Morocco 2022

 I visited my family in Norfolk, England in late November-early December. This was our first time together since before the pandemic. It was really good to see everyone. Most days I did some birding. I found Cettie's warblers and a Great egret-both birds that were much harder to find in Britain when I left in the nineties. Dad and I flushed a little owl out of a barn near Fiona's house. I heard stacks of tawny owls near her home, and eventually got views of one bird in flight. A barn owl that briefly called near her house remained elusive and I never saw it. 

I had decided to visit Morocco as part of the trip. Maghreb owl has recently been split from Tawny owl, and the Pharaoh Eagle owl had been separated by Clements into two groups, "Pharaoh" from North Africa, and "Desert" from the Arabian peninsular. I had found the "Desert" form in the Emirates, but the "Pharaoh" form would be a lifer for me. The other draw for me was to look for the northern race of Marsh owl, which is now an extremely rare bird.

December 6th. Dad and I got up at the ungodly hour of 3am on a cold frosty morning. We left my sister's driving across Norfolk, Suffolk and into Essex to reach Stansted airport a bit after 5am. I said goodbye to Dad and entered the chaos of the terminal. My flight was with Ryan air, and they lived up to my low expectations-I was charged 55 Euros because I hadn't checked in online. The plane was bus-like, and I was trapped trying to hold my bladder that wanted to burst like a balloon by a snoring lady in the aisle seat. I arrived in Marrakesh three hours later, and rushed across the sunny asphalt to the terminal, finding sweet relief in a cool tiled toilet. A half an hour later I was driving a little white rental car out of the airport. 

Thanks to Google maps I made it out of Marrakesh without getting lost. The highway crossed a stony plain, then rose through some piney foothills, and finally into the High Atlas. There was a ton of road construction, and it was hard to make progress. I was motivated to make it to my destination, Boumalne Dades, at the Northern end of the Sahara before sunset. I pressed the little white Kia hard, and did my best to pass the old Mercedes minibuses that lumbered over the passes. Eventually I descended across the far side of the Atlas. I stopped for a quick meal of beans and bread. Then the road opened up into the desert. I called Mustapha, a guide at Riad Dades Birds http://www.riaddadesbirds.com/ . This is a hotel that also runs guiding services, mostly specializing in the local desert species. I let Mustapha know that I should be there before sunset. The hotel was at the end of a maze of little walled dirt roads. Mustapha was waiting for me. He was a young energetic Berber guy, raised out in the Sahara. He tells me to hurry, as the owl lives half an hour away and it's getting late. We sped along the highway as the sun descended over the Anti Atlas. We pulled onto a rough piste and parked next to a ruined building. Mustapha walked quickly across a rocky plain to a wadi. We followed the sandy wadi to an open canyon, and then started searching white-wash splattered rocks for pharaoh eagle-owl. Soon Mustapha spotted the owl, perched on a ledge. The beautiful, big, orange-eyed owl stared down at us from it's sandstone perch. Compared with the bird I had seen in the Emirates, I was stuck by it being more intensively marked below, being less orange, and more sandy-colored and probably smaller. Fortunately the bird flew several times, eventually up onto the lip of the canyon, a perfect place to sing from. Soon, it was singing, a single hoot, given several times per minute. Like a great-horned owl, it sung from a horizontal position, with it's throat puffed out, and it's tail cocked, like a giant wren. The sun had long since set, and it was very beautiful standing under this vast desert sky watching the big owl sing. 

Happy we drove back to the hotel. In town the streets were full of celebrating men and boys, crowds reached out to touch our passing car. Morocco had beaten Spain in the world cup. The Spanish have long fucked with Morocco and still hold enclaves along the North coast. I am sure victory was sweet. After dinner of Tagine, (a sort of stew on a clay pot with a lid), I headed out into town to look for little owls. Walking the walled tracks, I did my best to avoid the barking dogs. Soon I heard a singing owl, and moments later found a bird on the wire. The birds here are a different race from little owls of Western Europe. From my brief views, they looked fairly normal, and not conspicuously pale. 

I slept heavily reassured that there were no other regular owls to look for in the area.

Dec 7th. I woke and had breakfast before dawn, and then set out with Mustapha to the Eagle owl site again. Along the way we saw a flyby pin-tailed sandgrouse, a hunting long-winged buzzard and some lovely Temmink's larks. The owl had moved to a new location, deep in broad crack in the canyon wall, out of sight of passing ravens. 

                                                    Area near Pharaoh Eagle owl site

                                                        Canyon wall from the wadi

I really wanted to explore the area more fully, but had another 5 hour drive to the site for the Maghreb owl. I ran Mustapha back to the hotel and packed up and hit the road. Coming out of a small desert village, I got stuck behind a slow moving taxi. As the road straightened, I zipped past, and as I pulled in front of the taxi, I looked ahead and saw a policeman aiming a radar gun at me. A grinning young office dressed in gray waved me to the side of the road. After a short exchange he suggested I install the app Waze (which show speed limits). "You are free of a ticket" he told me, and happily I dove off. The rest of the drive was a bit less fun, knowing that I had to follow the speed limit. I tried to brighten it up by stopping and picking up some hitch hikers. Both sets didn't speak English, so I had to make do with a few words of French. I retraced by route back across the High Atlas, and near Marrakesh, I headed West into the Ourika Valley on the North side of the High Atlas. I pulled into a small town full of hotels and outdoor restaurants. I stopped at Auberge Le Marquis, a somewhat fancy, but completely empty hotel. I had been told that the Maghreb owl frequents a big pine tree in front of the hotel. I showed the desk clerk a photo of the owl, but he just smiled. 

Once I checked in, I headed out to walk the main strip. My initial impression wasn't optimistic. The road was busy and noisy, and all the good trees are in the private grounds of hotels and restaurants. Still, I do my best to find the best looking trees. Most of the birds here are familiar, but African blue tit and Maghreb magpie were new. I eat Tagine, stewed in prunes. Once it's dark I head out, but it's so noisy and crowded, that I take a side valley and walk along a dried up stream bed, under some olive trees. The silence is beautiful, but alas I hear no owls. Next, I drove up to the grounds of the fancy Hotel Top Ourika. I pulled into the parking lot, opened the door, and heard a Maghreb owl singing from the hotel garden. I crept under the oaks trying to get closer. My heart was pounding. The owl fell silent for a couple of minutes. I waited. Then it started singing from down by the river. To get closer I had to climb a wall and sneak through someone's gardens, then climb down another wall into the flood plain. The trees are still in leaf, and when I turned on the flashlight all I see is a blaze of foliage.  Eventually all the cracking of dry twigs underfoot flushed the owl, and I see it fly across a moonlit sky. It continued to call from behind another backyard, but there are people all around that yard and I decide to look for a different owl, in a better place.     

I drove up the mountains to Aurocher Ourika (a mountain resort). I parked the car and started hiking up the road. Under the moon, this place was beautiful, with pine trees, old mud-walled farms and big stone bluffs. Across the valley a Maghreb owl sang. I hustled up the road, following a long hairpin bend, until I reached a spot near the singing owl. Eventually the owl took flight from the pines. Against the moon, I could see it's long wedge-shaped tail-an uncommon feature for owls. Eventually I found the fantastic owl perched very low in a pine tree from just 3 meters away. The owl gazed back at me with unflinching black eyes. Although similar to tawny owl, the differences are obvious, the song is lower pitched, the markings on the underparts are stronger, the upper parts are darker and the bird is larger. What a fucking brilliant bird, just so beautiful, and what a great place to find it. Happy, I walked back to the car and drive back to the hotel.

