A Hoot of a Night!

I have had a few run-ins with owls of varying species over time but I have never actually spent a night "owling". On the 8th of February Steve M., Kim W., and I ventured to south-eastern Oklahoma to owl the Winding Stair Ridge, which is along scenic highway 1 in LeFlore County. The sky was crystal clear which allowed great views of falling stars and constellations throughout the night. We met at 7:15 pm and kept on until the wee hours of the morning (2:30am). Our true intent was to locate a Northern Saw-whet and we were fully aware of the probabilities(very slim), but this year they have been found in Alabama and a few other far reaching places throughout their range, so why not give it a shot?

We stopped at approximately 20 locations, to be honest at about 1 am I was beginning to get a little tired and probably forgot to jot a couple spots down where we failed to find any birds. We totaled 15 Eastern Screech, 5 Great Horned, and a single Barred Owl. Unfortunately no saw-whets, with the presence of the larger owls a lot of the smaller guys were staying pretty quite. The screech owls sometimes showed up without a sound, and Steve and I would get lucky and spot one with the mag-lite. Fortunately Steve is a world class bird photographer and he was able to get a bunch of really great shots, some of which are pictured here.

Perhaps the really exciting thing about the night (at least to me) was seeing the variation among the individual screech owls. One bird had an unusual amount of white on it (pictured), it will be interesting to hear some comments about that particuliar bird. A quick story before I go.

We had called in a particuliar individual and couldn't locate it. It would call from the left, then the right, then in front of us, and then from behind. Steve and I were standing there waiting to hear it call again when I turned to face him. Just at that moment when I turned with my flashlight the owl came into view. The light was shining just past Steve, and about that time I think it figured out what was going on. He put his breaks on which gave me a wonderful look at its fully extended under wing, and all of this just a few inches from Steve's head! He nearly got scalped. Steve finally got a photo of it, which I'm pretty sure is the third bird in the sequence.

Until next time.......

Screech Owl Photos by Steve Metz (http://stevemetzphotography.com/); please practice professional courtesy!

Owls, and Woodcocks On My Mind!

Well at last I have enough stamina to post something to the blog. I left off with a Barrow's Goldeneye, alot of good birds have come and gone since that time. I think I have added a few thousand miles to the truck as well. I guess the good side of all of this is that I have been able to work up a few good stories.

Let's see I have been to Cimarron County and back. That always makes for a fun trip. The best birds were two unexpected Burrowing Owls, and a Northern Shrike. None of which I was able to photo. I layed on my belly for about twenty mnutes a few feet away from the Burrowing Owls hole, hoping to get a good photo of his big yellow eyes peering out, unfortunately that did not happen. The shrike was a life bird, and I became so captivated by it that I forgot to get a photo, which would have made for a good shot considering it was perched about ten feet outside my passenger door window! I actually thought I had two, but examination of the photos of the second bird and a discussion over it with Mike Husak laid it to rest as a good looking, hook-billed Loggerhead. Oh well, maybe next time I actually see one I'll have the photo to prove it.

Hmm, what else. There's the Mew Gull at Kerr Lock and Dam. That was also a life bird, and one for which I will not likely top this year. I'm not sure how I managed to find that one. It was in a flock of aproximately two thousand swirling ring-bills, and bonapartes. They were all feeding below the dam. This bird I did manage to get a photo of! It was also present the next morning, fortunately for a few birders who were able to get it on their Oklahoma and life lists.

There are a lot more interesting things to tell you about. Like getting mired in three feet of mud, north of Panama in LeFlore County. I will save that one for later though. Currently I am in Antlers. I spent the day in Atoka Co, chasing loads of Purple Finches around. As a matter of fact the first bird on yesterdays block was a female purple finch, and today another female managed to be the third species located. Your probably saying big deal, I have eight of them at my feeder. I say to that, it's more fun to find them ( aprox. 35) in the wild! I actually got to hear one give its breeding song, something that I haven't heard before. I guess the beautiful, warm day had everybody feeling good. The male bluebirds were practicing for the upcoming spring, oh, and so were the Woodcocks!

That's right, 1 mile north of Antlers on a county road I located two displaying woodcocks. Which, if you are keeping track (and I am) makes this the second year in a row where I have found them displaying in Febuary (today counts as the earliest though), top that Revels! Anyway, I need to find a place to camp so I had best wrap this up. I am hoping to get a very early start in the morning. Owls, and wodcocks on mind, I'll keep in touch.