Busted again! I thought I had it in the bag ...*maybe*... this time
(...never count your 'owls' before they hatch... which may in fact, *be* the
problem... they are silent and invisible when incubating??). I spent the
whole night (Sunday night / Monday morning, 6/08-09), dusk to dawn, searching
a lovely area of moderately dry Ponderosa Pine forested slopes and valleys,
south of Blewett Pass and Swauk Campground in the Lion Gulch area, where my
targeted nemesis, the Flammulated Owl was once said to me to be a "virtual
sure thing". For the most part, it was just stone dead silence everywhere
...well almost so, ...one, and ONLY ONE hoot from an extremely distant Great
Horned Owl, and likewise, one and ONLY ONE "who-cooks-for-you" hoot from an
extremely distant Spotted Owl (...I think! ...ugh). On a scale of 0-10 for
the latter -- "Is that a Spotted Owl, or just my imagination?"...I'd have to
score it an unsatisfactory and uncertain "1".

So, the "mythical" Flammulated Owl eludes me AGAIN! I have never ever even
heard one, much less ever seen one, apart from tapes and pictures in the
books. To someone with experience with this species, is even early June,
when I thought conditions might be "perfect", clear and calm, setting
crescent moon, otherwise dark except for that trace of twilight which eerily
glows all night across the northern horizon this time of year, ...already too
late in the season?? When are they most likely to be heard, for how long,
and can the calling sessions be incessant much like Saw-whet's at times? If
there is one, what is considered the best window of opportunity (time of
night) for hearing this species? When you think of Flammulated Owl, what
specific habitat comes to mind and consider as "classic"? In the past, I've
tried numerous promising (looking) east slope locations from Wenas to Loup
Loup to Winthrop, all to no avail.

Thanks for your comments and help. Otherwise, it wasn't a bad outing.
Several small groups of Elk (Wapiti) were scattered around on the slopes and
in the roads, including a bellowing cow with her calf ambling across a
sparsely wooded meadow. Best bird this morning (6/09) were a pair of
Williamson's Sapsuckers, conspicuous and gleaming in the early morning sun,
and very noisy for a good hour or more (~0700hrs), on the dry and meadowy
Ponderosa Pine dappled ridge top off FR 9712, ~100 meters west of the "T"
intersection of FR's 9712 and 9718 (DeLorme p.66, T21N, R18E, mid-Sect.19) --
magnificent westerly views up there & great camping area. The distinctive
drumming of the sapsuckers could be heard for considerable distance. This
seems to be a sure-fire locale as I've never failed to find them around in
this area and valley below on all previous, albeit, ill-fated Flammulated Owl
excursions in recent years (June). There was also a bit of an aurora in the
wee hours -- narrow vertical searchlight-like beams of faint light emanating
up through the midnight twilight, growing up like crystals, intensifying,
then fading as they swept westward.

Richard Rowlett
Bellevue, WA