Dec 8th. This is my tough day. I had a 500km journey to Moulay Bouselham for marsh owl. Then I had to drive a similar distance back to Marrakesh in order to make my flight. The day started well, and I drove down out the mountains, across Marrakesh to the fast toll road for Casablanca. The weather turned, and it rained on and off. I worried about the rain. I picked up a hitch-hiker called Ali. He is a remarkably loud talker, and while I drove he showed me his brother's X-rays, which he had on his phone. He is visiting his brother in Casablanca. He asked me for money to help with his brother's medical bills. It's a bit early in our relationship, so I decline (several times). I dropped Ali off at the outskirts of Casablanca, and watched, alarmed, as he continued his journey on foot, seemingly oblivious to the honking cars speeding by ever so close. Between Casablanca and Rabat a big white dog ran across the road. I hit the breaks, and the small car skids a little and missed the lucky dog by a hair. It's mid afternoon when I arrived at Le Nid Du Hibou, a modest guest house in Moulay Bouselham. It's run by Khalil 212-663095358 (WhatsApp). Khalil was a fun, older guy, with a big voice and a passion for marsh owls.

                                        Map showing the location of Le Nid Du Hibou

After a quick mint tea we headed out to look for marsh owls. Immediately we get snarled up in bad traffic at the Souk (it's Thursday, market day). After all the driving today, I was itching to get out of the car. Eventually we passed the crowded souk, and made our way through some fields, down a sandy track to a large tree, where we parked next to a forlorn looking horse. At this place some intensive export-orientated agriculture (avocados, strawberries, raspberries etc) meets some rough pasture that circles a lagoon. With pieces of black agricultural plastic caught on every tree and fence, flapping like tatty flags, the place is more free trade than fair trade. Kahil talked with some boys and asked them if they have seen the owls. We walked about into some dense patches of reeds hoping to find some owls. After about an hour all we have found are a couple of quail, a marsh harrier and a sparrowhawk. Khalil explained that he had hope to find the owls in the more natural area, but they are likely in the farmland. We walk up to a small fallow area between fields of potatoes and new avocado trees. Almost immediately, one, then two then nine beautiful big tawny and coffee-colored owls flush up, flap for a few seconds, then drop down into some dense cover. It's shocking to find nine, I don't know the population of this bird in Northern Africa, but it's probably no more than 100. I didn't want to disturb the birds anymore, so we retreated. We decided to wait until dusk to see if we can observe the birds hunting. Khalil tells me his will pray now. As I dad of a boy with autism, I can appreciate a man who can multitask (over one with a laser sharp focus). I head to the lagoon to watch some shore birds between a couple of rain squalls. Down by the shore, the mud and salt water plants and singing Curlews reminded me of my early days birding the Solway Firth. 

                                                    Big wintry sky at the Marsh Owl site

Khalil and I found each other and wandered back toward the fallow field the owls are roosting in. Magically one by one, they emerge. Some flew low, and start hunting the grassland around us. Others flew high overhead for places far flung, perhaps on the far side of the lagoon. After the ninth owl left, we head back content. Khalil has collected a bounty of great white mushrooms. Back at his guest house, his family has prepared a fish tagine. I ate the food hungrily, watched by a couple of skinny cats. I said goodbye and thank you to Khalil, sorry not to spend the night at his place. Reluctantly, I get back into the Kia and hit the road.

The drive back to Marrakesh was strange. Near Rabat a long-eared owl flew by the car. Then a semi pulled out in front of me going much slower, and I almost hit it. Then passing through a narrow construction zone another big truck honked and flashed it's lights, then passed so close, I was sure it was going to hit me. Then a couple of cars almost collided in front of me, one almost loosing control as it swerved into a coned construction zone. After Casablanca traffic became much lighter. Fortified by a black coffee, I pressed on and drove most the way to Marrakesh. I had hoped for a hotel, but was just too tired to search for one, and ended up sleeping in a truck stop parking lot, something I hadn't done since Columbia in 2009. 

Dec 9th. I slept surprisingly well in the little Kia. Despite a late flight out of Marrakesh I made my tight connection in Madrid, running like a fool in my big boots through the terminal. A 13 hour lay over in Dallas rounded out a long, long journey.

Sao Paulo and Para 2022

The local name for barn owl in Brazil is Rasga mortalha, which means shroud tearer. The name is chosen because the shriek of the barn owl is thought to be the sound of the owl tearing shroud. Thus the owl is linked to death and is considered an ill omen.  

Back in 2005 I borrowed a copy of Claus Konig's "Owls of the world". There I learned about a rare owl that dwells in fragments of Atlantic rain-forest. Since then I have been thinking about this bird; the short-browed owl. This trip was an attempt to find short-browed owl.

July 8th. Tui and the boys leave the house early, so after walking Maile, the dog, I return her to an empty house. I grab my pack and say goodbye to Maile, and walk to the MAX light rail. I arrive at the airport with an abundance of time. At boarding time, the lady at the gate announces there is a problem with the plane's door. Soon, it becomes apparent that I am not going to make my connection at Houston. I do my best to stay calm and wait. Eventually my name is called and the gate lady tells me that I can switch flights, and go via Chicago. I feel really lucky that she has done this for me, and everything works out. I fly to Chicago, and change there to a Sao Paulo bound flight.

July 9th. I have been experiencing a trapped nerve for about 6 weeks. Standing and walking had been fine, but sitting is hard. Despite a beer and a muscle relaxant, the red-eye to Sao Paulo is painful and it is really hard to sleep. 

I meet Alex Mesquita, my guide (cariamabirding@gmail.com), at arrivals in Sao Paulo. Alex is a really warm and engaging guy. He's a biologist who works full time as a bird guide and is also ebird's Brazil coordinator. I immediately take a liking to Alex, and despite some struggles to bridge our language gap, we spend most of our trip talking. It's a long drive out of Sao Paulo, which is truly one of the world's mega cities. From the highway it's modern looking place that has a decidedly North American feel. We pass under a bridge, over which Jair Bolosonaro's supporters mostly dressed in yellow and green. We stop for lunch at a big roadside buffet, a good option for a vegan like me.  Further down the highway, we turn onto a rough dusty track that leads into some forested green hills. We drive to a reserve called Legado das Aguas. After about 20km of dirt road we reach a reserve headquarters which has small rooms and a cafeteria. 

                                            View from Legado das Aguas headquarters

After a quick coffee, we set off back the down hill to some roadside forest in search of least pygmy owl. This is a tiny pygmy owl that inhabits the Mata Atlantica (Atlantic rainforest of southeast Brazil). It's not a rare bird, but it's much easier to hear than to see. At the first stop, we are stunned to hear the pygmy owl right away- a pair of two rather long (for a pygmy owl) notes, repeated at intervals. The owl is calling from a steep forested hillside. We wait, hoping that it will descend and that we won't have to scramble up the near cliff of viney tangles. Eventually I catch sight of the tennis-ball sized owl in flight. It takes another half hour of searching before we find the owl, perched below the canopy. The chest of the owl is rusty brown, with white streaks that eventually merge and become a white belly. The back is brown. The tail is quite short, with at least 3 white stripes. The bill and eyes are yellow. The forehead is covered with fine pale spots and is perhaps slightly grayer than the back. What an excellent start to the trip!

On the way back to the park headquarters we stop and check out a beautiful bat falcon. It is perched in a lone pine tree above a dam, waiting for big dragonflies.  At sunset we leave the headquarters again, and take the bumpy road back down the hill, across the river and up the far side of the valley. We pull into a clearing. This is a site for Atlantic mottled owl. (The mottled owls of the Atlantic forests of Brazil are considered a likely split from populations in the Amazon basin). We settle in and wait. Almost immediately a big owl flies across the clearing. We spotlight it, and realize that it's a tawny browned owl. This is the more common larger owl of the Atlantic forest. High above a distant mottled owl sings. We hike up an abandoned logging track for about half a kilometer. We get close to the singing owl, and start spotlighting. We play cat and mouse with the owl, as it moves about the forest, singing occasionally. It's a steep slope, and it's not easy following it through the forest. Eventually I glimpse it against the moon lit sky as it flies silently over us. Despite a sustained effort, we don't get any better views, and we eventually decide to try elsewhere. On the drive back to the headquarters, we try at a second spot, and again a tawny-browed owl flies in and perches conspicuously. 

