This year, I'm finally keeping a RI state year list, which means, I'm actively trying to see as many species of bird in the state of Rhode Island in the next calendar year. What this means is that when I get a text or an email about a rare bird in RI, I usually lock the shop doors and head out to where ever the bird might be. Yesterday I got one such text, followed by an email alerting the bird community that a Sandhill Crane had been spotted in Sepowet Marsh in Tiverton, RI. One good thing about RI is that, although Sepowet is completely on the other side of the state, it is only 30 miles away! Sandhill Cranes are rare in RI, and usually only seen briefly and sporadically during migration. It's sort of bizarre that one would be here now, so I had to try and see it.
After parking right where Tom Auer was viewing a Vesper Sparrow, and ruining said view, (whoops!) I saw the Sandhill Crane, thanks to Barbara Sherman for direction and the scope views!! It was feeding in the back of the field with about 250 Canada Geese. I then tried to see the Vesper Sparrow that Tom had seen, and saw a sparrow with white outer tail feathers, but wasn't able to confirm it as the Vesper. Bummer!
So what does all of this have to do with owls? Well, a friend of mine lives in Tiverton, and he drinks beer. So, I called him and went to find one of those beers! While outside in the back of his house, I did a Great-horned Owl call. It was kind of a hasty thing to do, but something to do while I was, well, you know what guys do in back yards in the middle of the night. I hadn't done what I should have done, which is to hang out for a second and observe and listen for owls, otherwise I probably would have had a better observational experience, instead, I just gave a call, and immediately an owl was flying straight at me. I assumed it was a Great-horned Owl since that was what I just called, and being the largest owl, it's rare that other owls would respond, or come into one of their calls. The bird came within about 45 feet from me and wheeled up and turned away, flashing its nearly all white undersides and a heart shaped facial silhouette partially lit by the rising, salmon colored Wolf Moon.
About 45 minutes later, Adam and I were coming back from the store and a small Saw-wher Owl swooped down in front of our car as we were driving. We were on a backroad right by his house, so we were driving about 10 miles an hour, and the owl's fluttery wings and spooked face were light in the headlights as it frantically lifted over the car. It was awesome!
So, today, in search of another out of place bird, I drove to Matunuck to see a small sandpiper, who's ID was in question. It had been ID'd as a Least Sandpiper, but more data and photos were being requested, as there are zero January records for that species. After getting bad views at that bird, I decided to drive around, and since this blog is too long already, here are some photos...
