This evening (Sat 1/9/10) as I finished locking up the chickens I spotted an oddly-sized owl just landing near the top of a big old cedar tree silhouetted against the late twilight sky. It was sort of the size of a Barred Owl but not quite. It spotted me, erected prominent ear tufts, then shifted its position slightly and vanished entirely. Long-eared Owl! I walked right up to the base of the tree, never saw the bird fly, and could spot no trace of it. Of course that bird might have been wintering in that cedar tree 100 feet from my house every winter since I moved here without my ever knowing it was there, such are the hiding abilities of the species. That also might not even be its roost tree, as there are quite a few big old cedars nearby. I'll try to see if there's any way to spot the bird in daylight and post details if so. Bill Pulliam Lewis County =================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 //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ MAP RESOURCES Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________