We decide to take a break, and eat a late dinner at the headquarters. There I meet two cool Brazilian birders, Thomas Mella and Gabrielle Leche. Both guys are really engaging birders who have great enthusiasm for owls. We return to the forest, driving alongside the reservoir. At the first stop we find a pair of tawny-browed owls. A few stops further on we hear a distant black-banded owl. This is a bird I have seen before, but not often. Reluctant we decide to press on in our quest for Atlantic mottled owls. Eventually we find a singing Atlantic mottled owl. It swoops just a couple of feet from our heads, and perches out on an open branch. We enjoy beautiful views of this fantastic owl. It looks similar to the Amazonian birds that I have seen. It's dark eyed, rich chocolate brown above, tawny below, thickly streaked with dark brown on the chest. This is a new bird for me.

                                        Atlantic mottled owl (photo by Alex Mesquita)

Before we call it a night, we decide to try for black capped screech owl, a species I have seen just once on a prior trip to Brazil. We explore a trail from the headquarters but we hear nothing. I resolve to try again, before dawn.

July 10th. I wake to my alarm an hour before dawn. I strap on my snake guards, and set off to the black-capped screech owl trail. Almost immediately, I hear the long wavering call of the screech-owl from a gully far below the trail. It's a nasty little scramble through some thorny vines to the gully. The owl sounds impossibly close when it reveals itself on the far side of a big leaf just a few feet from my face. I meet Alex for breakfast and happily report my find. Having found our targets, we decide to do a little general birding. The weather is cool, and consequently bird activity is low. We run into a couple of mixed flocks and find a scarce Sao Paulo tyrannulet. We return to the park headquarters for lunch, before departing for Intervales, one of Brazil's most important Atlantic forest reserves. 

We spend most of the afternoon driving to Intervales, reaching the reserve late in the afternoon. We check into a grand, but tired looking colonial style lodge. It's late in the afternoon, and the sun on the green hills is just beautiful. 

                                                       View from the old lodge at Intervales

I take a quick swim in a chilly outdoor pool, then we drive back out of the park to meet up with a local guide, Gerson. Alex very conscientiously supports local guides, by hiring them when operating in their areas. It's well past sunset when we pull up along some roadside secondary forest. We are looking for long-tufted screech owl, which is at the Northeastern limit of it's range. A least pygmy owl sings. We drive down the dusty road to a stand of roadside pines. I hear a distant long-tufted screech, and we quickly follow it down the road. I see it flying between the pines, and soon Alex has spotlighted it. It's a large, brown-eyed screech owl with strong barring below. We hear two songs, a short purring trill and a series of slightly gruff notes. A second bird calls from the far side of a thicket, but remains out of view. 

We back track down the road and pull up next to a gate. There we hear a pair of rusty-barred owls. This is a beautiful owl that I had tried to find on my last trip to Brazil at Itatiaia National Park. Their voices are magnificently deep and resonant. Soon, I see one bird in flight. Alex finds a perched bird in an araucaria tree. We get brief but beautiful views of this stout, barrel chested owl with big dark eyes, and gorgeous white and rufous barred chest. We run Gerson home, and stop at a local cafe to celebrate with dinner and a Heineken. While driving back to the lodge we flush a hare (introduced from Portugal). From the balcony we hear a couple for tropical screech owls, and glimpse one in flight. In the distance we hear a couple of rusty-barred owls, but despite our best efforts they remain stubbornly out of sight.

July 11th. I am up well before dawn, and decide to try and get a decent view of a tropical screech owl. I walk around the park-like area around the lodge, and eventually find a tropical screech owl low in a small tree. It's a beautiful red-phase bird. I also flush a couple of pauraques. 

Alex and I meet at 630am, as first light breaks over the small forested hills to the East. We drive along the long dusty entrance road back to the highway. We find a bakery, and stop for espresso. It's a long seven hour drive to Persepolis. I discover that Alex shares my love of Rage Against the Machine, so we listen happily to the first two albums. Better still Alex introduces me to Chico Science e Nacao Zumbi, a sort of Brazilian Clash that are just brilliant; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHJB3o0ed0Q As we cross Sao Paulo State, I am struck by how much this part of Brazil is like the United States, being modern, industrial and highly developed. We stop for a buffet lunch, where I grab the best looking vegan options. Mid afternoon we check into a modern hotel. Then we meet our local guide, Wagner in Persepolis, a small market town set in rolling grassy hills, that look surprisingly like California. Wagner had recently found a buff fronted owl nest. This is a bird that I have found in Northern Peru, but the birds that occur on the East of the continent are considered a likely split. We head out of town through cow pastures to a place called Conceicao dos Ouros. We find a roadside pair of burrowing owls along the way.

                                    Burrowing owl site (they are there, in the background)!

We pull up next to a large stone building. Wagner shows us a female great-horned owl on a nest in a tree. I soon find the male bird, perched nearby. This is the first great-horned that I have seen East of the Andes in South America. The birds look similar to those in the East of the USA, rather richly colored, with the female bird having rustier-colored cheeks. Wagner tells us that the large building we are standing near used to house slaves. Again I am reminded of the similarities between this place and the USA. It's disturbing to think of the horrors that occurred in that building. 

                                                                 The slave building

We drive further up the valley as the sun sets. Wagner shows us a church where barn owls live. We peer into the steeple, but can't see any owls.

                                                                Barn owl church

We drive a couple kilometers past the lonely church, and park by some open cow pastures. We walk to a line of mostly dead shade trees planted along a long-abandoned track. Alex and I are both surprised when we arrive at the nest hole, it's in a very open location, about 300m from the nearest scrubby woodlot. 

                             Wagner (on the left) and Alex at the buff-fronted owl site.

We stand around near the nest hole waiting. It's fairly cold, but beautiful out here. Below a ferruginous pygmy owl sings. A couple of tropical screech owls start sing back and forth. Finally a buff fronted owl sings from the woodlot below. Another responds from a little further away. Darkness descends, and a big moon rises. My eyes remain fixed on the nest cavity. Something passes by the hole, but it's impossible to be certain it wasn't a bat. After two hours, I am cold and stiff. Wagner decides to scratch the nest tree. This is an excellent idea, and immediately the female pokes her head out of the cavity, and glares at us! I get good views of this fantastic little owl, before she eventually flies out of the cavity. Wagner assures us better views are in store, we just have to be patient. I am so cold, I lay in the grass and stare into the trees. Eventually the female owl returns and perches right above me. She stares at me from about three meters. It's a shocking and brilliant view. I stare at her for ages. Every time I make a tiny noise she tenses up and stares, looking like she is going to pounce on me! She has incredible yellow eyes. the upper and lower part of the bill are horn-gray, but the middle part (where the mandibles meet) is darker gray. The cheeks are a rich yellow-buff, surrounded by a thin, chocolate-colored facial disc. Like eye-shadow, the feathers extending up and out from the eyes are dusky. The upper-parts are chocolate brown, with a few scattered white spots on the wings. She eventually returns to her hole. The male then sings from a closer perch, and we catch a brief view of him in the torch light. 

On the drive back we hear rufous nightjar. We stop at the church, and three barn owls emerge from the steeple! One perches nearby we we get excellent views of it low in a tree. I marvel at it's plumage-I don't think I have seen a barn owl with such perfect feathers. Each is just perfection. 

We drive back to Persepolis and stop at a little pizza place for a late dinner and a celebratory beer. It's late when we finally make it back to the hotel.  

