14 THE A-U DUB. OW ~B Ub Lee 
A Note on Short-eared Owls 
By Mes. Frank Irwin 
At the end of February, 1964, Mrs. Lee Cantwell, a member of The Decatur 
Audubon Society, wrote to me about many Short-eared Owls seen at a 
small nursery near Mattoon. Other members immediately went over and 
spent half a day there, photographing and observing. The nursery itself 
is a small area of only three acres, with fields on three sides. The trees 
are nearly all 3 to 5-foot evergreens, with only a few mature ones. From 
the middle of December between 150 and the present 40 of these fascinating 
owls have stayed there. We have, of course, seen Short-eared Owls before, 
but we felt that the numbers and duration of stay were quite astounding. 
The nursery owners say that the two fields in which the owls con- 
centrate their hunting are literally honeycombed with mice. A few of 
the owls have always appeared in winter, but this is the first time they 
have appeared in such numbers. The explanation of the owners is that 
one field in particular is usually flooded during the spring or fall, but is dry 
this year. Therefore, the mice burrows were not destroyed, and the rodents 
were much more numerous. 
Whether this explanation is correct we do not know. We all felt, how- 
ever, that we were having the experience of a lifetime in seeing from 40 
to 50 of these beautiful, day-hunting owls in the air and fields about us, 
all at one time, perching atop nearly every small tree, sometimes three 
to four in one small evergreen, as we quietly invaded their sanctuary. 
Some members also went to Chandlersville to see the large flock of Red 
Crossbills, which included two or three white-wings. Perhaps this flock 
has already been reported, as it was often seen in large red pines near 
the road and has remained for much of the winter. 
3337 Orchard Drive, Decatur, Illinois 
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ILLINOIS PHYSICIAN WINS CONSERVATION AWARD 
Dr. S. Glidden Baldwin, a Danville physician active in natural resources 
conservation, has been named a winner of the American Motors Con- 
servation Award. The awards are given annually to 10 professional and 
10 non-professional conservationists. Winners attended an awards dinner 
in Washington, D.C., May 20, where they received sculptured bronze 
medallions. 
Winners are selected by an awards committee on the basis of dedicated 
conservation work which would not otherwise receive widespread public 
recognition. In addition to maintaining an active general medical practice 
in Danville, Dr. Baldwin devotes a substantial amount of time to con- 
servation efforts. He organized the Vermilion County Audubon Society and 
served as its first president. He is a board member of the American Nature 
Study Society and of the Illinois Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. 
However, the award is given principally in recognition of Dr. Baldwin’s 
role in preventing destruction of Kickapoo State Park by strip mining 
in 1963. During the last legislative session. Dr. Baldwin alerted the people 
and press of Vermilion County that a strip mining bill had been passed 
in the legislature to permit mining in the park area. He launched what 
was first a one-man campaign to halt the bill. Enlisting the aid of the 
