Ok, here's the story of the little Flammulated Owl's trip to Ontario,
Canada!
We had to first decide how the owl would be transported, and who would make
the trip with him.
Dr. Nancy Matthews was here at the time. She was a biologist with the USGS
Texas Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit at TTU and
had sent a number of interns to the Wildlife Center over several semesters.
We decided the best opportunity would be to find a student who would be
traveling home for the holidays
to somewhere up north.
It wasn't long until she learned one of her grad students would be flying
to upstate New York.
On the day of the flight I met Nancy and Jeff up at the house at the Center
at 5:30 AM. Jeff had a small canvas pet carrier and we carefully placed the
owl
inside and off they went to the airport.
Jeff was understandably very protective of the carrier, and placed it
carefully in his lap after takeoff. It wasn't long until his cradling of
the carrier raised the suspicions of
flight attendants and nearby passengers, so when they arrived in Chicago,
they politely ushered Jeff off the plane so they could "inspect" this
mysterious carrier.
Seeing the diminutive owl inside, the Captain then offered Jeff a first
class seat, with first class treatment the rest of the way to New York.
There he was met by a gentleman from Canada who would check the owl's CITES
document and a veterinarian's release, and once satisfied everything was in
order,
would drive the owl to Katherine McKeever's facility in Ontario.
Kaherine died last year at age 94. You can read about her life and work on
the web, and she sometimes answered owl questions for me and my
successor, Gail Barnes on several occasions.
We had three Flamms during the 26 years I volunteered at SPWRC.
Carol
On Thu, Oct 15, 2020 at 8:58 AM Floyd and Clarice Robertson <
47robertson02@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The only time we have seen a Flammulated Owl was October 11, 1980.
It was perched in the low branches of a small tree in front of Rosemary
English's home, 3826 62nd Dr. Rosemary was active in the LEAS at the time.
In those days before the invention of the computer and email, we used a
chain phone alert system. We had quite a crowd gathered in front of
Rosemary's house to see the Owl. It was perched, almost hidden in low
branches about eye level, just as Anthony described.
Although illogical, I wanted to drive by time and again, and peek into
that tree. No luck.
Floyd and Clarice Robertson
*----- Original Message -----*
*From:* Carol Lee <spwrc1@xxxxxxxxx>
*Reply-To:* <leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*To:* <leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Sent:* 10/14/2020 8:51:15 PM
*Subject:* [leasbirds] Re: Flammulated owl rescued
------------------------------
The first Flammulated Owl we admitted at SPWRC came from New Mexico in
1992.
I'd have to go back in my records to find the exact date, but it was
around this time of year, or later.
After much back and forth between a vet / rehabilitator in NM, our federal
and state permit people and others, it was ultimately decided
that the owl be placed with Katherine McKeever, in Ontario, Canada, for
breeding purposes. Kate was a pioneer in owl research, and there's a lot
about her on the web.
She named our owl "Tex" and he was placed in a large enclosure with 18
(yes, 18 - is what she told me) female owls.
There's a lot more to the story about the owl's journey to Canada if
anyone is interested....it was a little tricky to say the least.
Wyman Meinzer drove up from Benjamin, TX to get a photo of the Flamm
before it left SPWRC.
All in all, it was an exciting chapter in the history of the Wildlife
Center!
Carol Lee
On Wed, Oct 14, 2020 at 8:16 PM Anthony Hewetson <fattonybirds@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Greetings All:
Keep an eye out for Flammulated Owls in the region: one record often
leads to others in what seems to be an irruptive pattern. They tend
to like relatively low (5-15 foot) perches in densely foliated trees
such as liveoak and willow when they are on the move through our
region.
Anthony Hewetson
On Wed, Oct 14, 2020 at 7:19 PM Brad Shine <sonofshine@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
chase-able but that would of been cool. I believe this represents the
Today a Flammulated owl was rescued in NW Lubbock. Obviously not
third record for Lubbock county and a handful for the region. Seems to be a
good year, as one was at melrose, and at least one on El Paso this fall.
Good birding,
Brad Shine