July 12th. We leave the hotel when it's still dark to go birding, stopping for espresso. Returning to the same road we visited yesterday, we stop at some roadside forest. We check in on the burrowing owls, they are still there. Later we find a second pair a couple of kilometers down the road. We leave Persepolis, and drive over the mountains. At a pass Alex buys a bag of araucaria seeds from a roadside vendor. We descend down to a wide agricultural valley, where we stop to check out a family of three, very tame, burrowing owls. After we stop by Alex's home town, and his wife Olivia joins us for lunch. Olivia stays behind, while we press on to Salesopolis. This is a small hill town, set in the final range of mountains before the Atlantic shore. We stop at a grocery store and buy two case of bananas to feed the tanagers at the next lodge. From town it's just a short drive on a dusty road to Sitio Macuquinho, https://www.sitiomacuquinho.com.br/ a new lodge run by a lovely couple Elvis and Nanda. The lodge is surrounded by a mosaic of second growth Atlantic forest, eucalyptus forest and small marshes. The grounds are full of feeds and dozens of hummingbirds, tanagers and other birds. Elvis explains that he had seen short-browed owl in the grounds of the lodge just a few days ago. Alex tells me that in Southeast Brazil, this is a very special bird. The Amazonian form of spectacled owl is scarce in the cerrado just to the North, and short-browed owl is more regular, but scarce in Bahia and other states to the Northeast. However in Sao Paulo state, Alex explains, this is the first bird detected in a couple of decades. 

We spend the afternoon watching the birds around the lodge and eating boiled araucaria seeds. Alex shows me a orange-eyed thornbird in some reeds and we see a black-legged dacnis on the feeder. We spend some time in a hide, and are eventually rewarded with close views of a pair of brown tinamou. As it gets dark, we wait at the end of the lawn, staring at a stand of trees, hoping for the short-browed owl to return. Eventually we depart and start walking around the nearby forest. It's cool and quite windy. Alex explains that on nights like this the owls don't sing. True enough, unlike every other night on the trip, we hear just one distant rusty-barred owl. Eventually it starts to rain, so we decide to quit and resume owling before dawn.

July 13th. We wake early and set out well before dawn in our search for the elusive short-browed owl. It's cool, calm and cloudy, and the forest is silent. We walk around and listen, but find nothing. Eventually we return to the lodge at daybreak and sleep a little more.  

Nanda has made us a nice breakfast. Feeling recuperated we set off for some general birding. Near the lodge Alex shows me Bertoni's, dusky-tailed and ochre-rumped antbirds and white-shouldered fire-eye. I keep an eye out for roosting owls, but find none. We spend the rest of the day hanging around the lodge, and looking at Elvis' photos of short-browed owl. We also listen to his sound recordings, which sound different from spectacled owl. The song has a similar structure, but lacks the quality of a vibrating sheet of metal that makes the spectacled' call so distinctive. In the afternoon we visit a nearby marsh in search of the very rare and local Sao Paulo antwren. We hear a couple of antwrens in some distant reed-beds, but don't see any.    

Dusk eventually arrives, and we return to our position at the end of the lawn, staring, somewhat forlornly at a stand trees, hoping that a short-browed owl will show up. We eventually wander around the lodge's trails, and then to progressively further locations along a series of dirt roads. We hear two or three rusty-barred owls, a distant Atlantic mottled owl and we flush a roadside occelated poorwill and a couple of beautiful long-trained nightjars. 

After everyone goes to bed, I walk a 6km circuit around the lodge. The moon is full and conditions are great. It's beautiful to be out in the forest alone and to move at my own pace. Still, I fail to find anything of interest. 

July 14th. I wake well before dawn, and stumble into my boots and out the door. Alex is already waiting for me, and we make our way to our vigil at the end of the lawn. There is no owl today, so we hike around the lodge's trail system. The moon is big, and low in the sky. It's beautiful and calm out. The sky eventually lightens and like vampires, we return to our rooms to sleep. 

After breakfast we return to the marsh an this time get to see Sao Paulo antwren. This bird was first described in 2013! We hike along an old logging road and find rough-legged tyrannulet, squamate antbird and spot-breasted antshrike.

                                                    Alex birding near Sitio Macuquinho
After lunch I take a siesta, which really helps as I have been short on sleep for the entire trip, and I want to have energy for tonight-my last chance for the short-browed owl. 

At dusk we wait again at the end of the garden for the owl to appear, and again it does not show. In the distance a rusty-barred and tropical screech both sing. We set off on foot and try the surrounding forest, but don't hear anything. A little crestfallen we return for dinner. Nanda has (with great care and kindness) made vegan pizza. After every new vegan dish, she always checks in with me and asks with concern if I liked the food. She's a great cook, and a very kind person. After dinner we set out in the Nissan to the top of the hill above the lodge. At the first stop we find a beautiful rusty-barred. Both the contact call and the song are much higher pitched than the other rusty-barred. We consider perhaps the bird has a genetic deficit that causes the strange call or an infection? Alex drives us up a steep muddy track, where we flush a long-trained nightjar. We park at the top of the hill and walk towards a small community. A tropical screech owl flushes, and thanks to the moon, we are able to locate it perched in a small tree. A little further along the road we hear a second tropical screech. Returning to the Nissan, Alex sees a pool of oil under the car. He crawls under, and finds a major leak. Alex looks really stressed. We jump in and he drives as fast as he can back to the lodge before the motor runs completely out of oil. Alex and Elvis discuss the Nissan. By now it's 10pm, and we decide to call it a night. 

July 15th. No yet ready to give up on the short-browed owl, I am up at 3am. I take a 5km walk along some dirt roads a little further from the lodge. I hear three rusty-barred owls. The moon is so bright and the walk is beautiful. It feels good just to be here, even if I haven't found my big bad owl. 

I hike quickly back over the ridge to the lodge in order to meet Alex at 5am for our final owl prowl. We return to the hill where we found the rusty barred yesterday. In the distance a tropical screech sings. We reach a clearcut, where the road starts to descend. To the East the sky turns red, as the night bleeds into dawn. We linger at this beautiful place for several minutes, not quite ready to concede defeat, but unwilling to hike down  the hill into the clearcut. Alex calls out, "that's it", just behind us a short-browed owl sings. Almost immediately I see the big owl, perched low in a scrappy tree. We turn on the lights. Fuck! It really is a short-browed. We give each other a big hug, then settle in to watch the owl. It's eyes are golden, the bill heavy and horn colored. A grayish white cross forms around the bill, two lines, extending like short eye brows over the eye, and two radiating out below the eyes, like a mustache. The rest of the head is blackish. The "eye brows" are shorter and thinner than those of the spectacled owl. The upper part of the chest is blackish, and the rest of the underparts are a rich ochraceous. The blackish tail has about ten gray bars. Similarly the dark flight feathers are barred with gray. The rest of the upper-parts are blackish with a few light spots. When the owl turns it's head, it's neck feathers ruffle, and we can see that they have a lighter brown base, and darker edge. The owl sings for a minute, while staring intently at the nearby rusty-barred owl. (Elvis has told us that the short-browed had predated on a juvenile rusty-barred). It flies a short distance, but perches again in the open, and we enjoy fantastic views. 

                                            Short-browed owl (photo by Alex Mesquita)
We can't believe our luck. Dawn spreads across the sky and both owls soon fall silent. I have a flight to catch today. We found it literally in the last ten minutes of darkness during our 3 day quest. Happily we walk back to the lodge, gushing about the owl. It's a lifer for Alex. Back at the lodge, I am way too excited to sleep, and replay the encounter over and over in my mind's eye. 

When I tell Elvis about our sighting, he tells me we found the owl, because last night the owl visited him in a dream. Nanda and Elvis are both really enthusiastic about our sighting. 

                                                    Alex, Elvis, myself and Nanda

After breakfast we abandon the Nissan, and borrow Elvis and Nanda's FIAT. Alex runs me to the airport at Sao Paulo. Repeated he warns me to be very careful at Belem. The security situation there isn't so good. We say goodbye at the airport. I have really enjoyed owling with Alex, and hope that I get a chance to meet him again. 

