On Saturday morning I found a small flock of Pine Grosbeaks on Dollars Lake (part of the Pickerel/French River system) about 1.5 hrs drive SE of Sudbury.
On that same outing, I also heard a mystery bird which I presume was an owl given the time of day and nature of the call. The call was repeated just three times and I can only think that it was a Saw-whet Owl. The following is a narrative of this encounter, if you are inclined to read it. I'm not sure if this is acceptable material for a posting, so please disregard the remainder if you prefer. Kip Daynard Emsdale, ON ********************************************************************************************** I had left the door of the cabin about 1.5 hours before dawn because I had heard Barred Owls calling and figured I'd go and have a look. As I walked in the dim predawn light, I whistled a Boreal Owl's call as best I could in the hopes that I might be so lucky and at the very least attract the Barred Owls in as well. I carried on and heard nothing for 10 minutes or so before nearing a stand of hemlock and decided to stop and listen as this seemed the most likely place. After about 5 minutes I heard a single whistled toot of the exact pitch and tone a Saw-whet owl typically would use. (I have near perfect pitch so I am pretty confident in making this claim) The duration of the toot seemed slightly more drawn out than normal and I waited for more toots, but none were forthcoming. The likeness to my ear of this toot to a Saw-whet was so great that at the instant I first heard it I had no doubt of its maker, but as time passed and no more toots were forthcoming, I began to doubt my ears. Indeed I started to wonder if they had played tricks on me and I had heard anything at all. Since nothing further was happening, I decided to try whistling a Saw-whet call which I repeated for about 30 seconds before stopping and listening. Several more attempts at this yielded again nothing so I decided to try a Barred Owl call. Still nothing. Daylight was growing and I had stood here for maybe 20 minutes in total. I gave up and carried on further into the woods. As soon as I had walked another 100m or so, I heard a Barred Owl calling back to me as if taunting my attempts to find him. Then, a few minutes later I heard as clear as before, a pair of whistled toots coming from the same direction. The pitch and tone of the toots were as I had heard previously, but now there were two, each drawn out slightly more than typical Saw-whet toot, and spaced slightly further apart than in my previous experiences with this species in breeding season. That was the end of my encounter and I am still a bit puzzled. I understand that Saw-whets rarely vocalize outside breeding season. I wonder if this was an exception to this rule and if the timidness of this owl was a reflection of its disinclination to vocalize at this time of year and in relative proximity to a potential predator. I wonder also if Barred Owls have ever been known to make a sound like a Saw-Whet. I certainly have not heard it and Barred Owls are quite common around where I live. Any suggestions, comments or similar experiences would be most welcome (privately of course).
