January 14
Walking home through the commons about 9pm I saw a Western Screech owl perched on a short willow branch over the trail. I'd seen an owl in the same spot on the 9th of January and the 8th of December. The branch is about 6 ft off the ground and must afford a pretty good view of where the owl likes to hunt. The o
wls on this perch seem to be pretty tolerant of traffic, one time I walked slowly right under it without causing it to fly off. This time the owl flew off after a minute or so and landed in a large Red alder near the lake outlet stream. Before it flew off, it was making very soft whistle-like calls, they were quiet enough I wasn't entirely sure it was this bird. As I was approaching the owl, I heard loud, but distant "bouncing ball" sort of call, followed by the softer calls of the near by bird. This call trading went back and forth for a couple of minutes before it stopped and I moved on.
wls on this perch seem to be pretty tolerant of traffic, one time I walked slowly right under it without causing it to fly off. This time the owl flew off after a minute or so and landed in a large Red alder near the lake outlet stream. Before it flew off, it was making very soft whistle-like calls, they were quiet enough I wasn't entirely sure it was this bird. As I was approaching the owl, I heard loud, but distant "bouncing ball" sort of call, followed by the softer calls of the near by bird. This call trading went back and forth for a couple of minutes before it stopped and I moved on. This was the first time I've heard the island owls, typically I see them, often getting pretty close to the birds.
I haven't found any sign of what this or these birds have been eating on or near the trail, but I haven't looked too far. The Western screech owl that lived in the commons a few years back managed to catch a Varied thrush and a Hairy Woodpecker near the trail and left some nice piles of feathers.
I've been carrying the camera back and forth to town in the ho
pe of getting a photo of one of the birds. No luck yet, but I did get some photos of their habitat. The lower photo is of the area to the south of the willow perch.
pe of getting a photo of one of the birds. No luck yet, but I did get some photos of their habitat. The lower photo is of the area to the south of the willow perch.The vegetation is the commons is pretty similar to a fairly recently disturbed riparian site; Red Alder, Sitka alder, Sitka willow, Elderberry and Salmonberry. There large patches of trailing buttercup and horsetail as well. The commons has a some human detritus and several buildings. Besides birds and insects, I"m not sure what there is for the owls to eat on the island. I don't know of any rodents on the island. I don't think I've heard of anyone catching any in their house or seeing one in the woods. I suppose I could set live traps to see who is out there. There aren't any squirrels, so perhaps the smaller rodents didn't make it over. What we do have are newts. We did have one owl succumb to newt poison.
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