Owling

Every so often you come across the chance to do something really fun and exciting. For me I guess that is most days I'm out birding, but I'm talking really exciting.

Owl exciting!

Last January I was fortunate enough to take a break from my at the time job on Little St Simons Island to participate in the Southwest Birding Festival in Naples, FL. I had quite a time there and with the fabulous aid of Steve Mutart on the Eagle Lakes field trip and Beverly Anderson at Tigertail Beach, I was more than swimming in new bird species. From Kestrels and hawks to Snowy Plovers and waders I cannot thank those two enough. One of the highlights of the trip, and the owl connection, came in the form of Scott Weidensaul. Scott is a wonderful speaker, an even better author and one heck of a nice guy. Needless to say, I took to his wit and open demeanor immediately. To make a long story short, later in April, I ran into Scott again as he was a highly coveted guest speaker at LSSI's own spring birding days. I relished the opportunity to pick his brain apart again and spent the next few days generally making a nuisance of myself in his presence.

It was during this time that I learned about the Saw-Whet Owl project that Scott spearheads in Eastern Pennsylvania. Since I was getting ready to move to the OBX, I knew that I was destined to beg/plead/coerce Scott into letting me come up and volunteer in the fall, which is what I just got back from. Up to date? Good, time for a cute picture then continue reading below.

The project you were reading about before you were blindsided by that disgusting display of awwwwww is sponsored in part by the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art in PA, and run by a host of banders and volunteers who operate under Scott's federal banding permit. There is a variety of research being done on Saw-Whet's and you can read about it on Ned Smit's web site http://nscnaowls.blogspot.com/. For me, it was great to get some hands-on experience with these animals and the means of detaining them, ie mist nets. Thankfully there were many people there who were more than capable banders and I had all the help that I could get. (Much thanks to John, Gene, Tim, Ben, Corky, Mary Ann, Teresa and Phil by the way.)

Getting a chance to view these birds was very special for me and I am still spewing out my thanks to Scott, even though he is surely tired of my braying. "Owls are awesome" is my new, slightly prepubescent-esque, mantle and I am looking forward to searching for them in the woods surrounding the Bodie Island light house this winter. (Curtis Smalling, a state Audubon Biological Technician told me they are there. Nice guy, take a class with him if you get a chance, he makes Golden-winged Warblers very entertaining.)

Cheers