FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Diurnal hunting of Barn Owl -- Bluff City, TN

["Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Shortly after 5 p.m. today (7/22) Bert Hale and Loraine Hale discovered 
a Barn Owl perched in the open in full sun on a telephone cable
along TN Rt. 390 (Bluff City Hwy) northeast of the S.F. Holston River 
bridge at Bluff City, Sullivan Co.  He was able to park nearby and walk
up the shoulder of the road and get a few photos without the bird flying.
Carolyn and I returned home at 6:34 and found a report left
on our message machine by Loraine.

At 6:50 p.m. we found the owl still there.  It was perched with its back to the
evening sun and busy watching and/or listening for activity of some
kind beyond the right-of-way on the wooded hillside which was not more
than ~30 feet or so from the cable.  It was very alert and very focused.
It turned its head often as if to get a better fix on whatever was of 
interest.

This owl may be working overtime feeding young which were nearby.

Bert said that in the mid to late 1980's he found a roadkill Barn Owl on
Silver Grove Rd. (along river) about 300-400 yards east of the TN Rt. 390 bridge
near where the owl was seen Sunday.  There are cliffs along this road.
That carcass was given to Dr. Gary Wallace for the Milligan College biology
department collection.

On 14 Jul 2005, Ron Harrington, Bob Cheers and I saw a Barn Owl's nest on 
the South Fork Holston River less than a mile upstream from Bluff City. 
Sullivan Co., TN. That was a new nesting location for Barn Owls along the
river.  Young were flying around outside the nest and very vocal.

An historic nesting area for the species is ~ 5 river miles upstream of 
the Bluff City bridge along TN Rt. 44.  On 8 Apr 2004 Bert Hale picked up
an injured Barn Owl which had been found in the road at that site.  It was later
rehabbed and released at the same location.

Let's go birding......

Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN



 






=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with
first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation.
You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds
you report were seen.  The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should
appear in the first paragraph.
_____________________________________________________________
      To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
                    tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
_____________________________________________________________ 
                To unsubscribe, send email to:
                 tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
            with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
______________________________________________________________
  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
        endorse the views or opinions expressed
        by the members of this discussion group.
 
         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
                ------------------------------
                Assistant Moderator Andy Jones
                         Cleveland, OH
                -------------------------------
               Assistant Moderator Dave Worley
                          Rosedale, VA
__________________________________________________________
         
          Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
              web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

                          ARCHIVES
 TN-Bird Net Archives at http://www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/

                  EXCELLENT MAP RESOURCES
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif
Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com

_____________________________________________________________