Something over 30 people joined Suan and me for last night’s owl crawl. It was impossible to get an exact count because folks joined and left as the evening progressed. Nevertheless, I was astounded - over 30, in the dark, on a cold and blustery night!
We got started a little after dark at Bull Pasture Pond on Bluegrass Lane and quickly had a Screech-owl respond to playback. With Suan’s help (and his thermal imaging camera) we were able to locate it and get good looks. From there we drove up Mt Pleasant Road to try for Great Horned Owl opposite the observatory - no luck. Then on to the Park Preserve North for Barred Owl. Again, no luck and none again from the parking lot at the end of Hammond Hill Road. With success/failure hanging in the balance, we headed out to John Confer’s banding station in Caroline. Although it was a slow night for migrating owls, he had a Saw-whet ready for us. The entire crew got to see a live owl, up close, and to hear about the capture, banding, and information-gathering process. Many thanks to Suan for co-leading, to John for opening his nets, and for Julia for showing us the little owl. The great irony for me was that, after missing Barred and Great Horned Owls all evening, I was awakened by a pair of Great Horneds dueting outside my window in the middle of the night! Bob McGuire -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
