Tweeters,

Richard's note about owl migration is fascinating. Is it known if some
Great Grays are resident while others migrate?

Jack, I have also seen Great Gray Owls in the Goose Lake Road area, a bit
north of Stake and McConnell Lakes, in country which I think is similar to
the Pinantan area: Douglas fir, Lodgepole pines transitioning to Ponderosa
pines, meadows then to rolling grassland. (The location is SW of Kamloops,
very close to the scar of the Coquihalla highway as it descends into the
Thompson River valley.) In three of four consecutive evenings (dusk) the
week of July 12th '94, I saw two Great Grays together, each time in the same
location on Goose Lake Road and wondered, since they appeared to be the same
size, whether they might be two recently fledged siblings. I am not
familiar with pair bonding, length of time spent by young in or near the
nest, etc. bgOthers, including Eric MacAlary, whom Jack might know,
reported seeing a single Great Gray on a pole at the intersection of Goose
Lake and the Lac Le Jeune Roads. It was generally known that there was at
least one Great Gray in that area.

Another question comes to mind: What tolerance do Great Horned and Great
Grays have for each other? Would they share territory? or would territories
more likely overlap? The reason I ask is that one night we called in a
Great Horned on a nearby logging road, not too far as the crow flies from
the GL and LLJ intersection where the Great Gray was seen. ( We also
attracted a pair of smaller owls [with no visible ear tufts] at the same
time, who sudenly became silent and apparently vanished as the calls from
the approaching Great Horned became audible.)

Thanks in advance for responses,

Joan Inkster-Smith
jinkster at mail.netshop.net
Kamloops BC



Richard wrote:
... resulted in
>> a remarkable contribution into glimpsing the actual migration, timing, and
>> route of a GREAT GRAY OWL from it's wintering grounds on the Skagit to the
>> remote and rugged hinterland wilderness areas in the vicinity of Kamloops in
>> south-central BC. Great Gray Owl migration here-to-fore has been something
>> ornithology has known little to nothing about... until now!
>
><snip>
>
>My, my. I wonder if this bird is part of the Pinantan Lake population of
Great Gray Owls
>just to the NE of Kamloops. A most beautiful part of the world. There is an
old homestead at the
>original Pinantan Lake site which consists of an old rotting schoolhouse
and some outbuildings.
>It is cattle country with lots of open meadows full of voles. A very
appropriate place for
>Great Grays.
>
> - Jack
>
>
>
>------------------
>Jack Bowling
>Prince George, BC
>jbowling at direct.ca
>
>