[Bristol-Birds] Diurnal hunting of Barn Owl -- Bluff City, TN
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "TN-birds" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2007 20:20:01 -0400
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
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