[Bristol-Birds] Historical Snippet - May 9, 1932
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 00:02:01 -0400
BBC Snippet
Of the nocturnal raptor possibilities in our region, few are more intriguing
than a handful of fascinating encounters with Long-eared Owls during the
breeding season months.
Most amazing is Fred M. Jones' find of a nest in what we believe is the
general vicinity of Musick's Campground long before South Holston Lake
existed. The nest was found in Washington Co., VA. The nest was
known to be active May 9-20, 1932.
Two records will make you lay awake
at night to toss and turn. Two birds
were heard calling near the summit
of Beartown Mountain in Russell
County on June 21, 1974 by Dick
Peake, Bill Opengari and others
during the Mount Rogers VSO Foray.
Another was found at Beartree
Campground just off US 58 north
of Damascus in Washington County
the next day on June 22, 1974
by Sarah Cromer and Peake.
The following articles, written by
Fred M. Jones, is his accounts
Long-eared Owl photographed in Kentucky of finding a Long-eared Owl nest
by Richard Kretz of Lebanon, VA in Holston Valley, along the
Virginia
and Tennessee line. Research of his birding activities has revealed that
at the time of this encounter with the nest, Jones lived 2.9 miles SE of what
is today Musick's Campground at South Holston Lake. It was nearly 20
years until the lake would be impounded. Jones lived in Bristol, Va., at least
early in 1932 and bought land Jan 15, 1932 on Jacob's Creek and was
known to live in a house which today has the address of 781 Denton
Valley Rd. The address is in sight of where you turn to drive out to Jacobs
Creek Campground of the U.S. Forest Service near the Job Crops.
Consider that Long-eared Owls are not known to nest in Tennessee and
you can probably count on one hand every breeding record in Virginia.
Many in the North American ornithological community are still amazed at
Jones' discovery of a nearly equal number of mammal (45) remains and bird
(46) remains discovered in the Long-eared Owl pellets. The Long-eared is one
that frequently has 90+ percent small mammals in its diets. At least the
science community believes the high number of birds reflects the season
and particular situation. One author wrote that in modern times much of
what is known about some of the prey species in the diet of the Long-
eared Owl reflects what Jones produced from the "Holston Valley" nest
findings.
THE AUK 50 (1): 105-106, 1933
Long-eared Owl (Asio wilsonianus) Nesting near Bristol, Va.--
Long-eared Owl (Asio wilsonianus) May 25, 1932, Washington Co., Va.,
near the Tennessee line. Nest made of green-brier roots 36 feet up in a
white pine tree which was in a small grove composed of white pines and
Jersey pine (Pinus virginiana). The six young Owls had only recently left
the nest as some were still found in the nesting tree along with the two
old ones, and in the nest were two freshly killed moles and one meadow
mouse. From the ground below I collected a quart of disgorged pellets.
The young Owls were about as large as the old ones and were able to
fly very well. The one I have now in captivity was caught with some
difficulty. That the Owls built the nest themselves is based on the statement
of the land owner who informed me that he had dislodged a crow's nest
from this tree the autumn before, removing every portion of the nest. He
also advised that the Owls had nested in this grove or near-by for the past
twenty-five years to his knowledge.- F. M. Jones, Bristol, Va.
THE OOLOGIST 51 (4): 38-39,
1934
THE LONG EARS OF THE PINE GROVE
That a pair of Long-eared Owls could break up a revival meeting seems
more like a "fish story," but from a reliable sources this seems to be true.
As the story goes, about twenty years ago this pair of Owls selected a
small pine grove in Holston Valley through which the Virginia and Tennessee
line ran as their new home, and at the time of their arrival a big revival
meeting was going on in that locality. When the good folks going home after
'the services in the small hours of the night heard strange mysterious sounds
which could not be accounted for, they began to wonder just what it could be
making the unusual noises. Some of a superstitious nature decided that home
was safer for them after dark and rather than to take any chances they were
not among those present with the church-going people any more. The
contagion soon spread until the congregation once large at the nightly
meetings,
dwindled away to only a few of the more faithful, until finally one night the
preacher himself failed to show up, and thus the revival came to an abrupt end.
My attention was attracted to this small family of Owls a few years ago when a
boy brought me a pair of the old birds which he had killed that day. I went
with
him out to the place the next morning to investigate the situation and try to
catch a few of the young Owls. They are not common to that section so I was
particularly interested in them. Four of the young Owls had departed during the
night, seeking new fields of endeavor but we finally located the two left
which
were sitting near the top of a white pine tree. After stopping all of the
plowing
in the neighborhood and enlisting the services of the friendly farmers to help
us we eventually caught the two Owls which were as large as the old ones and
could fly very good. Under the nesting tree I collected about a quart of the
disgorged pellets which I later sent to the Biological Survey for an analysis.
In due course of time the report was received and it certainly did disclose
quite
a variety of birds and mammals which the Owls had eaten. It was not as easy
as all that however, for only the scientific names were listed and in my case
they must have taken a lot for granted, and before I could tell just what the
Owls'
menu was, I had to do some research work myself. The list follows: Scarlet
Tanager, 3; Catbird, 2; House Wren, 2; Yellow-breasted Chat, 1; Song Sparrow,
1; Blackburnian Warbler, 1; Ovenbird, 2; Redstart, 2; Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 2;
Red-bellied Woodpecker, 2; Chipping Sparrow, 1; Brown Thrasher, 1; Cardinal,
1; Maryland Yellow-throat; 1; Bluebird, 1; Crow, 1; White-throated Sparrow, 1;
Fragments of Warblers, 9, and Passerine birds, 12. Seventeen identified birds
and 46 individuals. Now for the mammals: Pine mouse, 5; harvest mouse, 5;
house mouse, 9; white-footed mouse, 3; Cooper's Lemming mouse, 4; meadow
mouse, 4; short-tailed shrew, 13; rabbit, 2. Total of 45 individuals. Looking
at
the above tabulation it might seem as if the Owls were doing about as much
harm as good.
Before passing judgment on the Owls there are a number of things which must
be taken in consideration. In particular it might be well to keep in mind that
during
the trying period of raising such a large family to maturity and satisfying
their
ever increasing appetites, the old Owls had to get all the food available
without
having any option of choosing between mice and birds. Normally mice and rats
is their principal food and there is no denying the fact that they do a
tremendous
lot of good, and the fact that they do catch birds during the time of caring
for
their young, the good they do at other times more than offsets their faults.
Confirming this opinion, the two young Owls which I kept for several months
would invariably eat the mice first if given both mice and English Sparrows or
Starlings, and should there be sufficient mice to satisfy their appeties(sic),
they
would not eat the birds at all.
F. M. Jones,
Harrisonburg, Va.
from the archives of the Bristol Bird Club
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