This morning I met a group of owlers off the 2:10 AM ferry from Seattle
Audubon for an owling adventure on Bainbridge Island. The weather seemed
perfect to me - cold and clear, with no wind, and a high barometer, slightly
rising. Though we did detect seven owls of four species, it was a below
average turnout in my estimation. In addition to the owls, we saw two
raccoons, one deer, and three meteors.



Our first stop started out well enough with a BARN OWL that screamed a
response at us. The next stop should have produced a Barred Owl as well as
a Northern saw-whet owl, but did not. The following stop produced a BARRED
OWL at 20 feet, that magically appeared as no one saw it fly in. The next
two stops were at higher elevations on the Island, and have in the past been
reliable locations for Northern Saw-whets, but there was a noticeable breeze
present. We did not detect any owls here.



We finally had a NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL give two quick chirps as it past
overhead in the Grand Forest. NSWO were a major disappointment, in that I
felt they should have been much more vocal and responsive. I was expecting
at least a half dozen on this trip, based on time of year and weather
conditions. Also at this location we heard a distant Barred Owl calling.



We had great looks at another Barred Owl at another location before we left
the Island in pursuit of a Northern Pygmy Owl.



The highlight to me was a pair of extremely vocal NORTHERN PYGMY OWLS that
called for twenty minutes. The female repeatedly gave her trill call in
addition to tooting. It was a good way to end the "day".



J. Acker

Bainbridge Island, WA

Owler at sounddsl.com