Subject: [Tweeters] Lincoln Park (W. Seattle) Barred Owl walk report
Date: Mar 4 10:06:07 2007
From: Stewart Wechsler - ecostewart at quidnunc.net


The Lincoln Park owl walk went great. Shortly after starting the walk we
found a pellet on the ground (O.K., I spotted it a couple of days earlier
and left it in the same spot). Everyone got to examine the pellet which
appeared to be the remains of a delicious raw, hairy rat dinner. I took it
to examine the contents more carefully later. It did indeed have the
skeleton and hair of one rat, which upon careful examination appeared to
indeed be a Norway Rat - Rattus norvegicus, though I couldn't confidently
rule out Rattus rattus - the Black Rat. I was unable to confirm how good it
tasted as the tastier portion had been removed by the owl.

Soon after that one of the owls then gave its "Whooah" call and soon one of
the group spotted an owl and most of the group of about 15 saw it. Sadly,
even though the owl had been spotted we agreed that we couldn't add "spotted
owl" to our checklists. Soon after we found the one owl we spotted its
mate, but alas, again no spotted owl. They flew off but not long later one
gave another whooah call and we located them again and got relatively good
looks at them. They stayed together one flying over and to the other. We
observed them in a few locations following the calls as they flew. Before
the end of the evening they gave what I call the "monkey holler" of whooping
calls and a scream that I associate with courtship. Though I gave my hoots
a number of times they never gave a clear response and not any "who cooks
for you" calls, but they gave a great show.

Stewart Wechsler
Ecological Consulting
West Seattle
206 932-7225
ecostewart at quidnunc.net

-Advice on the most site-appropriate native plants
and how to enhance habitat for the maximum diversity
of plants and animals
-Educational programs, nature walks and field trips
-Botanical Surveys



--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.4/705 - Release Date: 2/27/2007
3:24 PM