From: Simon Ball <sball@africaonline.co.ke>
Date: 2008-09-28 10:22
Subject: Re: [KENYABIRDSNET] Marsh Owls in the Mara
Hi Edwin,
I managed to see about 4 Marsh Owls in that same area just south east of Intrepids during last week of July.( Rongai Plains)
I might assume that like Short Eared owls in Nth Europe , where I've observed them many times, they perhaps do have a communal roost in the winter months.
Cheers
Simon Ball
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Edwin selempo
To: kenyabirdsnet@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, September 27, 2008 2:16 PM
Subject: [KENYABIRDSNET] Marsh Owls in the Mara

Dear all,
I have been criss crossing the area around Mara intrepid camp and look-out hill for the last ten days, this morning 14th September  I came across a rather astonishing surprise! Nine marsh owls! all in an area, about the size of a football field. I didn’t know this species to be gregarious or common in the Masai Mara. Or could they have caught the migration fever?

 I could not spend more time there to see if there were more of this birds on this plain but I could not as a Rhino got called up on the radio, later visits to the same area were fruitless, they must have just vanished just like they appeared

Great birding
Selempo