At 08:56 PM 12/7/97 -0500, you wrote:
>I walked all the way around the shoreline of Lake Hood in Anchorage
>in pursuit of a Great Horned Owl atop a pole. It turned out to be
>a carving. Wondered why it was still for so long in such an exposed
>spot.

Mike Houck, urban naturalist extraordinaire, and I were sharing a room
in the Klamath Basin during our Birdathon gonzo trip (first weekend in
May). Mornings there at that time of year usually clock in about 25
degrees, at best. At first light he peeks out, yells "PYGMY OWL!", grabs
MY (damn him!) sweatshirt to throw over his clothes (he was dressed)
and runs off. I ran out in pants and (brrr) t-shirt, wondering where
the hell he thought he'd seen this thing.

Came up just as he put the scope on a glass insulator squatting like a
pine-cone (or pygmy owl) on top of a power pole, an old one no longer
with a wire attached!

Took me most of the morning to talk him into giving my sweatshirt back,
too. :)


- Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza at pacifier.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net