It was a different kind of last call, not from a bartender but an owl.
I was taking an Owl Prowl field trip during the Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest, led by Heather McPherrson, wildlife biologist for the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
After a lot of invitations through an audio caller, the only owl some of us had heard was a great horned owl far in the distance.
At 10:30 p.m. in the Eagle Creek area just northeast of Leavenworth, McPherrson told us that we were out of luck for the night. No sooner had she said those words than a female barred owl voiced its baritone hoot maybe 50 yards away. A male, deeper in the evergreens, later joined in.
“Owls are very territorial. That’s the reason that we broadcast. If an owl thinks there’s another owl in his territory, it wants to locate you and ‘ask’ you to leave,” McPherrson said.
Anne Mitchell of Everett took the Owl Prowl.
“I went in thinking we’re going to see or hear an owl. I was just surprised and delighted (when the barred owl called). I had all but given up,” she said.
Although focused on the two owls most likely to be heard — great horned, barred — McPherrson had tracks of other owls: barn, flammulated, Western screech, Northern pygmy, long-eared and saw-whet.
McPherrson has made many owl surveys, which are critical to establishing which owls and how many are in a specific area. That information is needed for decision-making on whether specific owl populations are in danger or if there’s a need for habit preservation.
“We do surveys multiple times in an area. If they don’t respond the first time we don’t assume non-occupancy,” McPherrson said. She makes at least three calls before moving on.
The range of barred owls was once in the East but they’ve migrated into Canada, over the Rockies and south to California.
“It’s the main threat to spotted owls. They’re genetically similar. They can interbreed with spotted owls. Their habitat is generally wider and there’s greater variety to the trees they nest in and the things that they eat. They’re larger and they outcompete and the spotted owls are likely to move out of the area,” McPherrson said.
“They have smaller home ranges than the spotted owl. You can fit five barred owls in an area that is home to a spotted owl. They eat such a wide variety of food that they don’t need as much space,” she said.
Birding field trips bring no guarantees.
“We saw a barred owl the next night,” McPherrson said.
Birdwatchers on a daytime Bird Fest field trip were waiting on a porch for the rain to let up when someone spotted three baby saw-whet owls.
Mitchell understands the philosophical approach to birding.
“We have no control over nature. You can’t predict where a creature is going to be or how animated it will be,” she said.
But you can always hope for the last call.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
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