Mark,
Though LEOW's are not federally endangered, they are indeed rare in Maryland. Particularly as a breeding species. There has been only one confirmed breeding record in the state in the last 30 years or so. The DNR ranks them as an S1B species, which means critically imperiled as a breeding species. Now that we are entering the courtship window, these owls still should be treated as an endangered species if we want to give them every opportunity possible to breed.
Ross Geredien
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From: Mark Johnson <mj3151...>
To: <altomomatic...>; MDBirding <mdbirding...>
Sent: Friday, February 8, 2013 7:29 PM
Subject: Re: [MDBirding] The Soldiers Delight Problem
I don't think peole have really thought this issue through very thoroughly. Situations like this tend to shut down peoples' left brains and the resultant by-products are a lot of hand wringing and finger pointing. Have you considered that the owls probably wouldn't even have selected that spot to roost if not for BGE? It's not by coincidence that owls and raptors roost and build their nests along the edges of wood lots that interface with open fields...it's where they make their living. They like to set up shop in an area that will provide shelter, but be close to their hunting grounds. Power line cuts that are created and maintained by these utilities provide ideal habitat for these guys. If the open area were allowed to return to dense woodland, the edge that's so attractive to these birds wouln't exist and the birds would go elsewhere. Long-eared Owls aren't an endanged species. There are lots of them and they have a very broad range globally. They're
just really good at hiding from people. We call them a "sensitive species", but it's really a misnomer. They're not as sensitive as the people who churn their intestines into knots trying to protect them. The difference between us and the owls is that we have a conscience and actually feel compassion for them, sometimes more than is warranted, some would say. We worry about them more than they worry about, say, a vole that they're in the process of skull-crushing for breakfast. We focus on these situations when they present themselves, because they so infrequently present themselves. Every year thousands of these situations happen daily, out of our view, while utilities like BGE go through their routine pruning activities. It's anybody's guess how many owls are potentially or actually disturbed in the process, but they seem to manage to get by in spite of the commotion.
I love nature, and even a few of the people who are, undeniably, part of it. In my perfect world, people would just take a deep breath and think for a few moments before they organize a lynch mob for some hapless photogropher or BGE-contracted tree trimmer.
Mark Johnson
Aberdeen
----- Original Message ----- From: <altomomatic...>
To: "MDBirding" <mdbirding...>
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2013 5:06 PM
Subject: [MDBirding] The Soldiers Delight Problem
I'm puzzled. Many subscribers to this list were full of sound and fury over a report of an owl roost tree being disturbed -- presumably by a photographer, but then fell silent when the actual culprit was identified. That actual culprit being an ineffective DNR and an over-zealous utility.
Of the two -- photographer versus a state agency and a utility -- isn't the fact of the latters' actions far more disturbing? (I think so.) And what should we do about it? Must the sound and fury elicited by the original report of a disturbance signify nothing? I would hope that DNR and BGE be held responsible for their lack of effective communication.
This is a recurring problem and it's not going away.
Tom Stock, frequent visitor to Soldiers Delight
Silver Spring, Md.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
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