Subject: surprise mail & owling
Date: Feb 11 22:45:27 1998
From: PAGODROMA at aol.com - PAGODROMA at aol.com


Dear Alice --

What a nice surprise -- the little package from you lurking in the snail shell
(p.o. box). I've just promptly eaten up all the little 'hearts' -- hadn't had
dinner yet -- that ever so carefully packaged in 'bubble wrap'. What? --you
don't trust the post office. Thanks for the VD card..... oops, that sort of
look's weird. Start over. Thanks for the Valentine's Day card. Now, come to
think of it maybe that's not so weird -- I suppose for some the two may go
together. Also, thanks for the X-Files stuff and the Jurassic Park
"Velociraptor' token. I hurridly opened that too thinking it might be
chocolate -- nope -- plastic '-).

Now, about that picture ("Airport 1997") from Natural History. My heavens
that's pretty bizarre and 'advant-garde' for this magazine I think. What does
the last sentence mean? --"The fictional airline implicates the author in
impending litigation." The Boeing 747 on the runway reads ROCKMAN AIRWAYS --
I get that part -- meaning the artist, but I also note the flag on the tail
appears to be Taiwanese rather than something fictional. If you don't know,
no big deal -- just curious.

Here's a recent post from me to "Tweeters". It's easier to just copy & paste
rather than edit or write it all over again.

<< I went of on a leisurely and delightful stroll just by the light of the
full moon (no artificial aids except for a headlamp in the few dark spots)
last night at the Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park, urban 'eastside'
King Co., just for the exercise and to listen for owls and to squeeze a walk
in by moonlight before the weather goes into the pooper again. Weather was
calm, mostly clear (very high & very thin barely perceptible overcast),
temperature ~45F, for the 2-1/2 hour walk covering 3-1/4 miles round trip
between 6:06 (late dusk) - 8:36pm, starting at the Redtown trailhead (Redtown
Trail) to Ballpark Meadow (3/4 mile), Indian Trail to the south boundary (7/8
mile) and retracing the route back to the Redtown trailhead and carpark.

Owls heard:
Western Screech (2)
Great Horned (1)
Barred Owl (2)
Northern Saw-whet (3)

All in all, the walk was pretty quiet and unsolicited activity wasn't too
intense. More like a 'tuning-up' exercise for a month or two from now
perhaps. A Screech Owl was heard right off at the Redtown trailhead carpark
at both the start and the finish of the hike. Barred Owls were heard far off
in the distance to the west, early on giving only the final 'whooa' note and
later an occasional first half of a full call. Saw-whets were generally
tooting very softly and for very short periods ranging from a couple of
'toots' to intermittent tooting periods of no longer than a minute or two.

All four owls can be easily heard along the first segment of this hike, also
the easiest walking in the dark btw, between the Redtown trailhead and
Ballpark Meadow. Beyond Ballpark Meadow it was more quiet. Maps of Cougar
Mountain are available at the Redtown trailhead carpark and information board.

After a pit-stop at the Eastgate Dairy Queen for my mandatory large chocolate
ice cream cone, I briefly walked and listened in areas around Lake Sammamish
State Park (Long-eared and Barn Owl locations) and adjacent west slope
hillsides to the east (9:15 -10:45pm) but all of these areas came up zero by
sight or sound. >>

I'll be away starting tomorrow (Thursday) through Monday for the WOS
Convention but Belezebub will of course be going too, so I won't be out of
reach electronicly. --Richard