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AV BIO-Logic <br /> inc <br /> Natural Resource Consultants <br /> RESULTS <br /> No MSO were detected during the 2015 and 2016 surveys. Data sheets were filled out according to <br /> survey protocol instructions and are included in Appendix B. No other owls were detected during the <br /> 2015 survey. During,the first outing of the 2016 survey,a pair of flammulated owls was heard calling <br /> near the top of a draw on the south side of Little Turkey Creek while walking between call stations. On <br /> the second visit in 2016,a northern pygmy owl was heard calling along Little Turkey Creek,near the <br /> western boundary of the Ranch. <br /> DISCUSSION <br /> MSO in south-central Colorado are exceedingly rare and of high conservation concern. Less than 10 <br /> nesting pairs are known in the state,with most pairs in the mountain areas north and southwest of the <br /> Hitch Rack Quarry project area,within about 50 miles. A Protected Activity Center(PAC)for MSO <br /> exists starting 1.6 miles north of the project area,on private lands and public lands administered by the <br /> Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service. The PAC was established based on a breeding pair of <br /> MSO found there during the 1990s; subsequent surveys of the PAC area since then have not detected any <br /> MSO(FWS unpublished data). <br /> Mixed conifer and ponderosa pine/Gambel oak forests in the survey area comprise suitable habitat for <br /> MSO,particularly foraging habitat while nesting habitat is limited by the lack of suitable cliffs or very <br /> tall,old trees. The habitat in the project area is more or less contiguous with a broader expanse of <br /> potentially suitable habitat that extends west up the Little Turkey Creek drainage and north to the PAC <br /> described above. <br /> To our knowledge,2015 was the first time the Ranch was systematically surveyed for MSO. The 2015 <br /> and 2016 surveys were conducted under favorable weather and listening conditions and within the time <br /> periods and other methods specified by the MSO survey protocol. We believe that we achieved complete <br /> coverage of all potential MSO habitat within the survey area. From the negative survey results,we <br /> conclude that it is highly unlikely that territorial breeding MSO were present on the Ranch during the <br /> 2015 and 2016 breeding seasons,and that it is unlikely that non-breeding,non-territorial MSO were <br /> present on the Ranch during this same period. <br />