I was awakened this morning at 1220 am by a nearly full moon and the
tooting of a NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL outside my window (I am hoping he is
displaying an interest in either of the two owl boxes I put up during
the Super Bowl). Taking this as a sign, I opted to get up and go owling
at 3am. As I stepped outside, the NORTHERN SAW-WHET was tooting away
again, and I got a quick "Skiew" from what I hope was his to be mate.

I went off Island to Totten Road, where I had another NORTHERN SAW-WHET
fly in silent. I was able to put a light on this bird, and got a good
view. I hadn't been able to do that since October with a Saw-whet. I
also had a probable NORTHERN PYGMY OWL on Hidme Road. I only heard it
for several minutes. Back on Totten, I called in a WESTERN SCREECH-OWL.
The barred owl didn't come out to play. I had all this before 4:30 am. I
was then blanked for the next hour and a half. At Gazzam, there was
another NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL tooting upon my arrival. Just at 7 am, I
called in the infamous pair of BARRED OWLS at Gazzam. They went through
a lengthy vocalization, and I did get to see the both of them.

I was surprised at the lack of response by the big owls. Most notably, I
visited four locations with barred owls other than Gazzam, three with a
previous breeding history, and got no responses. I am inclined to think
that maybe they have gone on eggs early this year, by about 2 1/2 weeks.
I haven't heard the Totten Road Great Horned Owl for three weeks now,
and Great-horns are early nesters.

Also interesting, I returned to Gazzam after lunch with my family to
take a short hike, as it was a beautiful day. While hiking, the male
BARRED OWL called out three times.

Jamie Acker
Bainbridge Island
BIowler1 at juno.com

________________________________________________________________
YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET!
Juno now offers FREE Internet Access!
Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.