Thanks to all who've written the last two days in response to my query for
your thoughts regarding the owl song that my wife said sounded like a
Burrowing Owl! Unfortunately it did not come back last night. My wife is
the person who got me interested in birding--she would consider herself a
casual bird watcher and appreciator.
I ran through all of the owls represented on the Chirp!USA birdsong app and
played them in roughly the order that I thought we might expect to hear
near us, and did not identify them before playing: Barred, Screech, Long
Eared, short eared, northern saw-whet, Snowy, Fulmious (sp), Great Horned,
burrowing, Great Gray, and barn. She kept saying, no, it was only two
hoots repeated. She immediately reacted to burrowing-- it wasn't a "I think
that was it" it was an " Aha, that was what I heard!" moment.
Additional detail on the bird's location: the owl landed on the silver
maple outside our bedroom window, so it was very close, negating the
suggestion that she heard the tail end of a Great Horned call.
The suggestion of a barred we also discounted because we have Barred Owls
near us both along the W&OD bike trail (about a 1/4 mile to our west) and
in Foxstone park (about 1/4 mile to our . We've had two barreds hold their
conversation in our backyard when they do the hoo-ah ending of their song
without the "Who cooks for you?" phrase. So she knew that that was not
what she heard.
We have not had a chance to go through the xeno-canto.org site yet as she
had to work last night, so we will do this tonight. Meanwhile, I will be
prepared with both my iphone set to record and with my night vision
monocular in case the visitor returns tonight.
Thanks again for all of your suggestions!
Adam Beidler
Vienna, Virginia
