With the calendar flipping into December we have now entered the winter raptor survey season! The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History will be assisting the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for a third season of wintering raptor surveys in Chautauqua County in 2015-2016. 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.
Northern Harrier hunting
We need your help, too! From December through March please be sure to enter any Northern Harrier or Short-eared Owl sightings you have had in Chautauqua County into eBird with as many details as possible including precise location, date, time, weather, number of individuals, sex, age, behavior (e.g. hunting, roosting, preening) and general condition of the bird(s). Alternatively, you can email this information to skruitbosch AT rtpi.org. Thank you in advance, and good birding!
Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
