Hi guys

I'm from out east. Recently from the Toronto area. The habitat sounds
right but I can't say anything about previous records. The ESOW occupies
much of fragmented landscapes (stretched out veg corridors or small
woodlots) It is also very easily found in swampy lands. The area you
described may be a kind of habitat that I have found it in, in Ontario.

I would suggest that you make a tape and go out to the location that you
heard the bird - play the tape for a while and see if it responds.

Good luck

Libor

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> From: James Neitzel <neitzelj at elwha.evergreen.edu>
> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Cc: 'Tweeters' <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Subject: Re: Eastern Screech Owl - or...
> Date: August 14, 1997 12:55 PM
>
> I Heard the same call about 4 am (sick child!) on Wednesday morning this
> week! I'm interested in opinions as well.
> Jim Neitzel, west side of Olympia
>
> On Thu, 14 Aug 1997, Teresa Michelsen wrote:
>
> > A figment of my dream??
> >
> > The other night, I was sleeping with the windows open, due to the heat.
Just outside our windows are large cedar and Douglas fir trees, with very
tall alders and maples all around. These trees often harbor Western
Screech Owls, and have been known to have a stray Great Horned Owl now and
then. I am very familiar with the calls of these two birds, and have
listened carefully to tapes of owl songs known to be in the Pacific
Northwest. However, I am not familiar with eastern bird songs, having
seldom been birding there.
> >
> > Anyway, I was awakened (I think) in the middle of the night by a
strange bird call I had never heard before. My first reaction, in my
half-awake state, was "It's an owl". Then I thought, "Wait, it can't be an
owl, the call is too fast", at least compared to any owl call I had ever
heard. I can only describe it as a fairly loud medium-pitched whinny with
a downward trend, repeated over and over, always exactly the same. I heard
it again toward early morning (just before dawn). Haven't heard it since
or ever before.
> >
> > Perused my bird books looking for a bird that would call in the middle
of the night, with a call anything like what I had heard. Saw the Eastern
Screech-Owl description, and got out my bird tapes to listen. The tape of
the Eastern Screech-Owl sounded very much like what I heard. I realize
that if it were an Eastern Screech-Owl, it would have been very far out of
range. So I have some questions:
> >
> > - Have there been previous records of eastern screech-owl in Western
Washington?
> > - Is this the right habitat where one might stop over for a night?
> > - If not that, what other bird might sound like that and call in the
middle of the night?
> >
> > Of course, there is the slight possibility that I really wasn't awake
and dreamed the whole thing, though I really doubt it :-)
> >
> > - Teresa Michelsen
> > tcmnem at halcyon.com
> >