SHADOW IN THE GRASSLANDS

In frostbitten February air near the New York-Vermont border, twilight has opened a portal to another world. Like bats that flutter from caves at sundown, Short-eared Owls take to the skies every evening in Fort Edward, New York, near the Little Theater on the Farm.

The Little Theater, a rural farm complex that hosts performances from spring through fall, sits amid the Washington County Grasslands Important Bird Area (IBA); the fields adjacent to the farm are owned by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Across North America, certain sites that support wintering Short-eared Owls have been designated as IBAs, places identified as globally important for the conservation of bird populations. In the U.S., IBAs are administered by the National Audubon Society.

The Washington County Grasslands IBA stretches as far as the eye can see, encompassing 13,000 acres of grassland habitat in the towns of Argyle, Fort Edward, and Kingsbury. Wintering raptors include Rough-legged Hawk, Northern Harrier, Short-eared Owl, and sometimes Snowy Owl, says Laurie LaFond, director of the Grassland Bird Trust, a nonprofit organization that