Hi All,

I just wanted to make the observation that juvenile owls are now on the 
move, away from their parent's home ranges, and are encountering pairs 
holding territories for the first time. A lot of late season calling is 
defensive in nature as adults deal with the onslaught of naive and 
hungry youngsters looking for a good, and unoccupied, hunting ground 
with decent roost sites. Given that owls start territorial calling in 
December (Great Horned Owls), January (Barred Owls) and February 
(screech-owls) I don't think it likely an early autumnal photoperiod 
should set them off. As it happens I was just outside at the table on 
our deck doing some writing and the local pair of Barred Owls sounded 
off for about five minutes around 5:30 PM.

Off topic but of interest nonetheless: There was also a male 
Red-breasted Nuthatch in our (evergreen-less) yard this afternoon. The 
clever little fellow stole somebody's cached seed from behind the wire 
wrapped around our TV aerial.

Good birding,

Walter Ellison

23460 Clarissa Rd
Chestertown, MD 21620
410-778-9568

Observing Nature is like unwrapping a big pile of presents every time 
you take a walk.