The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History will be 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 will 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. Western New York’s NYSDEC Region 9 is a large geographical area and we at RTPI volunteered our time and knowledge to assist NYSDEC in covering this vast landscape. The Short-eared Owl pictured here was found and photographed last year at the Chautauqua County/Jamestown Airport. We are hoping some of Chautauqua County’s citizen scientists will also volunteer to help out in discovering, tracking and recording these birds. Beginning and end dates will be announced soon. Please email skruitbosch@rtpi.org for more information or to let us know we can count on your sightings this winter – thank you!
Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
