Last night I camped out at a remote site in the western Cascades, so that I
could run a Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) route this morning.
My campsite was next to a remnant of old-growth forest that still had a couple
of vocal pairs of Spotted Owls when I first volunteer for this route, back in
2004. However as Barred Owls moved in, the Spotted Owls became intimidated and
over time, sang less and less. About eight years ago, one owl surveyor who I
met up there late one night remarked that even though a pair was still present
and responding to recordings, they no longer seemed to be nesting.
Last night I slept out under the stars (or more accurately, under the clouds)
and drifted off to sleep. Around 1 am I awoke to the sound of a pair of Barred
Owls duetting from the trees less than 30 m away.
Being a little irked to hear Barred Owls rather than Spotted Owls, I started to
mimic their calls. They made a couple of strange sounds and clammed up. They
must have left the vicinity, as I didn't hear them again, for the rest of the
night.
About ten minutes after the Barred Owl pair clammed up, as I started to drift
back to sleep, I heard another owl calling right in those same trees. This time
it was a male Spotted Owl. He sang for a couple of minutes. He must have been
lurking nearby while the Barred Owls were calling, just waiting for them to
leave the vicinity. On the negative side, I didn't hear any response from a
female Spotted Owl. But it's always good news to still have at least one
Spotted Owl around.
--
Joel Geier
Tampico neighborhood north of Corvallis
