Barn Owl Projects of Virginia

"Golden Eagle Depredation Survey of Wyoming Sheep Ranchers" based on livestock depredation in Wyoming.  Her ornithological studies have ranged geographically from Wyoming to Colorado to a South Texas Harris Hawk survey. Jill is also a licensed Master falconer and Eagle falconer.

Since moving to Virginia since 2005 she helped established and operates the New Market Gap Raptor Research Station and the Northern Shenandoah Valley Barn Owl Project.




Photo of Dr. Morrow holding an adult female peregrine falcon captured and banded at the New Market Gap Raptor Research Station. Photo by Lance Morrow





Lance Morrow has always been interested in birds of prey. When Lance was 6 years old he was profoundly influenced with falconry by a chance encounter with the famous falconer Bill Harry. When they met in a field Mr. Harry was flying his peregrine falcon. Close to the age of 9 Lance ordered his first falconry book and at 12 years of age he trained his first falcon. Lance has never been without a falconry bird since that time.

In the early 1970s Lance started banding raptors under William S. Clark. While banding during the early days at Cape May, NJ Lance helped locate and establish a second raptor trapping blind in the salt marsh grasses. Also in the early 1970s Lance started his world travels all of which involved raptors. His first major trip overseas was to East Africa where he was collecting birds, reptiles and amphibians for several universities and the Smithsonian Institute. In Kenya Lance trapped numerous species of raptors including most of the large eagles.

Also in the early 1970s Lance founded the raptor trapping station that is now called the Blue Ridge Raptor Banding Station on the Virginia/ West Virginia border. He managed the banding activities there until leaving for University of Texas. The trapping station has been in continuous operation, maintained by other raptor trappers including Mark Causey and Liam McGranaghan.

Lance attended the University of Texas, selecting the campus closest to the lower Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg. While there he chose to study the Harris Hawk which was, at that time, a relatively unfamiliar species. From the data he collected in the Texas bush country he wrote “Harris Hawks in Chained Brush” in which he documents this species ability to adapt to severe damage to its habitat. 

Lance is an award winning nature photographer. His photos have graced the covers of many magazines, journals and even a book, in addition to hundreds of other published photos. He has been a prolific writer as well. His works include several book chapters as well as journal articles and popular magazines.

Habitat restoration for amphibians is one of his deepest passions.

Lance, along with his wife Jill, has conducted intense research with Golden Eagles and their influence on the sheep ranching industry in Wyoming. While in Wyoming they also conducted a 5-year study on Mountain Bluebirds using 120 nest boxes. Each year they banded over 5000 birds in Wyoming, including several thousand of wintering Gray-Crowned Rosy Finches in their backyard. Since moving to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in 2005 they have established the New Market Raptor Research Station and begun research on the Valley’s barn owls.

Lance holding a partial albino redtail hawk that he banded. Photo by Jill Morrow

Contact information for the Morrows:
landjmorrow@earthlink.net
540-896-6553



Liam McGranaghan resides in Clarke County, Virginia.  He holds a BA in History from VA Tech and a Master's degree in Biology from George Mason University. He currently works as a high school Environmental Science teacher and professor of Herpetology and Raptor biology for the Graduate School (formally The USDA Graduate School) in Washington DC.  He has also served as an adjunct biology professor for Northern Virginia Community College. He is a noted speaker and photographer, often giving lectures and guided trips on birds of prey, reptiles and amphibians to conservation, environmental and birding groups. He has been twice nominated for the Virginia Museum of Natural History Foundation's Thomas Jefferson Medal for Outstanding contributions to Natural Science.

Liam started his career with birds of prey as a teenager, training his first hawk for falconry at the age of fifteen. In the early 1980's he served two summers as a hack site attendant for the Peregrine Fund helping to reestablish the endangered Peregrine falcon back to its former range in the eastern United States. The Peregrine's return from the brink of extinction has been heralded as nothing less then a spectacular success and one that provides renewed vigor and enthusiasm for other endangered species reintroductions around the world.  He has been a raptor bander for over 30 years working alongside other well noted raptor banders such as Mark Causey, Craig Koppie and Lance and Dr. Jill Morrow.

 

As a falconer he has had a life long passion for Red-tailed hawks which has led to his writing of a best selling falconry book (The Red-tailed Hawk - a complete guide to training and hunting North America's most versatile game hawk). He has also trained and flown several other raptor species including Red-shouldered hawks, Harris hawks, Cooper's hawks, Goshawks, Kestrels, and Great-horned owls. He has coauthored articles on reptiles and amphibians and written several articles on falconry and birds of prey. His wildlife photos have appeared in several magazines and books.

Liam's contact information:

ljmcg@earthlink.net

Work phone: 540-751-2400

Liam holding a Cooper's hawk at the New Market Gap Raptor Research Station. Photo by Lance Morrow

Mark Causey currently lives in Damascus, Maryland.  He graduated in 1976 from George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia with a B.S. degree in Biology.  He has held a master bird banding permit since 1983.  He earns a living as a Technical Specialist III with Computer Technology Services, Inc., located in Rockville, Maryland.  His grandparents inspired an interest in birds at an early age.  In high school and college he practiced the art of falconry, flying principally Red-tailed Hawks.  His interest in raptors developed into studies of their natural history.  He is a raptor biologist in his “spare time.”  His present focus involves long-term investigations on an American Kestrel nest box project in Northern Virginia and Central Maryland, initiated in 1980 and a Barn Owl nest box project in Prince William and Fauquier Counties, Virginia, initiated in 1986. The purpose of the studies is to provide safe nesting sites, to monitor reproductive success, and band young to determine dispersal patterns, longevity, and recruitment into the breeding population. Barn owl field work was accomplished with the help of long-time firends, Ken Bass, Kennon Smith and Liam McGranaghan. Along with fellow researchers, Mark operates an autumn raptor banding station on the Blue Ridge Mountains, southeast of Charles Town, West Virginia to study migratory movements of diurnal birds of prey.

Mark banded Bald Eagle nestlings from 1977-1986 with the Chesapeake Bay Bald Eagle Banding Project, sponsored jointly by the National Wildlife Federation and the states of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia.  He also participated in a Bald Eagle recycling study in the Ocala National Forest, sponsored jointly by the George Miksch Sutton Avian Research Center, Bartlesville, Oklahoma and the University of Florida, Gainesville.  The purpose of the study was to remove eggs from nests early in the incubation period with the expectation that the eagles would relay.  Eggs removed from nests were placed in incubators, the young raised to fledging age, and hacked out in the Gulf States.

Mark's contact infomation:
mcausey53@gmail.com

Work phone:  301-436-1157

Home phone:  301-253-9082