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 County in 2014-2015 and we still need your 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. If you find any of the two species from now until spring please let us know with as much information on the sighting as possible – date, time, precise location, weather, behavior, number of individuals, age/sex, etc. The easiest way to do so is to enter the data into eBird (www.ebird.org) where it will be publicly accessible and stored forever in a safe, global database. Otherwise you can please email me directly at skruitbosch@rtpi.org with the information. Our thanks to everyone who is already doing so, and thanks again to Terry and WGRZ!
Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