It's a fairly long, (3 1/2 hour) uneventful flight to Belem on LATAM. I don't have a lot of site information, and Alex's warnings have me a little spooked. I pick up a rental car at the airport. Thankfully, I am able to use my phone to navigate out of Belem, which is pretty intense during rush hour and a big thunderstorm. Thousands of small motorbikes weave in and out of traffic. Belem feels like all the Amazonian cities I have visited, youthful, vibrant and noisy. Thankfully the rain does not last long. I stop at a small roadside eatery. The place is full of police drinking beer. I don't know whether to feel safe or unsafe around them, so I ignore them completely.  At 8pm, I reach my destination, Sao Barbara do Para. I search for a good area to owl, that's quiet and away from people. I park the rental car next to a church, and take a gated logging track into the forest. It's incredibly humid out of the car. And loud; with frogs and insects all singing. My quest here is the Belem form of the tawny-bellied screech owl. Sidnei Dantas had published a paper earlier in the year suggesting a major revision the the tawny-bellied/black-capped screech owl complex. Tanwy-bellieds occurring East and South of Belem being proposed as a unique species. 

I head off down the forest track, relieved it does not pass any houses. Surprisingly soon, I hear my first tawny-bellied screech owl, singing a long purring trill. The song has highly ventriloquial qualities, and the owl is clearly singing from high in the trees. I creep around the forest trying to spotlight the owl, while keeping an eye out for snakes. The owl seems indifferent to my efforts, and only moves a couple of times despite my light. At one point I get completely disorientated and abandon looking for the owl. With no moon or city lights to orientate myself, I panic for a minute. I then remember to get my phone, and use the compass on the phone. That way I can at least walk in a consistent direction. With great relief I emerge from the forest onto the track. I decide to ditch this owl, even though it's been singing for 90 minutes, and try for another one. I walk for a few kilometers through white sand and red clay forest. Several times to track is covered by shallow pools of water, but each time, I am able to skirt by them and continue on. I don't see much, just a pauraque. Still it's a beautiful warm night, with a big moon over the palms. I am surprised not to hear more owls, only a distant crested owl from deep in the forest. I decide to return to the original tawny-bellied screech owl. When arrive, it's still singing. This time I decide to focus on seeing the bird as it flies over the track. After a tough 45 minutes, I do catch sight of the owl as it flies across a gap in the canopy. It's after midnight, and I have been up since 3am, so I decide to call it a night. I drive to a modest hotel with secure parking by the side of the highway and grab a couple of beers to celebrate.

July 16th Reluctantly I rouse myself at first light. After a quick breakfast I head out to the forest. I don't have any special birding goals left, but I am reluctant to leave for the airport without returning to the forest. I walk along a red clay road, through brilliant green forest. I search for ferruginous pygmy-owl. I don't find any owls, but I do pass a piggery. A mass of black vultures stand in the grass, just beyond the pigs. Something has died and the smell is over powering. The whole place is fantastic, the hugeness of the forest, the humidity, the power of the sun, the hulking vultures that have just feasted and can barely fly. With regret I return to the rental car, and start my long journey home.

Birding like this negatively impacts global climate change. To help mitigate impacts you may want to consider taking action. Here is one place you can do this https://marketplace.goldstandard.org/

2022 owling

I live in Portland Oregon, with my wife Tui, two boys, Charlie (ten) and George (seven) and a pitbull Maile.

Jan 1st. Charlie and I drove out to Erroll Heights Park, where we found a roosting barred owl. We tried for the Sellwood barn owl, but found none. On the way home, we stopped at the overlook for a glimpse at the screech owl roosting far below. 

Late in the afternoon, Tui, George and I drove out to Scappoose Bottoms. We found a short eared owl flying over a distant dike. On the way home we found a great-horned owl perched in a roadside cottonwood. 

Jan 7th Late in the day, I took Maile and the boys to Scappoose. We walked around near the airport and found two short-eared owls. One was hunting over rough pastures, while the other was hunting over wet reedbeds. This is the first time I had seen short-eared hunting over reedbeds. Perhaps it was hunting roosting blackbirds?

Jan 8th. Charlie and I rode our tandem out to Erroll Heights park, where we found a pair of barred owls roosting in the usual site.

Jan 14th. I drove down to Finley in search of a couple of roosting long-eared owls that had been reported last weekend. At dusk, a couple of scolding ruby-crown kinglets alerted me to a great-horned owl that had just started hunting. Alas I never found any long-eared owls, but was compensated by a prairie falcon and a bobcat. 

Jan16-17th. George and I drove out to Fossil in Wheeler county. Owling around Fossil I heard one long-eared owl and five great-horned owls. 

                        View from where we charged the car and cooked dinner at Condon

We pulled into Bear Hollow county park onto some icy snow and promptly got stuck.

                                                    George snow camping at Bear Hollow
At first light camping at Bear Hollow, I heard a singing pygmy owl. While cooking breakfast a work truck drove by, and the guy kindly towed us free. 

We stopped at a barn near Condon and found a beautiful great-horned owl. At Deschutes state park we found a fantastic roosting saw-whet owl. 

That evening Tui and I walked around Tabor after dark and heard a singing great-horned owl, that stubbornly remained out of sight.

While walking Maile in the neighborhood, I heard a barn owl. 

Jan 22nd. The whole family went to Willow Bar on Sauvie's Island at sunset. We heard a pair of duetting great-horned owls in the tall cottonwoods, but dense brambles prevented us from getting close enough to see them.

Jan 23rd. I went to Oaks Bottom at dusk and found a singing screech owl perched low in a bush at sunset. 

Jan 28th. George, Maile and I returned to Willow bar and walked the beach at sunset. We found one great-horned owl, silhouetted against the Western sky on the crown of an oak tree. 

Jan 29th. George and I hiked around Reed Canyon on a sunny afternoon. We had checked for barred owls a half dozen times this month and this was the first time we found one (roosting in a small fir tree).

Feb 11th. George and I went to Sauvie on a warm sunny morning. We stopped at Oak Island Road and found a roosting barn owl.  

Feb 12th. Charlie and I rode our bike to Errol Heights Park, to check on the barred owls. We quickly found a pair of beautiful owls roosting in Doug Firs.

Later George, Mail and I drove out past Mt Hood towards Maupin. At Dusk we pulled over on a small gravel road.

                                        View of Mount Hood from Pine Grove dinner spot
I cooked dinner on the stove, while Maile explored, and George kicked around a soccer ball. We explored a ridge at the North Edge of the Warm Springs reservation after dark, hearing a saw-whet owl and two screech owls. We ended in driving up Badger Creek Road and camping in White River Wildlife Management area. I had hoped to find a long-eared owl, but we neither heard or found one of these fantastic owls. 

Feb 13th. Tui, Charlie and I walked around Tryon. At dusk, Charlie disturbed a roosting great-horned owl with his stick sword fighting antics. 

Feb 15th. I went out owling with my friend Andy Frank to Leif Erikson trail. We found two saw-whet owls and a great-horned owl. We saw one of the saw-whets in flight, which was very cool. It looked like a giant moth as it flew around these tall Doug Firs.

Feb 18th. After dinner, I went to the South end of Oaks Bottoms after dark, and found a pair of screech owls, perched very low in some low Doug Firs. 

Feb 19th. Charlie and I made an epic (for us) tandem bike ride along Leif Erikson trail. On the return we heard, and later found two fantastic singing barred owls at dusk.

Feb 20th. George and I visited Willow Bar at Sauvie's Island. On the way back we stopped at Oak Island Road, where I found a roosting dark barn owl. 

Feb 21st. George and I drove out to Force Lake to check on the nesting great-horned owls. Sure enough, a incubating (or brooding) great-horned owl was sat conspicuously on the nest. 

Feb 25th. Andy Frank let me know about a screech owl in a cavity in his yard. I showed up at Sunset, and the owl was peeking out of a large hole in a birch tree. Over the next 15 minutes it emerged from the hole, sang a half dozen times, then flew off.

Feb 26th. Following up on a lead from Andy Frank, I found a singing pygmy owl in Forest Park. The bird perched out in the open in a maple tree. It song vigorously for ten minutes, while a vigilant Anna's hummingbird harassed it. 

Feb 27th. Maile and I took a wet walk around Errol Heights Park, where we found two barred owls roosting together in the same small stand of Doug firs. 

