Subject: [Tweeters] Good Intentions- Wanapum State Park Long Eared
Date: May 23 12:37:00 2011
From: Thomas Knight - dipperdog at gmail.com


It's really not too big of a deal either way- at the stage that the chick
was at, it was long past the crucial stage of imprinting so it knows that it
is an owl and it won't have any problems with mistaking humans as being its
own species. As a result, it's not dramatically different from taking an
adult that is having issues into a rehab facility briefly and then
re-releasing it. Leaving it out there might have also been fine, or it
could have resulted in the death of the chick. But perhaps the chick should
have died as part of the natural order- maybe it's a candidate for natural
selection because it didn't hold on tight enough in the nest and saving it
means more chicks in future that won't stay in their nests. Or perhaps our
manipulations of the environment reduced the amount of food that the parents
were able to find for their chicks, weakening the chick abnormally beyond
where it normally would have been if Europeans had never found America,
causing it to fall out of the nest, and if the chick hadn't been removed the
parents would have had a hard time finding the food to feed either chick,
whereas now both will flourish. It's really hard to imagine what all the
potential causes could have been for the mishap, what all of the potential
outcomes could be, and which plan of action was the 'correct' one. I'm just
glad that so many people care about the owls and that there will soon be two
more owls flying through the area.

Just my two cent's worth,
Thomas Knight
Seattle



On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 12:07 PM, <Jeffjendro at aol.com> wrote:

> The owlet was blown off the nest by a severe thunder storm that moved
> through the park the night of 5/11/11. Weeks younger than the owlet that
> voluntarily left the nest and climbed up the tree. The park host (a
> non-birder, who however had concern for the bird) called the rehab center
> who chose to get the bird. Why the rehab center made the decision they did
> is unknown unless someone cares to question them about it. I think all
> those involved TRIED to do what was best for the bird. I think they should
> be commended for what they tried to do. On some wildlife reserves they
> would have let nature take it's course unless the bird was an endangered
> species, i.e. not intervened one way or the other.
>
> This string perhaps best serves to educate the rest of us on what actions
> we might take if a owlet was blown of the nest in our back yard and we can
> assess the situation first hand. And, of course, there are no simple
> solutions. Everything seems to come with unintended consequences.
>
> Jeff Jendro
> Longview, WA
> jeffjendro at aol.com
>
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>
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