I decided (apparently incorrectly) that finding a curlew still
around was a long shot so I headed the other direction Saturday across the
Cascades for an owl prowl. I had not done this for several years.
Usually (the last couple years being exceptions) I try to find a
Flammulated Owl about once a year. So far I had never so much as heard
one. Naturally I was not expecting much but instead I had probably the
most successful owl prowl I've ever had.
I drove 3.6 miles up Robinson Canyon (near Thorp, Kittitas Cty.,
WA) from the end of the pavement arriving around 7:30. The plan was to
wait till it was completely dark and then drive back out stopping every
quarter to half mile to listen. Despite several trips to this precise
location I had not actually heard any owls there but this time a Great
Horned Owl called within a couple minutes of arriving. Since it was still
quite light out I was even able to find it about 100 yards above me on the
hillside at the top edge of the trees. At first it I just saw it flying
off but a Steller's Jay refound it about a half hour later and this time I
got a good look. All this time a Ruffed Grouse was drumming which was
also a first for me in this location. As it started getting dark around
9PM things really got interesting. First a Blue Grouse started booming
(this is a very reliable location for these) and then a Pygmy Owl started
calling. Both quit as it got darker. Then the Poorwills started calling
followed soon by a Western Screech-Owl which called about 4 times. About
10 minutes later as I was starting to think it was time to start out the
canyon a Flammulated Owl made a long series of hoots from across and some
ways down the canyon. Finally after 10 years of looking I have the first
evidence they really exist! It made two more series of calls in the next
half hour. So the final tally was that without moving more than 20 feet
from the car I had heard 4 species of owl, 2 grouse, and a goatsucker. I
think it will be a long time before I beat that. The drive out was fairly
uneventful. One stop had a lot of Poorwills calling; one called at least
40 times in succession. The most interesting sighting was actually a
moth. Does anyone out there know what kind of moth we have around here
that resembles a Cecropia but lacks the red border?

Jim Elder (jime at eskimo.com)
SEA, Inc.
7030 220th St SW
Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043