Hello: I was able to do some late night owling in the hometown of Orting
tonight with some pretty good luck. The moonlight was showing off BARN OWLS
quite well. At one point, I stopped the vehicle in the highway (no traffic at
2am) to observe a Barn Owl midspan on some telephone wire when he took flight
and landed in the middle of the road in front of me. He began hopping after
a small mouse that was quickly running to the shoulder of the road. The owl
was unsuccessful at this attempt. I'm sure I was partly to blame with my
blaring headlights. Thank goodness there wasn't oncoming cars approaching!!
Also of note, juvenile GREAT HORNEDS are making their presence known on the
forested hillside with their 'cheep........cheep.......cheep' calls. And,
finally, a SAW-WHET answered my whistle call right away near Coplar Creek. The
bird only let out 6-7 'toots' then went silent. Perhaps territory defense
isn't an August priority for the little fellas. That's it for now!! Bryan
Mathews, Orting, _Owler24 at aol.com_ (mailto:Owler24 at aol.com)