Tweets,

Last week, August 3, I found myself camped just north of the Oregon border on FSR 64 in the Blue Mountains at ca. 5800 feet, on the Mill Creek -Wenaha River divide. I took a short stroll down the road and had a medium sized owl swoop low and land on a exposed twig not far over my head. It repeated these short overflights several times and afforded a close view as the light faded. I ruled out Barred Owl as the belly was marked more like a Spotted and it seemed less heavily built, but there aren't any Spotted Owls within 200 miles and I thought I could detect a yellow iris, but no visible ear tufts.

A few minutes later the same or another similar owl flew across the clearing near my spot, soon joined by at least six more owls, all flitting about, probably catching insects, but also very curious about me, frequently dipping overhead within a few feet. One landed on a branch silhouetted against the dusky sky and showed its rather long, closely-spaced ear tufts. LONG-EARED OWLS. Not much in the way of vocalizations -- just a few squawks, contact notes -- and nothing more overnight.

What's with these owls? Do they nest in this habitat (subalpine fir / engelman spruce / lodgepole pine forest) or were they post-breeding upslope migrants?

Gene Hunn
18476 47th Pl NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
enhunn323 at comcast.net

PS: They were in both Walla Walla and Columbia counties.