[TN-Bird] owl update
- From: K Dean EDWARDS <kde@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Tennessee Birds <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 09:08:35 -0500 (EST)
(Knoxville, TN)
Ok, my current thinking is that the owls I heard screeching
this past weekend may have been LAST year's young instead of
this year's. According to the Bent life histories, the yearling
owls will often give this hunger cry throughout their first
year of life. My theory is that last year's young were having
difficulty finding food and returned to their parents looking
for a handout. What we heard then was probably the parents
yelling at their teenagers.
I went out into the woods just before sunset last night (21 Jan 2004)
to look for the nest. I first went to the area where I heard
the squealing. I went through the area pretty good but couldn't
find any sign of a nest. I then walked back north along the
ridge in the direction I most often hear the adults hooting and
where I was pretty sure there was a Red-tailed Hawk nest last
year though I was never able to find it.
I finally found the nest about 60 ft up in a pine, three houses
up from us and about 120 yards or so from where I heard the
squealing. One bird was at the nest and flew off to go hunting.
I stayed until it (or the other) returned. I heard no sign of
the young vocalizing when it came back. I didn't have a good
view into the nest from where I was and couldn't see any movement
once the one bird left but that's not conclusive. I tried taking
a few photos but it was pretty dark by then. I'll try again
later.
Any thoughts?
On a side note, while I was out, I found where the Hairy Woodpecker
has been roosting this winter. Last year, he had a roost hole
within sight from our house and I saw or heard him pretty often.
This winter I've only spotted them twice I think. While I was
looking for the owl nest, the male Hairy flew up beside me and
went into his new roost hole which is about halfway down the back
side of the ridge.
Dean Edwards
Knoxville, TN
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