I live in Lake Oswego, Oregon, with my wife; Tui, two sons; Charlie (13) and George (10) and elderly pitbull; Maile.
Jan 11th. I visited Anderson Swale Rd in search of short-eared owl. I had to wait until it was quite dark until I saw a silent short-eared owl fly overhead. In the distance a great-horned owl called from across the pasture.
Jan 17th. Tui and I drove to Marylhurst Heights Park, where we found a screech owl after dark.
Jan 18th. I visited Luscher farm at first light and saw a barn owl.
Jan 18th. Sean Pollock showed me a nesting great-horned owl in SW Portland. We then drove out to Wilhoit Springs and found a couple of pygmy owls (we saw one), and heard a distant great-horned and four elusive saw-whet owls.
Jan 22nd. Tui and I drove out to West Waluga Park after dark, where we found a singing barred owl.
Jan 25th. Sean and I drove out to Graham's Oaks in search of owls. We heard a pair of great-horned owls and saw a saw-whet and a barred owl.
Jan 28th. Tui and I built a fire in the back yard. While enjoying the fire, we could hear a distant great-horned owl calling down by the lake.
Feb 2nd. Maile and I visited Coffee Creek at dusk. I heard a distant great-horned owl, and later a sawwhet owl (bird # 150 for Coffee Creek).
Feb 7th Maile and I went to Ivor Davis Park where we flushed a beautiful big great-horned owl
While walking Maile around Lakeridge high school I heard a singing screech owl. I returned with a thermal imager, and was able to find the owl without disturbing it.
Feb 9th. Sean and I went to check on a couple of screech owl territories. We got nice views of one singing bird. We also checked on the Luscher barn owls, but it had started raining when we arrived and we were unable to find any.
Feb 14th. Maile walked around Lake Ridge high school in the snow and found the screech owl singing in the same perch.
Feb 15th. I decided to drive out to LaGrande to look for a large group (13) of short eared owls reported hunting in the nearby Farmlands. I arrived mid afternoon and spent several hours alternatively walking and driving the windy snow swept gravel roads. We saw a big heard of distant elk, a very skittish coyote and may diurnal raptors. After sunset I was starting to get worried. A snowstorm blew in. Just when all seemed lost 2 or 3 short-eared owls started barking from the stubble fields. Walking back to the car I flushed a barn owl from a stack of straw bales. At the edge of town a pale great-horned owl flew above the car.
Feb 17th. While walking Maile around the high school I found the screech owl singing from the same perched in the exact same place. I suspect he's mateless.
Feb 19th. Maile and I walked past the high school the screech owl was again singing in the exact same place.
Feb 21st. Andy Frank and I walked up Leif Erikson in Forest Park. We were hoping for a saw whet, but had to settle for a distant great-horned owl.
Feb 22nd. Maile (for protection, because I had seen a recent cougar kill here) and I visited South River Island well before dawn. I heard a short bark of a saw-whet owl.
Feb 23rd. I walked over to Luscher and was able to find two barn owls with a thermal imager, one hunting and one perched near the farm.
Feb 24th. I found a Long Eared owl roosting in a conifer in Multnomah County.
Feb 28th. Maile and I got up early to check out Blount Rd. At first light a great-horned owl flew across the road.
After dark Maile and I went for a neighborhood walk. It was an unusually warm evening. We heard 2 or three great-horned owls singing around the high school.
Mar 1st Sean and I drove out to Scappoose, where we found a male and female short-eared owl hunting over some wild grassland at dusk. As we left we saw a barn owl hunting the same area. We drove the back roads, looking for great-horned, but instead found another barn owl.
Mar 5th. Maile and I drove out to Anderson Swale Rd before work. Pulling off the freeway I saw a hunting barn owl. At the far end of Anderson Swale a barn owl flew close by in the morning mist. Nearby a great-horned owl sang.
Mar 7th, Sean and I checked out the Oaks screech owls. We found the bird out in the open on a branch well before sunset, and were able to enjoy it for an hour before it flew into some bushes and called softly.
Mar 14th. Maile and I returned to Brown's Ferry for the first time in 10 months. We quickly found a beautiful barred owl, which looked gigantic as it flew low over us.
Mar 17th. Tui and I were leaving the house after dark. We heard a crow cawing, and looked up to see a great horned owl swooping after a terrified crow. Both birds vanished into a fir tree before we could see what happened.
March 22. Tui and I walked Luscher after dark. We saw a barn owl overhead and another peering from the nest site.
March 23rd. I visited Happy Valley Nature park before dawn and heard a pair of screech owls. I was eventually able to find one bird low in a laurel tree.
April 4th. I visited Blount Rd at first light and saw a great-horned owl.
April 5th. Maile and I camped near Buck Lake. (We drove a forest service rd until the snow blocked our way). It was a mild night. In the morning we hiked a couple of snowy roads. I found a singing pygmy owl in a small stand of old growth.
That evening Sean and I visited Mary's Woods and located a nesting screech owl originally found by Wink Gross.
April 6th. I visited Coffee Ck at first light and found a great-horned owl that flush across the pond by the railroad tracks.
April 8th. At the West end of Lief Erikson Trail I heard a great horned and two pygmy owls at dusk
April 12th. Walking around Luscher after dark I saw a hunting barn owl.
April 14th I saw a great-horned owl in flight at Oak Island (Sauvie)
April 17 At 430 am I heard a pair of great-horned owls duetting in the back yard. On my Maile morning walk a few hours later, I heard a commotion, and saw a great-horned owl fly out of one of the big firs at the edge of my yard. That evening I could hear the owls again at bedtime.
April 20th I saw a paired of barred owls at Tryon early in the morning
April 25th. Driving down Stafford Rd a barred owl flew in front of the car.
April 30th. Sean and I visited PCC Sylvania, where we found a lovely pair of great-horned owls in the evening.
May 3rd, I found a barn owl in the belfry of the old church at Locust Grove.
May 21st Sean and I visited Graham's Oaks. Sean saw, and I heard a saw whet. A barred owl was also flying silently around (hunting the saw whet?) I also saw and heard a barn owl hunting over the rough grassland.
May 23rd. George and I took a scooter ride around Brown's Ferry. We found a barred owl conspicuously roosting in a large maple tree. George was really excited to see the owl and called it Charlie.
May 27th. Sean and I visited his neighborhood, where we found a nesting pair of barred owls (chicks hadn't fledged yet). About 1/2 mile away we found a pair of great-horned owls and three recently fledged juveniles.
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