Mar 5th. Charlie, Maile and I took a walk at Sitka Sedge. At the parking area we head some scolding fox sparrows. We crept into the undergrowth and were thrilled to find a pygmy owl fly up to a low perch clutching a dead towhee in it's talons. We got fantastic looks at this fierce little predator

March 6th. I took a pre-dawn walk into the coast range from Whalen Island. I had been hoping to find saw-whet owls in the dense stands of Doug Fir. Instead a hungry Barred owl flew into investigate me. It's mate called from the slope below.  

March 11th. I got up early, well before dawn and checked Laurelhurst Park for owls, but found none. I then drove out to the Columbia Slough, to check on a great-horned owl nest in a cottonwood cavity. I found a silent great-horned, perched near the nest site. Eventually it flew into the cavity. Below the nest site a barn owl flew by. Then a skunk walked by, fortunately I noticed the it first and was able to leash my dog, Maile, before she got too close.

I took the boys to Willow Bar that evening. We cooked Kalbe beef and fed the rib bones to Maile. On the way back I found a great-horned and screech owl near Racoon Point (and heard a barn owl).

3/19 Charlie, Maile and I walked around Powell Butte at dusk, searching for a short-eared owl reported on e-bird. Sure enough we had fantastic views of a hunting owl near the summit. Walking back to the car we heard a barred owl singing.

3/20-24. I took George and Charlie on a 4 night trip through East Oregon. We drove out to Hot Lake near LaGrande. I was hoping for either long-eared or short eared owl, but found neither. We did hear a great-horned. A little further East, near Medicine Springs, I saw one roadside great-horned, and heard a second, plus a screech owl. We drove up through the snow, and found a dry, snow free spot, to pitch the tent under a big ponderossa tree.

The next day we awoke to light snow. We headed south a few miles to some sage-covered hills, where we searched for short-eared owls. Again, we didn't find any. We did find a beautiful great-horned owl, nesting in a cottonwood. Both boys got out of the car to enjoy it, and Charlie drew a fantastic caricature of it. We continued on, through Richland to Moonshine Mine campground on the snake river.We lazed around for the afternoon at the river, before returning to the same sage flats in search of short-eared owls. Along the road we found another great-horned owl on a nest. On the sage flats we saw pronghorn, and a sage grouse, while many coyotes called. Alas no short-eared owls. On the drive back I saw a screach owl near Richland, and heard two more, plus a great-horned. Charlie and I stayed up late at the campground, listening to a pair of great-horned owls, singing across the Snake in Idaho. 

After breakfast we followed the Snake to I84 then drove along the Interstate to Ontario. From there we drove south through Adrian where we had really great views of another nesting great-horned owl. We turned onto Succor creek road, where I found a burrowing owl in the same general area that I had seen one last year. We arrived at Succor Creek Park, and spent the afternoon eating and relaxing. After dinner, we headed south about 15 miles, to more sage flats, in search of short-eared owls.

                                        Maile taking a break along Succor Creak road

Again, we were stumped by short eared owls, and despite staying until well after dark and listing for their distinctive bark, we could not find any. As a consolation we found another great-horned owl at Mahogany Gap Road, and saw a wild turkey.

I was awoken by a singing screech owl several times. At breakfast a pair of noisy prairie falcons flew high above our camp. We headed back north along Succor Creek Road, stopping briefly for another nesting great-horned owl, near Adrian. From Vale, we headed West through Burns, and beyond to Glass Buttes. We climbed along a rough track into a dense stand of junipers and made camp. After dark we drove several roads, stopping and listening for screech owl. We found none, but did hear two singing saw-whet owls, interesting that they breed in Juniper Forests. I was awoken to both a solitary great-horned owl singing and a female long-eared owl calling. 

Mar 26th. The whole family went to check out a great-horned owl nest on the Columbia Slough. The nest site is in a large cavity in an old cottonwood. When we arrived an adult bird and a chick were visible in the nest hole. It's mate soon flew out from an unseen roost site. Both adults started hunting, but remained silent as it got darker.

Mar 27th. I got up before dawn to check on the screech owls that roost in the cavity of an ash tree at Oaks Bottom. I didn't hear any screech owls, but a pair of barred owls started duetting nearby. I was able to scramble down the bluff in the dark and find both owls in cottonwood trees without a flashlight.

I then headed out to Reed Canyon to try and locate the barred owls that have bred there for years. After a 15 minute wait, one owl started to actively fly around and sing. A second bird called but it was very muffled. Perhaps it was calling from a nest cavity. Eventually the second owl showed up, they mated briefly, before a mob of angry crows started to harass them. 

Mar 28th. Charlie and I decided to check on a reported screech owl at Ladd's Addition. WE rode our bike there, but found no owls. On the way back we heard a singing barred owl at Crystal Springs Gold course. We snuck in, and soon found the big owl, exposed, high in a bare maple tree. 

April 2nd. The whole family went to Force Lake in the evening. I was able to see an adult owl pulling beakfulls of meat from a carcass and feeding it to a large chick.

Apr 3rd. I walked Maile to the bluff at Oaks Bottoms, from there I could spy the screech owl roosting in the usual cavity in an old ash tree. 

April 8-10th. The whole family went to stay in an AirBnB in Condon. I tried to find either pygmy or saw-whet owl along Lost Valley Road in Gilliam County but found neither. While driving to the Painted Hills, I checked a roadside barn and found a pair of great-horned owls nesting in a raven nest. 

One night I drove to Deschutes county, and found a barn owl-a rare bird in Deschutes, and a roadside great-horned owl. I didn't get back until 2 am, just as a blizzard started. The next morning we awoke to a snow-covered landscape. 

On the drive back, Tui spotted a nesting great-horned owl near the town of Wasco. 

April 16th. I got up before dawn and drove with Maile to Gabriel Park. Soon after arriving I heard a distant barred owl. I followed the call into a residential neighborhood, and after over an hour of searching I found two barred owls fighting on the ground. Above them a murder of crows squawked. When I disturbed them, one owl flew off, but was quickly grabbed by the second owl, and they tumbled into the undergrowth. 

April 17th. I awoke early and drove out to Powell Butte before dawn. Near the summit I found a pair of barn owls. At least two, possibly three great-horned owls were singing. I got to see one great-horned owl fly by. A northern pygmy owl sang from the same ridge that I heard it a couple of weeks ago. After some searching I eventually saw the pygmy owl high in a Doug fir.

April 22nd. Charlie and I rode out tandem out to Laurelhurst Park, where screech owls had been reported recently on ebird. I had tried  a couple of times early in the morning in March and failed. This time Charlie spotted an owl in some Rhododendrons, and after much searching I was able to see it in flight a couple of times. Charlie earned himself an ice-cream as a reward. 

April 24th. I got up before dawn, and drove with Maile out to Portland Children's Arboretum. A gang of three coyotes met us, and were surprisingly fearless. I heard a pair of great-horned owls. We startled a skunk, and after it got light I found a great-horned owl roosting in a stand of firs. I tried a great-horned owl nest by the golf course, but the young had fledged, and where not visible. Last I visited Force Lake to check on the great-horned owl nest there. Again the owls had fledged. I could not see any juvenile owls, but an adult was standing guard just below the nest.

April 29th-30th. Sean Cozart found a pair of burrowing owls in Baker County. This is a local and uncommon breeder in NE Oregon, so with Sean's help, I decided to make the long drive out to the wild sagelands to look for this owl. Georeg, Maile and I drove out on a beautiful clear day. We arrived at the location just before dusk. After a tense minute of scanning the ground from the car, a burrowing owl flew up onto a fence post. What a brilliant owl.

We drove a little ways down the road and got out for a beautiful evening walk.

                                                    Wild and beautiful Baker County

                                                              My wild paleontologist 

I wished we stayed there and camped, but with rain due tomorrow, I wanted to make the most of the owling out here. We drove back around to Enterprise, and then headed North towards Floras, stopping when we reached the first forest. With George asleep in the car, I spent a  couple of hours searching for saw-whet owls, but found none. I did hear a couple of great-horned, and saw one from the road. We camped near the top of a mountain, under a chilly star-laden night. 

