Subject: [Tweeters] Owling & Night Vision (was Great Horned Owl translation
Date: Sep 7 08:25:37 2005
From: Lynn Schulz - linusq at worldnet.att.net


Ian and all:
Great Horned Owl sounds like: "Whoo's Awake. Me too". They also make a
squawk or screech. Wish I could describe it.
On another owling note, I think I will be getting a night-vision monocular.
Jamie Acker sent a msg to me on 7-21-05. I got online and googled the
monocular and it now costs about $250 for a waterproof model. But when your
night vision goes, it's hard to see little owls perching in thick trees.
The best models seems to be similar to the one that Jamie wrote about. More
details are on nightowl.com. I also found another website on Google called
dealtime.com. Go for green or a dark color, not reflecting titanium. Here
is Jamie's msg about the monocular.
Yours, Carol Schulz
DesMoines

>From Jamie Acker, July 21, 05:
Carol,
I own a "Night Owl Explorer - NOCX3". It is a monocular. I think it is
2x24. Increasing magnification is not a good thing, as the purpose of the
night vision is for DETECTION, not observation. My wife bought mine some
years ago, and it better not have cost over $200.

After I call an owl in, I use the night optics to located the bird,
providing it is calling, or I have a general idea of where to look.

Night Optics are not a tool to use for a general search.

Hope this helps.
-Jamie

-----Original Message-----
From: Lynn Schulz [mailto:linusq at worldnet.att.net]
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2005 9:55 AM
To: owler at sounddsl.com
Subject: Night Vision?

Hi Jamie:
I've given up on owling unless I can get some young birder to tag along.
;-) Mainly due to lack of night vision. I'm older than 60 and as you may
know, you
lose the ability to gather light w/ age. I can still tramp around in the
woods ok after dark, but seeing a fast-flying small owl down in woods is
really hard.
You wrote the msg below about night vision, and I'm finally ready to invest
in something. I pulled up some info from Eagle Optics and Cabela's. Eagle
Optics only lists two items: both from Bushnell. Both are monoculars.
There is a 4.0X50 and a 2.0X24. They are in the $200. range. Cabela's has
a much larger offering: monoculars, binoculars, and scopes. And of course
prices go way up to $5000! I also could go down to Sportco (the Costco of
hunting and fishing goods) in Fife. But it's hard to test night vision
stuff in the daylight in a big store. Do you mind if I ask what you own?
Is it a monocular, binocular, scope?
Maybe an approx. price?
Yours, Carol Schulz
DesMoines
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jamie Acker" <owler at sounddsl.com>
To: "VICJEN BURGETT" <vicjenb at yahoo.com>
Cc: "TWEETERS" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>; "WHATCOMBIRDS"
<whatcombirds at lists.wwu.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2005 7:49 AM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] INFORMATION SUMMARY

FLAMMULATED OWL: Despite my recent purchase of a much
>> stronger spotlight, I still have no confidence in my
>> ability to locate the more difficult owls.
>
> Increasing the intensity of a spotlight does little to increase the
> probability of locating an owl. Anything over 500,000 candlepower is
> unnecessary,and possibly detrimental to the vision of the nocturnal owls.
> Remember that they have 8x the number of rods in their eyes that you have.
>
> A much better investment is night vision. Owl eyes show up dramatically
> with night vision, and allow you to easily locate the bird, so that you
> can then shine a spotlight or flashight for better visibility. I use this
> technique when trying to find the smaller owls (saw-whet, flams, and other
> tree huggers), especially when leading a group that has an expectation of
> viewing a bird.
>
> Jamie Acker
> owler at sounddsl.com
> Bainbridge Island, WA