D.F.O. Monthly Meeting
Scott Rashid and Small Mountain Owls
Note day & date change!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Note meeting location change!
DMNS Planetarium (use west doors)
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
7:30 p.m.
What DFO birder doesn’t love owls? We love hearing and seeing Great
Horned Owls, Long and Short-eared Owls, Barn and Burrowing Owls; owls
hunting, hooting, nesting or resting. We love their silent flight, their
blinking
yellow or black eyes when they are discovered roosting on a sunny summer
day, their expertly camouflaged nests, and their fluffy little owlets.
We think of these efficient predators as creatures of the night, and
most of Colorado’s owls are, though a portion of the world’s 200+ species of
owls are crepuscular or diurnal. North America is home to 19 species of
owls, and as Scott Rashid writes, “10...are considered either medium or large
owls, with the largest being more than two feet from head to tail. The rest
are considered small, with the smallest being the size of a bluebird.”
The large owls are amazing, but the small mountain owls are even more
wonderful in the eyes of many birders. Colorado is home to the tiny
Flammulated Owl, one of Colorado’s most common migratory birds of prey in some
areas; the aggressive predator the Northern Pygmy-Owl; the very approachable
Northern Saw-whet Owl; and finally the higher altitude Boreal Owl. Many owl
encounters are pure serendipity, but the hope of experiencing small owls in
the wild can cause otherwise sane birders to rush off into the veil of
darkness, stumbling over fallen tree trunks and downed branches, or to plow
through
deep snow up steep hillsides in hopes of catching a glimpse of one of these
magical little birds.
Scott Rashid fell under their spell with his first sighting of a Great
Horned Owl over 25 years ago. He moved to Colorado in 1989 and began
banding, photographing, and studying birds with a passion. He has worked on
species as diverse as rosy finches, Band-tailed Pigeons, Broad-tailed
Hummingbirds, American Kestrels, Northern Goshawks and small owls. Shortly
after his
arrival in Colorado he started assisting a researcher with his work on
Boreal Owls and a number of other native bird species. This led Scott to
undertake his own study of Northern Pygmy Owls. It has grown from there...
In 2002 he illustrated Scott Roederer’s book Birding Rocky Mountain
National Park. His illustration of the Wilson’s Snipe graces the cover of the
Wilson Journal of Ornithology. When painting hawks and owls, Scott works
primarily in watercolor, and numerous of his works of art are found in
private collections throughout North American and Europe.
Scott lives in Estes Park where he has maintained a banding station at
the YMCA of the Rockies since 1997. He focuses much of his work on the
birds in and around Rocky Mountain National Park, and has also been a bird
rehabilitator.
His most recent work is his book Small Mountain Owls which was
published in 2009 by Schiffer Publishing Ltd. Here he writes about the lives
and
distributions of Flammulated, Pygmy, Saw-whet, and Boreal Owls. He covers
their anatomy, vocalizations, courtship and nesting behavior, egg laying,
hunting habits, diets, longevity, and much more. The book is liberally
illustrated with his own photographs and paintings. For the benefit and
enjoyment
of the DFO audience, Scott will share stories of his work with owls from his
25+ years in the field, and hopefully he will share some secrets for finding
these elusive little creatures.
Show up at the October DFO meeting with your copy of Small Mountain
Owls and Lynn Willcockson will see to it that you get your book autographed by
Scott (or by Lynn) that night.
NOTE: Scott will have books and cards to sell. Sales would be either
cash or check. We do not have capabilities for credit cards. And he will be
glad to sign books members have already purchased so - bring them.
Future Meetings
November 22, 2010
Kevin Cook -- Falcons and Parrots: Newly Discovered Peculiarities in
the Birds’ Family Tree
December 2010
NO DFO MEETING. Please plan to participate in the Denver Christmas
Count and/or as many of the other Christmas Bird Counts around the state as
you can!
Directions
The Denver Field Ornithologists monthly meetings are held in Ricketson
Auditorium (THE PLANETARIUM THIS MONTH!) at the Denver Museum of Nature and
Science in City Park. These meetings are free and open to the public and
occur
on the 4th Monday of each month August through April (except December).
Park on the north side of the Museum and walk around and enter through the
Museum's west door. Plan to arrive by 7:15 p.m.; DOORS OPEN BY 7:00 AND ARE
LOCKED AT 7:30 P.M. If late, you can enter through the security/volunteer
door, but this does create problems for our hosts at the Denver Museum of
Nature and Science.
Submitted by Chris A. Blakeslee - DFO Board Member
Centennial, Colorado
[email protected]
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