Re: an apology and special request

David Gersten (gerstens@erols.com)
Sun, 07 Feb 1999 09:06:20 -0500


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