I finally had an adventure all it took was to go looking for love. Yes, it is the time of year where all Great Horned Owls are looking for love. It is mating season for these beautiful birds. It also time for bored biologist that have been stuck in their office glued to their computer to go out and count the love sick owls. Owls call more during mating season so it is a great time to listen for them. Conditions have to be right though, winds below 12 mph and no precipitation. Those kind of days that are rare in King Salmon. Last night was perfect weather for an owl survey and we took advantage of it.
The survey began 30 minutes after sunset. Still twilight but good. Our first stop was Lake Camp. The last survey was performed in 2001 and out of the 12 sites visited only two owls were counted. We were hoping for three. Not high goals but that was it. At each stop you listen for 10 minutes hoping to hear the owls call. There we stood in the growing darkness with just my flashlight and my partner was wearing a headlamp. Ten minutes later no owls.
Stop 2 was a mile away. Now it was really dark. The wind was slight and cloud cover was 100%. Then we heard it. One gray horned owl calling. Not once but three times.
Stop 3. We heard one owl, then a second answered. The two of them calling back and forth. And then a coyote called. He sang his song not far from us. We listened to all of them call into the night. After our ten minutes my partner said she thought the coyote was going to eat us it was so close.
Stop 4. It was really dark now. We heard an owl off in the distance. Then quiet after about five minutes of darkness a strange noise occured not to far from where we were standing. Not knowing what it was we ran back towards the doors of the truck. I raised my flashlight but we saw nothing. After our time was over we tried to guess what it was that we heard. My partner was sure it was a moose. I thought it sound like a scared ptarmagin taking flight. Then again something would have startled it to make it flush.
Stop 5. More owls calling.
Stop 6. We heard what sounded like a duck. During the ten minutes we try not to talk so that we can hear the owls. So niether of us said anything as the duck like noises continued. We were not near waterfowl habitat all our stops are in boreal habitat. So the chance of it being a duck were very slim. Yet duck like noises do not make people jumpy. We decided that it must have been a porcupine as they are known to make unusual sounds.
Stop 6. More owls.
Stop 7. More owls.
Stop 8. More owls.
Stop 9. We were a few feet from an intersection of two dirt roads. We heard kids out into the woods off my side of the truck. We heard an owl. Then we heard the snap of a branch. I asked my partner if she heard it. She said yes and that it was coming towards us. It is on your side of the road she said. I raised my flashlight watching. We could hear it coming towards us. I watched the woods. Then I heard a growling sound. I focused my flashlight on the area the sound came from and there in the night shone two green eyes looking at me. Then another growling sound. I told my partner to get into the truck. We dimmed the lights hoping it would come out but we didn't see anything. My partner said it must be a wolf but I have been close to a lot of wolves and have never been growled at. I think it might have been a wild dog. But who knows all the mysteries of the night are still that mysteries.
Stop 10. More owls.
Stop 11. More owls.
Stop 12. This stop was three blocks from my house and I told my partner if we hear growling I am going to be a little nervous walking to work for awhile. No growling but three more owls.
Both of us decided that 1. You don't do this survey alone. 2. We heard over 20 owls, we will tally it this morning. and 3. It was a blast to do. We are planning on performing the survey every two weeks through April as mating season for different species of owls start at different times. It was about time to have fun!!!!!!!
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