Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 08:00:27 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Rick Sussman Subject: Re: Wintering Owl Search MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 1/27/2003 10:13:07 PM Eastern Standard Time, tom@DUNNES.WS writes: > - Where in the Mont. County area would I go to have best success in this > venture. > - What does one look for? Where does one look (high up in the trees, > middle, near ground?). > - What time of day is best? > - Do I really need to freeze my rear off to find these beasts? > > Hi Tom! Glad to hear that you're still finding the guide useful, though a little lacking in the owl department. Owls are one of my favorite groups of birds, and I make frequent winter forays to search for them.Finding an owl is another story, however. Maybe one time out of ten will I even get a glimpse of an owl. To take your questions in turn, I would continue looking at Black Hill Regioanl Park. There is a place along Rt. 121, where there is a small cove, with a parking area where fishermen frequent. There are some nice pines on a ridge there, where I have had Great Horned Owl in the past (also reports of Long-eared Owls many years ago). Also check the trails along the Ten Mile Creek area, where there are stands of pines and cedars. Also the spot you checked, Cool Spring Run should harbor owls. Check the pines and evergreen trees for whitewash (owl droppings) beneath. Also look for pellets, the regurgitated remains of their prey. Other likely spots are Layhill Park (where I've been watching a pair of Great Horned Owls since early November, Little Bennett, Seneca Creek State Park, or spots along the C&O Canal for wintering Barred Owls. To find the owls you must actually look down on the ground beneath evergreens trees, thick viney areas or dense tangles of trees, looking for whitewash. Owl droppings tend to accumulate below favorite roosting trees, sometines in thick masses, sometimes just a few spots. It will often drip down through the branches and look like candle drippings. Owl wash is generally very white and lacks any brown or blackish pigments, so look for very bright white droppings. This indicates an owl (or owls) have been roosting above. By the time you find the droppings though, the owl is usually no longer there, having flown off because of your presence. Look also for the gray pellets which they "cough" up about 5-8 hours after feeding. These are sort of compact sets of bones, teeth, nails, etc. encased in fur which cannot be digested by the owl, and so are coughed up. Time of day; here's where winter owl finding is fun. You can go out any time of day, since owls roost throughout the day. You don't have to go out early or late, though to see an owl in "hunt" mode, you do need to get out at night. That's a whole 'nother game. Different owls roost at different heights in trees; generally the bigger the owl, the higher they roost. Saw-whets will often perch down low enough to be eye to eye with them, Great Horned usually high in the tops of trees. Mid size owls frequently perch in medium size trees. Small hollows in dead trees, especially if they face the afternoon setting sun, will often harbor a roosting Screech Owl (they like to sun themselves in winter). Do you really need to freeze your rear off; only if you want to! Windy days are usually less productive, so pick an afternoon (or morning) when the weather is moderate. The owls don't care but you'll be more comfortable. If you want some good tips, pick up Clay and Pat Sutton's small but useful guide How to Spot an Owl, available at the Audubon Naturalist Society bookshop. One of my favorite books but no longer in print is The Owl Papers. A good hard-cover copy is available at Bonifant Books in Wheaton. Good luck, Rick Sussman Ashton,MD warblerick@aol.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================