Subject: [Tweeters] Eide Rd SEOWs
Date: Tue Jan 30 21:04:53 PST 2018
From: Steve Krival - stevekrival at live.com

Until this year the Eide Rd. wetlands had been managed for duck and pheasant hunting. That included planting corn in the field which was food for released pheasants, and also attracted voles and mice, which in turn was food for the SEOWS. In winter of 2016/2017 the rodents were abundant enough that I saw them on several occasions skittering around in the brush in the middle of the day. With the change in management practices the corn planting no longer exists. So, this has likely contributed to the precipitous decline in SEOWS this year at this location. Without a tracking study it would be difficult to know where the birds have gone that were there in recent years, and I am unware of any SEOW study at Eide Rd. . A few weeks ago someone did post something on Tweeters about a SEOW study in Washington, asking for volunteers to sign-up for conducting SEOW counts on assigned transects. Apparently, this in an ongoing study. I did not see any transects west of the Cascades, but I didn't examine all of them closely. It would seem that would be a great way to see some SEOWs and make a small scientific contribution at the same time.
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