[obol] Fun with twilight owls in SW Portland
- From: David Irons <llsdirons@xxxxxxx>
- To: OBOL Oregon Birders Online <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2013 05:18:32 +0000
Greetings All,
A twilight dog walk along the Fanno Creek Trail in the Garden Home area of sw.
Portland turned out to be much birdier than expected (we took no bins). The
seventeen species that we encountered included dueting pairs of Great Horned
and Western Screech-Owls along the section of the trail that borders Portland
Golf Club on the south side. The Great Horneds were out on the golf course and
were not seen, but they were calling well before dark.
The Screech-Owls were far more accessible. I saw a nest box that looked ideal
for screech-owls mounted on the side of a large Douglas fir in a backyard, so I
did a couple of screech-owl whistle series imitations before continuing along
the trail. A few moments later a Western Screech-Owl sounded off right
overhead. It was easily visible in the remaining light. Eventually, it began
dueting with its mate. We captured recordings of some of the vocalizations
using our iPhones. After listening and watched the owls flying back and forth
through the trees for a few minutes, I saw one of the owls fly to where the
other was perched. They came together, fluttered their wings for a few seconds,
then flew off together. All I could see were dim silhouettes, but I'm sure they
were copulating.
A more complete report with a full checklist and a Google Map of the area can
be viewed at this link:
http://www.birdfellow.com/members/dave_irons/field_reports/756-fanno-creek-trail-sw-92nd-ave-to-pgc-10-march-2013
Dave IronsPortland, OR
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