It pays to check things out, and nothing is impossible. The last Spotted
Owl that I saw was in the town of Centralia. A game warden picked it off of
I-5 where it was hit by a car. Who (no pun intended) would have thought
that a SO would be in town?
Strange things happen.

Clarence
Cinebar, WA.

----- Original Message -----
From: <mattxyz at earthlink.net>
To: "Tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2007 5:32 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Thoughts on Seattle's Arboretum Owl


> Hi all -
> I'll just chime in with a couple personal thoughts on the question that
> seemed to be posed by Larry & maybe some others.
>
> I don't really see the question he implicitly poses - why focus on the
> possibility of a Great Gray and ignore the Pochard - as a valid one. But
> I do have some thoughts on why I bother to look for birds like this one,
> despite the odds being against it....
>
> I was out twice looking around the Arboretum for the owl after it was
> reported - and I don't believe anyone I spoke to there was searching
> without a good measure of doubt over what the species the owl might be. We
> all held high hopes, but we weren't just assuming it was a Great Gray --
>
> It isn't like anything more than a little time was spent in our efforts --
> The Arboretum is close by, and I found this to be a great opportunity to
> finally become a bit more familiar with a spot I've almost never birded.
> If I waited around for a rarity to be confirmed every time before I went
> out looking for it, I'd feel like I was admitting that all I care about is
> seeing the rare birds. Instead, I try to look at these wild goose chases
> as good chances to find the motivation to learn a bit and to try some
> place new.
>
> Besides the fun of coming across regular birds in a mostly new [to me]
> place, I find the conversations at rarity-searches to often be enriching.
> We weren't finding a Great Gray, but we were working through our knowledge
> of Great Gray & Barred behavior, and trying to apply those bits of
> knowledge to a new puzzle. Sure, I enjoy going to 'the spot' in Havillah
> to see staked out GGOWs, but when trying to find a bird away from a
> stake-out, you get a chance to think through the behavioral patterns of
> birds and test hypotheses -- Would a wandering GGOW favor more open areas
> as it does on its territory? What are the past patterns of the wanderers
> that have shown up in western WA? What are the differences between where a
> GGOW sits in a tree and where a Barred Owl will sit? What time of year did
> those wanderers show up?
>
> I think I learned more about Great Gray Owls by not seeing this one than I
> would have if I had just gone over to Havillah again. You don't really
> have to consider behavior or habitat or anything if you have a good map! I
> think it more of a challenge to keep my mind active on those 'stations of
> the birding cross' ticks than when grasping at long-shots.
>
> I suppose by searching for the owl I missed out on some computer time or
> perhaps a shot at some good birding elsewhere, but the trade-off was well
> worth it to me. It would have been just as fun probably to head up and try
> to track down Gary's Pochard, but that would have required more time than
> I had available and wasn't ever really in play in my mind. Maybe I'll
> still make it up there before long....
>
> Finally, one obvious other element comes into play when trying to ask
> questions like 'why is there so much talk about the Seattle Owl and so
> little about the Samish Pochard?' The words 'Seattle' and 'Samish' in the
> framing of that question ought to make it clear why sightings from one
> place get heavier traffic on a list like Tweeters -- there's just way more
> of us living here than there.....
>
> That's about all that comes to mind at present - No offense intended (or
> given I hope)!
>
> Best,
>
> Matt Bartels
> Seattle, WA
>
>
>
>
>
>
>>From: Larry Schwitters <lpatters at ix.netcom.com>
>>Subject: Re: [Tweeters] re: Seattle Great Gray Owl
>>Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 20:05:40 -0700
>>
>>Scott and Tweeters,
>>
>>I've had the same thoughts. Of course it's possible, and the Arboretum is
>>close and easy for us Puget Sounders to get to, but has not the vast
>>majority of Tweetersville been reluctant to approach this as a probable
>>sighting? Has a Great Gray ever been recorded in urban King County? Your
>>average non birder is doing well to get the owl part right, and a big gray
>>owl is pretty close to a Great one.
>>
>>Then there is Gary Bletsch who gives a very thoughtful and in depth
>>description of a Pochard-like duck on Samish Island. He begs for others
>>to get involved and is largely ignored. How come?
>>
>>Larry Schwitters
>>Issaquah
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>On Oct 16, 2007, at 7:03 PM, Scott Downes wrote:
>>
>>>Tweets,
>>>I don't want to rain on anybody's parade. Seeing reports of a "pale
>>>Barred
>>>Owl" in the area and the observer was a novice or non-birder; John did
>>>you
>>>hear any details from your co-worker that would eliminate Barred Owl over
>>>Great Gray? To a beginner they could look quite similar and obviously
>>>there
>>>is a Barred in the park already. Not saying the Great Gray is a Barred
>>>just
>>>a likely possibility is all and Great Gray is quite rare in urban King
>>>Co.
>>>
>>>Scott Downes
>>>downess at charter.net
>>>Yakima WA
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>Tweeters mailing list
>>>Tweeters at u.washington.edu
>>>http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
>>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>Tweeters mailing list
>>Tweeters at u.washington.edu
>>http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
>
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