Alas, we awoke to the predicted rain. Reluctantly we returned home. I found a great-horned in a nest just outside of Enterprise. We stopped at Spring Creek, but it was pouring, and the one platform I checked had no owls on it.

May 8th. Tui and I took a rainy hike around Tryon . A pair of scolding robins lead me to a barred owl, perched very low in a gully. This is the first time I have seen barred owl in Tryon since 2020. I'm curious if there is a nesting pair. 

May 13-15th. The whole family went to stay at a rental house in Sisters. On Friday night it rained, so I stayed with everyone. Saturday night was perfect, with a big moon. I drove out to green ridge in search of great-gray owls. Alas, I found none. I did hear one, and saw a second beautiful saw-whet owl. It was great just to take a night hike with Maile. 

May 20-22nd. Charlie, Maile and I went on an adventure to Ironside Mountain in Malhuer County. We first stopped at Conley Lake, where short-eared owls have nested. We arrived at dusk, and failed to find any short-eared owls. We did find five great-horned in the general area. After charging the car in LaGrande, we drove to Ironside Mountain arriving just before 2am. A singing saw-whet owl greeted us at our camp site. 

I woke at 6am, and started searching the area near the tent, while Charlie slept. I soon heard a pygmy owl, my first in Malheur County. I eventually got good views of this owl being mobbed by Audubon's warblers. After a hot breakfast we hiked around as the blue sky changed gray, and a big storm arrived, dousing us with hail. Maile found a snow-shoe hare to chase.

                                                                Ironside Mountain
We decided to find drier weather, so set off for Umatilla County, stopping along the way to charge at John Day. Late in the afternoon we reached Alkali Flats road, near Pendleton. After some searching we found a pair of nesting burrowing owls. 

We drove West to Quesna County park, where we camped on the banks of the Columbia, we didn't find any owls, but the sky was so beautiful and we had a beautiful fire.

                                                                Quesna County park

May 27-29th. George, Maile and I drove out to Lost Valley Rd in Gilliam County.

                                                        Lost Valley Road at sunset
We listened for pygmy owls at dusk, but didn't hear any. Before it got completely dark, and under a fine drizzle, a distant flammulated owl hooted. This is the first time I have found this bird in Gilliam County. We drove south to Kinzua Golf Course, where we camped. It rained during the night, but we stayed dry under a big ponderosa pine. 

After a nice breakfast we headed up to Condon, and charged the car. We then drove northwest to Hermiston, stopping along the way at Sand Hollow Rd, where we tried for short-eared owl. We failed to find short-eared, but did find a great horned standing watch from a grain elevator tower. Later we flushed a pair of great-horned from an old barn.

From Hermiston we made our way West to Quesna County Park on the Columbia. We cooked some food and loafed around until early evening. We drove a loop around Boardman Bombing Range in search of short-eared owls. Alas, despite perfect looking habitat we found none. We did see elk and a nighthawk, hear coyotes and curlews. A family of four great-horned owls entranced George. It was late and rainy by the time we returned to Quesna County Park. We pitched the tent under a gazebo. Unfortunately over the night, rain pooled over the concrete floor. We awoke to find ourselves really wet and uncomfortable.

June 2nd. Charlie and Maile headed out to Reed Canyon to see if the barred owls had youngsters. We initially didn't hear any owlets whiled away twenty minutes playing checkers under the foot bridge. On the way back to the car, we found two noisy owlets and an adult at the head of the canyon. 

June 3rd. Late in the evening, Maile and I went to Marshall Park. A coyote greeted us at the entrance to the park. We heard no owls on the walk down, but when returning to the car we heard a pair of juvenile barred owls begging. I found a couple of owlets high in a Doug fir, one was obviously a lot larger than the other. We waited for five minutes, but didn't see any adults. 

June 4th. Maile and I visited Errol Heights Park at dusk. I saw five beavers in the main pond. I soon heard the begging calls of young barred owls, and was able to find 3 youngsters taking shelter under a dense fir.

June 6th. Charlie and I returned with Maile to Reed Canyon, where we found two juvenile and two adult barred owls. 

June 12th. Charlie and I took Maile to Marshal Park Despite the heavy spring rain we walked past a couple of adult roosting barred owls, one we saw from just 10' away. 

June 16-18. Charlie, Maile and I drove out to the Wallowa Mountains for a weekend. We started owling after dark, exploring the forest roads between Wallowa and Troy. Around midnight I heard a flammulated owl on the far side of a wet meadow. I hiked the meadow and deep into some thick stands of young pines. It was a moonless night, and I was worried that I might get disorientated in the dark. I eventually got views of a tiny flammulated owl flying between two fir trees. We persisted until 230am looking for saw-whet, but found none. We drove the car up a logging track until the wheels began to spin in the mud, and parked for the night. Charlie caught a second wind, and I had a couple of warm dark beers, while we chatted. 

I woke early, surprised to hear a sandhill crane calling overhead. I spent a couple of hours drinking coffee and watching Maile explore the meadow, while Charlie caught up on his sleep. We eventually made our way to Enterprise, where we charged the car and loafed around town for a couple of hours. Charlie wanted to ride the Wallowa Lake gondola. The highlight of our ride, was great views of a bear, just below the gondola. After our ride, we drove into the Wallowa mountains. We stopped and walked to a small lake in the forest, where we built  a camp fire. We cooked dinner, took a couple of short walks and relaxed. Maile jumped over a downed log and cut her shoulder on a sharp branch. There wasn't much blood, but her muscle was dramatically exposed by the open would. We hiked up a small forest track after dark through thick young firs. Charlie spotted something small flying against the twilight. Soon a saw-whet started singing! We eventually got nice views in the flashlight. 

Buoyed, we decided to make the long drive to Spring Creek to look for great gray owls. Near Joseph we got good views of a roadside great-horned owl. At spring creek we saw a big owl in the headlights. I initially thought it was a great gray, but the next morning, Charlie and I found a great-horned about 1/2 mile away and I expect that was the bird we saw. More exciting, we saw a goshawk fly by.

 The drive back was a shit show. A key EV charger was broke, and there were a lot more electric cars using other chargers. We had to drive up to Kennewick, WA to get a charge and didn't get home until 9pm!

June 19th. Tui and I went to Mary Young Park. We found an adorable pair of recently fledged barred owls perched quite low in a maple tree.

June 20th. Charlie and I went to Audubon Sanctuary in Portland in search of young barred owls. We had a nice walk, but found none. Late in the evening, I returned, and ventured into the upper part of the reserve. I quickly found one adult and three juvenile barred owls.

As the sun set, I drove out to Mary Young, where I refound the two juvenile barred owls, plus an adult with prey. Nearby a juvenile great-horned owl was perched low on a bough eating a rabbit!

June 22nd. While staying at Whalen Island, I got up well before dawn and checked the cow pastures for barn owls. Sure enough, I had a barn owl silently flying overhead around 415am. 

June 24th. I struggled to get up at 330am to go out and visit Happy Valley Nature Park, where a family of screech owls had been reported. I initially found a pair of territorial birds, and then later heard two, and saw one juvenile plus an attending adult in a different part of the park. 

June 25th. Again I got up at 330am. I drove out to Oaks Bottom to search for juvenile screech owls. I walked the whole East side, but heard none. At first light I saw a silent barred owl. There has been a pair reported here all spring, and perhaps they have eaten or at least silenced the screech owls. Also no indication that the barred owls have raised young here.

June 26th. I got up at 5am and drove out to Wapato on Sauvie's Island. Near the entrance to the park I found at least one begging juvenile barred owl with a pair of attendant adults nearby. 

July 1st. Charlie, Maile and I headed out to the Holman Lane entrance to forest park. There we found at least on screech owl. We hiked down to Macleay Trail, where Charlie found a second screech owl singing low in an alder tree. 

