Sue, Welcome from a fellow Northern Virginian. After my experiences last year I consider great horned owls to be pretty hardy. Last year at this time I reported my efforts to save a great horned owl family from new construction just a few feet from their nest in Herndon. A number of people responded to my RBA posts and helped monitor the situation. After a few weeks of construction, including blasting and tree cutting, the owls had the sense to move on their own to a nearby location. I'll never forget the reporter who came by and asked, simply, "aren't the owls used to this sort of thing by now"? That said, I do think its a good idea to keep owls off the RBAs. I've found a few saw whet, barred, short eared, great horned and screech owls this winter but have only reported the ones I saw on a trip to Shenandoah National Park. The remote location and lack of details should keep the crowds away. _______________ David Gersten gerstens@erols.com Herndon, VA Susan Heath wrote: > All, > > I guess I have stumbled all over birding etiquette on my first post to > you all. I would like to reiterate Howard's concern about the Great > Horned owl nesting site. We saw the bird from the parking lot and I did > not realize it had been spooked earlier nor did I know that there was a > policy not to report owl nesting sites on RBAs. Had I known these > things, I certainly would not have posted about it. Please accept my > apology and also PLEASE view this bird from the parking lot only. If it > can't be seen from there, then leave it be. > > Sue > -- > Susan Heath > Centreville, VA > sheath@erols.com