I am a bit behind in my email due to server issues and it being that frantic
time at the end of the school year, but I hope I can offer some helpful
advice on owling, based on twelve years of experience on Bainbridge Island
and some in other parts of Washington. I probably qualify for the
"extremist" category when it comes to night time owling. I am usually out
one morning a weekend from October to March, weather permitting.

Owls are like goshawks, in that they are everywhere if you just know how to
look and listen. In the right time of year, most every wooded 5 acre parcel
will likely contain a Northern Saw-whet.

My equipment:
Audio - I use an iPod now, after upgrading from my daughter's
portable CD player. I have calls from all of Washington's owl species on
file, with most species represented by male, female, young, territorial, and
courtship calls. It has taken me a while to accumulate these. For a
speaker, I use a realistic speaker that I paid $70 for, based on an article
in Birding several years ago. I had to replace the speaker once, as I tend
to abuse equipment, and the newer model has speakers that fold into a
protective cradle so I am less likely to damage them. I really like this
system.
Spotlight - I have a 300,000 candle power rechargeable portable
spotlight. Any more candle power is probably harmful, and at observation
ranges, overkill. I use it to locate an owl that I have detected, and then
move the bright spot off to the side to reduce the intensity.
Nightvision - Some years ago, my wife bought me "Night Owl Optics",
and at the time, I was extremely skeptical and wanted no part of them. (I
spent many a watch at periscope depth looking through a night vision
periscope at the Soviet fleet in the early 80's. I don't have fond
memories....) At any rate, night optics really help out. They are useless
for an area search, but terrific for pinpointing a calling bird buried in a
cedar tree. Owl eyes shine back in infrared look like two yellow stars in a
pitch black sky that move together. When leading an owl prowl, these have
bailed me out on numerous occasions for views.
Time/weather/season - Best owling is October and January/February as
birds are most responsive. I do not owl in wind/rain/snow/sleet/hail. When
I take a group out, I like to go with a full moon, as it makes seeing
flyovers easier, as well as allowing people to move about without use of
lights. Falling barometers also usually result in poor owling trips. I
tend to prefer to owl in the very early morning (3 AM until sunrise) on
weekends, with Sunday being the day of preference, due to the significantly
lower ambient noise level. One of the lessons I learned from 9-11 after the
aircraft were grounded for days was how quiet it was at night without
airplanes.

Ethics:
Touchy subject that is similar to "cats" on Tweeters, especially
when dealing with seldom seen night owls such as Boreal, at places that do
not allow playback, such as national parks....
I alternate my routes on Bainbridge so that I do not owl the same
location two weekends in a row, so as to minimize disturbance to any one
bird. Using playback or calling with voice is a disturbance to the resident
bird. Both evoke a response. As I am learning from my Barred Owls on
telemetry, just because a bird does not appear when called, does not mean
that it has not responded. I can also say that in the case of Barred Owls,
my surveying techniques do not seem to have a negative impact on their
numbers.

Species:
Barn Owl - will respond to playback usually with an investigative flyover,
and occasional vocalization.
Barred Owl - depending on season and individuals, responses will vary from
totally ignoring the call to a close encounter from behind. This and the
Saw-whet are probably our most responsive species.
Northern Saw-whet -from October through February, our most numerous and
responsive owl. Responses vary from overhead fly-bys, to chirps from nearby
treetops, to a close encounter. This bird is mostly nocturnal, though I did
find in my question on SAWWHETNET, the saw-whet banders listserve, that they
will call during the day.
Western screech-owl - may take some time to get a response, but once
aroused, will call. In the past when they were more numerous, I could
sometimes get them to respond by switching to a barred owl call, to which
they would bark out a response. I rarely call for my local birds as I don't
want them to become Barred Owl food.
Northern Pygmy Owl - I have loosely monitored a pair for five years. It
sometimes takes a while to get them to respond, and they may respond with a
single toot, or get into a full blown argument, with trills. Best time for
this bird is right after sunrise. I have had NOPO call at 3 AM and at all
times during the day.
Great Horned Owls- I have very poor results when trying to call this owl,
though I have had limited success at times.
Flammulated- tough bird to see, but easy to hear. Their call carries for
almost a half mile to my ear, and in June they call once it gets dark out.
They can be very responsive and called in, but extremely difficult to
locate. Night vision has been very helpful to me for this species.

At this time of year, most owls are engaged in rearing young and are not the
most responsive. I do my annual Barred Owl survey in early July as the
young are giving their easily detected food begging call frequently, and are
very easy to call in. Owling in August is the absolute pits, in that the
young are in dispersion, and the adults are going through molt. Young birds
tend not to vocalize once out of their natal turf, and adults tend to be
more tolerant of trespass as the young disperse.

Hope this was of some use.
Happy Owling!

J. Acker
Bainbridge Island, WA
Owler at sounddsl.com

A voice unspoken (or unwritten) is a voice unheard.
Be heard!

-----Original Message-----
From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of rainbird
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 5:44 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] Owling for Dummies

I live in the greater Seattle area, and would love to
embark on a do-it-yourself owling expedition (without
incurring too much travel expense.) Where are some good
places, and (this feels like a dumb question) about what
time of evening is best? Anything else I ought to know about
that I'm not knowledgeable enough to ask?

LS
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