seems to be very well correlated to human population. Nevertheless I definitely believe there are more birds out there that are not being entered into eBird. My friends in the Chautauqua-Allegheny region know we at RTPI are surveying for Northern Harriers and Short-eared Owls this winter for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, with Chautauqua County being our target area. While some neighboring areas, such as Allegheny National Forest, have no sightings as expected, I would have to...

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Find Winter Raptors in Chautauqua County

Posted on Jan 3, 2015

Find Winter Raptors in Chautauqua County

If you are one of our friends in Chautuauqa County please remember that we at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History are assisting the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for a second season of wintering raptor surveys in 2014-2015 and need your continuing help! The primary focus of these surveys is to determine where Short-eared Owls (Asio flammeus), ‘endangered’ in New York, and Northern Harriers (Circus cyaneus), ‘threatened’ in New York, are spending the winter season to roost and feed. Western New York’s NYSDEC Region 9 is a large geographical area and...

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Continuing Winter Raptor Surveys

Posted on Dec 9, 2014

Continuing Winter Raptor Surveys

This a friendly request and reminder that we at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History are surveying for wintering Northern Harriers and Short-eared Owls in Chautauqua County, two state-listed raptors that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is tracking in Western New York. Fortunately they share habitat with other beautiful birds like the Snowy Owl and you may end up being in productive locations for them often in the next few months. If you find any of the two species from now until spring please let us know with as much information on the sighting as...

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