Next we headed to Mt. Pleasant where we spotted Horned Larks and a flock of Snow Buntings. Next we drove by the Game Farm where I spied the Ring-necked Pheasants that are being bred. We dipped on any interesting hawks but it was still a wonderful evening investigating some new haunts.
In the afternoon I decided to head out birding again, this time for an owl. While living in South Florida i attempted to see many a Short-eared Owl (Caribbean Race) but it never worked out despite my efforts at Aerojet Road. In New York, things went much easier.
I arrived at the Long Point Winery just 30 minutes north of Ithaca around 4:30pm. By 5pm, a Short-eared Owl had already made an appearance. I watched it gracefully fly over the fields near the winery. Then as a celebration I did a small wine tasting and bought a bottle to toast the lifer.
Chasing lifers is not an everyday occurrence for me but when it happens and ends in success I am elated. This was a relatively easy bird to see in New York but made sweeter by the years of missing it in Florida.
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