Ted & Tweeters,

My personal opinion is that this fear that birders will drive away owls and
other unusual birds simply by observing them in their natural haunts is
greatly exaggerated. Great Gray Owls, for example, have been known to nest
in Yosemite National Park at several locations for at least 50 years and
literally thousands of birders have seen them there. To the best of my
knowledge they remain quite happily resident at those sites. Why should we
imagine that Boreal Owls are any more susceptible to disturbance than say
Northern Pygmy Owls or Western Screech Owls, species we commonly (with
appropriate restraint, of course) call in from time to time, either by
imitating their calls ourselves (if we have the talent) or by using a
mechanical replication of their calls. The Spotted Owls in Sawmill Canyon in
southeastern Arizona have also been observed by thousands of birders for
many years, and seem perfectly happy to remain in their familiar haunts.
Obviously, with respect to aggressive efforts at photography and/or if very
few sites are known for some megararity more formal restrains are called
for, yet Boreal Owls are, in fact, not at all uncommon in Washington and may
be sought in many places. The birds at Sunrise continue there despite having
being well known to all active local birders for quite a few years now.
Let's put our efforts at protecting birds where it belongs, preventing the
destruction of their habitat, as that seems to be what is now and likely
very soon will have led to the demise of our Spotted Owls.

Just my personal opinion.

Yours,

Gene Hunn.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ted Kenefick" <tgkenefick at msn.com>
To: "tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Saturday, October 09, 2004 1:12 AM
Subject: [Tweeters] Boreal Owls (Long)


> Dear Tweeters,
>
> It has been a strange week for me. Boreal Owl is a species that not only
> have I dreamed of seeing but one that I have spent many nights searching
for
> at Salmo Mountain, Hart's Pass, Tiffany Mountain/Long Swamp area.
> I have gone from such a high after
> finally seeing Boreal Owl at Mount Rainier to such a low after receiving a
> highly critical message from a fellow Tweeter for whom I have deep respect
> and admiration.
>
> The crux of the message was that I should not have posted the fact that I
> found and viewed the owl this past Wednesday. The messenger also assumed
> that I used tapes to locate the owl. I have responded directly to this
> person and have informed them that, at no time, did I use a tape to
> lure the owl in. Perhaps, I am on very shaky ethical ground because I did
> employ, on a very limited basis, whistled imitations of Boreals. I
> backed off from the bird after seeing it and I left the area
> immediately. I made every effort to keep disturbance to an absolute
minimum
> by staying on the road and only doing a few whistled calls. In fact, I
> really didn't expect to get a response and was shocked when an owl
responded
> and came right in.
>
> In hindsight, frankly, I wish I had not posted. I chose to post for
several
> different reasons:
>
> 1. There had been a message to Tweeters regarding a successful trip to
> the same area
> from last weekend.
>
> 2. The possibility of Boreals in the area is actually mentioned in the
> recently published "A Birder's Guide to Washington."
>
> 3. I had read a quote from a Seattle P-I article from Dennis Paulson
> who originally found the owls at this location in the early 90's detailed
> below. I am not using this as an excuse but I must say that it did
> influence my decision to share the sighting:
>
> "But Erckmann and Paulson also acknowledge the other side.
>
> 'I'm always of mixed feelings,' Paulson said. 'I found a Boreal owl on
Mount
> Rainier a few years ago. I hesitated before I told people, it's such a
> fragile environment. I finally decided: Who am I to withhold this
wonderful
> possibility from people?"
>
> RE: Road Closure
> I was perplexed by the information on the Mount
> Rainier National Park website and the results of Mike Blue's contact
> indicating that the Sunrise Road is actually closed after dark now.
>
> I left Seattle at 4:00 p.m. based on the knowledge that Boreals had
> been located at Mount Rainier National Park last weekend. I turned
> right off of Highway 410 onto the Sunrise access road just after 6:00 p.m.
> and proceeded up the road to the pay station where I paid my $10.00 at
6:15
> p.m. and continued to the Sunrise Visitor Center arriving about 7:00 p.m.
I
> changed into warm clothes at Sunrise and commenced the search. At 8:45
p.m.
> I located the owl and departed the area at about 9:00 p.m. At no time
did
> I notice any obvious road signs indicating that the area was or should
have
> been closed at night. There were no closed gates or any sign indicating
> that the gates were to be closed shortly.
>
> Because there is a great deal of apparent confusion among the park staff
as
> well as uncertainty among the birding community, I am planning on
contacting
> the National Park next week to discuss these important issues. The
message
> that I received from the fellow Tweeter indicated that, because of my
post,
> that this will be the end of Boreal Owl searches in the area. I sincerely
> and deeply hope that this will not be the case. With this in mind, I plan
> on discussing the possibility of arranging with National Park personnel
for
> a few different organized Boreal Owl searches next fall. There is,
> obviously, a great deal of interest in this species. I do not think that
> the park authorities know how many birders in Washington would
> really like to find this species.
>
> Thanks for reading this. I welcome all thoughts and discussion on the
> issue.
>
> Cheers and Good Birding,
> Ted Kenefick
> Seattle, WA
>
> tgkenefick at MSN.COM
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