ML617012832
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
- Playback
- Not specified
Observation details
Finally got to see one. This was in a different set of pine trees than the male was calling from during the last week. This one was making noises, but a bit more gravelly, not as clear a hoo sound. I have recordings. I first heard it calling faintly and then saw a bird fly into a tree, partially obscured. I couldn't tell for sure what it was. It then flew briefly and I saw the underwing pattern with the dark, highly contrasting marks at the wrist. It then perched in a relatively open spot where I was able to sit and watch for about 5 minutes or so as the light faded. At the beginning of this time I was able to see the long "ear" tufts, eliminating short-eared owl (not to mention habitat) and it was much smaller than great-horned. I could also make out the facial pattern that is very different from the smaller screech and saw-whet owls. Not as robust and round as barred owl, and also the "ear" tufts eliminate that also. The orangish/yellow cheeks on the sides stood out even though it was getting dark and it was hard to tell the colour clearly. The pattern was still evident. This all in addition to the fact that one has been calling for the last week make me confident of the ID. It was alert, looking around, noting when there were sounds and turning in that direction. The recording was not very clear and so I filtered it to make it audible. It is still very hard to hear and may not be helpful. The recording is a short section that is a rapids series of calls, but most of the time it was single calls spaced out unevenly. I was hoping I might be able to determine if it is a female as the sound was different than what I heard previously and was not nearly as consistent but I don't think the recording is good enough. It/they have been here for more than a week now. There are lot of old crow nests around and coopers hawks have been nesting here the last few years so there are possible nest sites. Have not been able to confirm a pair for sure and have not found a nest. I am not looking too much during the day as I do not want to disturb them and discourage them from nesting if that is what is happening. Went outside again at 9:50pm and heard the consistent clear hoo call of the male that I had been hearing from the location that it had been, not where I saw the individual in this checklist. So perhaps there are two. I wonder whether the male calls from a location that is not too close to the nest site so as not to draw attention to it??
Technical information
- Recorder
- Microphone
- Accessories
- Original file size
- 2.51 MB