Tonight I went snowshoeing with my friends John, Stephanie, Stacey, and Sarah to watch the lunar eclipse and to play some owl calls. We started up Green Canyon, just outside of Logan, at dusk (6:30) and stopped every half hour or so to play owl calls. I mostly played the calls of Northern Pygmy-Owls and Northern Saw-whet Owls because I thought these would be the most likely for the habitat, but we also tried Western Screech-owl, Long-eared Owl, and Great Horned Owl calls. After about five stops to play owl calls, we finally got a response: my lifer Northern Pygmy-Owl calling from off in the distance - a simple hoot about once a second. It was a surreal hike, with the moon going into and out of eclipse as we hiked in the dark underneath it, and a Pygmy-Owl finally calling just as the moon emerged from the Earth's shadow.
3 comments:
So you don't have to actually see it? Just hearing it counts? Or did you see it too?
Is that you, Mom? Yes, just hearing it counts as long as I can be certain of what I heard. This is consistent with ABA birding "rules". I also am pretty sure I saw one fly across the trail later on the hike, but if I had only the look I had, I wouldn't count it. Thanks for leaving the comment - it's nice to know someone reads this.
Yep - it's me. It's a good way to keep up on what your doing with yourself.
I am emailing a link to Gramma McNaughton too as I think she would enjoy it.
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