ML626077457

Ажиглалтын дэлгэрэнгүй

Observed in 4 distinct locations over the course of about 40 minutes. I only counted birds in any location that were seen simultaneously, and in most cases we could see two (and one time saw three) separate groups out at once, so there is not much risk of over-counting. First location had two; second location had at least two (I suspect three, but left the count at two as that was the most I could verify were flying at the same time); third location had five; fourth location had two (I also suspect three here, but again left the count at two). The birds were far enough apart (some viewable with the naked eye and binoculars, others with scope) to reduce odds of counting the same ones twice, and as I said above, in most cases where we viewed one group we were also able to view one or two other groups simultaneously. Anecdotally, others I've talked to who have visited this site regularly in recent weeks have told me there have been reports of as many as 17 Short-Eared Owls, so if anything our sighting number might be conservative (but certainly in line) with the general numbers being seen on a "good" day. I have a couple of rough cell phone screen capture shots attached here from a couple different locations along our hike.