July 3rd. Charlie, Maile and I took a hike along Oak Island road after sunset. We found a family of raccoons, a possum and a great-horned owl (revealed by scolding robins). Charlie was hoping for a barn owl but we found none. 

July 29th. On a very hot summer evening, Charlie, Maile and I drove out to Larch Mountain. Our main target was Common Nighthawk, which we easily found. Driving down Larch, we could hear a begging juvenile barred owl. We stopped, and were able to find a juvenile owl flying between tall Doug Firs. 

Aug 8th. I took the boys for a 3 night camping trip to the North Oregon Coast. In the foothills above Whalen Island while the boys and Maile were asleep in the tent, I heard a pair of barred owls duetting below us. 

Aug 11th. I took the boys out to Willow Bar on Sauvie's island for a swim after work. Driving back across the island at sunset I saw a great-horned owl fly into a stand of cottonwoods. 

Aug 24th. George and I heard a juvenile great-horned owl at Willow Bar on Sauvie's island.

Aug 25th. Driving back from Willow Bar after a swim, George and I drove past separate great-horned owls on Sauvie's Island. Both birds, were perched on utility poles. 

Aug 30th. Walking across Willow Bar on Sauvie's Island with George, I heard a begging juvenile great-horned owl. A minute late I saw a dark (presumably adult) great-horned owl fly along the side of the clearing. Unfortunately Charlie was behind with Tui and missed out on the owls. 

Sep 8th. I took Charlie and George to Willow Bar. While George and I were swimming Charlie found a singing great-horned owl. He was rightly very happy with the sighting. George and I returned from swimming to find Charlie sharing his find with a dog walker.  This is Charlie's side of the story. After my dad and brother started swimming I waited for about 15 minutes until I went back to the forest. Along the way some Californian Quails ran past me. I laid the speaker down and turned up the volume. I moved around a bit to different areas of this flat dinosaur grass covered section. After about 15 minutes no owl had yet to make and appearance. I moved about 10 feet up the path until I noticed a dog walker. They seemed to be taking a picture of something ironically in the same direction the owl would show up in a couple minutes later. Then  out of nowhere a large dark brown bird swooped overhead. it landed on a tree about 10 feet in front of me. it started to hoot at the speaker, and it was definitely not a juvenile . It's most defined feature was its white ring around its neck. after a minute it moved right into another tree from a similar distance. My dad must have see it from a distance because he said he had seen me looking at it. Soon it flew back into some trees across the other side of the path and that's pretty much it.

Sep 9th. Tui, George and I went swimming in the evening at Willow Bar on Sauvies Island. Walking back to the car at dusk, we heard and then saw a juvenile great-horned owl begging and flying conspicuously around the clearing.

Sep 16-17. Charlie and I drove out to Lost Valley Rd near Condon. Our quest was to find a couple of small forest owls in Gilliam County, which has just a couple of tiny fragments of forest. We arrived well after dark. It was surprising cold outside. Fortunately we heard a saw-whet owl in the sparse ponderosa forest. 

We spent a cold night at Kinzua golf course. Coyotes howled outside the tent and Maile paced and whined, hoping for an invite into our sleeping bags. We returned to the same fragment of forest and searched for pygmy owl. Much to our surprise, we heard a pygmy owl. After some tracking we found it singing fairly low in a small pine. What an excellent find.

Charlie has taken an interest in general birding, so we searched the grassland and sewage-treatment plant near Condon, and were rewarded with some nice migrant sparrows and shorebirds. Charlie also heard a pair of Western Screech owls from the tent, something I slept through.

Sep 24th. Charlie and I visited broken top in search of boreal owls. It was a beautiful clear evening. We walked 6 miles and heard one owl call, but couldn't determine if it was a saw-whet or a boreal. 

Sep30th-Oct 2nd. Charlie and went camping with our friends Mark and Justin. The first night we camped at Marion Forks, and hiked to Marion Lake the next day. We didn't see any owls that day, but Charlie was thrilled to see both rough and sooty grouse. 

The second night we camped at Calliope Crossing, near sisters. We heard a pair of great-horned owls singing, and occasionally a juvenile called. The next morning Charlie found a flock of pinion jays, which we were really happy to see. Up at Whispering Pines campground we found a lovely pygmy owl.

Oct 8-9. George, Mail and I drove out to Skyline in the Blue Mountains in search of boreal owl. It was a beautiful warm night, but despite perfect condition we found non. We did hear a pygmy owl near our camp site by Jubilee Lake,  a great horned on Skyline and we saw a great horned near Walla Walla. We also heard about a dozen elk bugling during the night along Skyline.

Oct 13-16. The whole family drove out to the Wallowa area for a long weekend. Charlie and I got up before dawn and found a beautiful tame spruce grouse just above Joseph. We also found a pygmy owl singing in the same area. Later in the day we all drove out to Zumwalt Prairie, where Charlie and I found a roosting great-horned owl in a barn. We also found three gray partridge there. That evening we drove the back roads near Lostine, where we found three different great-horned owls perched in barn windows. That evening Charlie and I tried for barn owl, which we didn't find, but we did find another great-horned. 

We explored Troy on Saturday, hoping to find Chucka, which would be a new bird for Charlie. Alas, we found none. That evening we found a pair of great-horned owls perched in a barn window, where yesterday there had been just one.

Charlie and I got up early and drove out towards Imnaha, we then turned South West along a rough road, where we found a black bear and Charlie's first canyon wren. We also found a couple more great-horned owls along the way.

Nov 6th. Tui and I took a wet afternoon walk around Hoyt Arboretum. Almost immediately we heard a couple of crows calling from some dense fir trees. We found a beautiful barred owl perched on a bough.

Nov 10th. Tui and I took a walk around Oaks Bottom. We heard a huge mob of crows, and followed the sound. A couple hundred crows had found a great-horned owl. As we watched more crows flew in. The owl made a couple of unsuccessful attempts to evade the mob by flying below the canopy.

Nov 13th. Charlie and I visited Koll Wetlands in search of night-heron. We were thrilled to find a roosting adult night heron in some willows. While admiring the red-eyed heron we heard a Virginia Rail, and eventually were able to glimpse the rail darting around under a tangle of Himalayan blackberries. A silent marsh wren was Charlie's 3rd new bird of the morning. On the far side of the wetland we heard a scolding scrub jay. We drove to the far side of the wetland and followed the sound of the jays. A barred owl flew out from a dense stand of Willow trees followed by some angry American crows.  

Tui, Maile and I took a walk at Broughton Beach at dusk. I had walked the beach a couple of times lately with Charlie recently but failed to find any owls. Today our luck changed, and a short-eared owl emerged to hunt near the old sea scout base. 

Nov 14th. I was walking Maile in Westmoreland Park after dark when I found a barred owl hunting from a bridge. The owl stayed long enough that I was able to return with Charlie. This is the first owl I have seen in the park for a few years.

Nov 19th. Tui and I walked along Iron Mountain in Lake Oswego at dusk. A great horned owl sang a few times from high in a Doug fir. Unfortunately we were not able to find it. 

Nov 25th. I took Maile for a wet walk along the side of Oaks Bottom. I found a damp screech owl in the usual cavity of the broken ash tree.

Nov 26th. Charlie and I explored Scapposse Bottoms late in the afternoon. We found a flock of dunlin, which was a new bird for Charlie. At dusk we heard two great-horned owls singing in the distance. We also found 3 beautiful short eared owls that came out to hunt in the rough grassland.

Dec 17th. Charlie and I drove down to Linn county in search of a Burrowing owl that Roy Gerig and Pam Otley had given us directions to. We found the owl late in the afternoon by a roadside culvert. Tgis was Charley's first burrowing owl. 

Dec 23rd. Charlie, Maile and I walked along the side of Oaks Bottoms. We had just had a minor ice storm, and it was a good walk. We found the screech owl in the usual roost, plus a Virginia rail under the viewing area. A small ice-free patch of water had both a beaver and a mink. 

 

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