Hi Tweets,

Libor Michalak writes:

(snip)
> Merlins have been known to cache their food for lean times.
(snip)

In the early 1980's a Northern Hawk Owl Surnia ulula spent the winter in the
Beach Grove area of Tsawwassen BC. Not exactly the world's shyest bird (many
Boreal Forest bird species seem fearless), a group of us went to see it and
found it easily enough, perched on the wire along the dike, completely
oblivious to the many walkers, joggers, and dogs passing by a few meters
below, ignoring the birders standing below it looking (nearly) straight up
at it. Every ten or fifteen minutes, it would drop on a vole---never missed,
either--and fly off to a stand of pines and firs among the houses about 400
meters away to stash it. It must have thought it had died and gone to the
Great Vole Safeway in the Sky.

As touching as the sight of its hoarding in the midst of plenty (there's
instances of humans doing the same who have gone through great privations)
was the sight of Mike Force trying to get a picture of the owl running like
hell back and forth several times between hunting station and stash-point
always arriving at either just a little bit late, until we persuaded him to
stay at one place or the other--Mike eventually got some great shots of this
neat bird.

So, do the raptors which typically live in prey-rich areas also gorge/cache,
or is it just the birds from areas where lean times are part of the annual
cycle? Are passage birds more likely to gorge?

Michael Price A brave world, Sir,
Vancouver BC Canada full of religion, knavery and change;
mprice at mindlink.net we shall shortly see better days.
Aphra Behn (1640-1689)