Weekend Owling

Late Saturday afternoon we went on an Owl Prowl at Connecticut Audubon's Trail Wood Sanctuary in Hampton. Lead by Sanctuary Manager, Andy Rzeznikiewicz, we were a parade of fourteen vehicles and almost fifty people, calling, listening and watching for owls. All of our stops were within nearby Goodwin State Forest, with the final "save the best for last" stop near Black Spruce Pond off Estabrook Road, at the northern limit of the DEP property.

With Max and Sebastian, Jorge and I strained our ears in vain to hear any owl returning the call of Andy's really loud playback device. He used a FoxPro game caller which had incredible volume - you could hear the sound echoing back across Pine Acres Pond. The link for FoxPro may not be the exact model he used, but something similar.

Fifty people stood quietly listening for more than an hour and a half - young and old, experienced and novice, and maybe we heard a few Flying Squirrel squeaks, but not a peep from the owls! The night air was cold and fresh, but not bitterly so. The stars were brilliant in a mostly clear sky with the waxing half moon bright enough to cast clear shadows. We saw Mars and Jupiter hanging out up there with Orion and the Pleiades.

So that was Saturday night.

Sunday after work, Jorge and I explored a section of trail in one of Connecticut's many state forests - practically in our back yard, and we'd never set foot in it before.

Trail marker for Connecticut's wonderful Blue Trail System - here on a young White Pine on the Shenipsit Trail.

Snow-covered Avery Road, Stafford

The northernmost section of the Shenipsit State Forest is in Stafford, about twelve miles away. Heading into the woods after four pm we chose a one-kilometer walk, returning after sunset by snow-covered dirt road.

Squirrels obviously used this as a picnic table for dining on pine seeds.  Under a cluster of small Hemlock trees were this and several other deep piles of White Pine cone scales.

The late day light in the treetops and late winter smells of melting-around-the-edges gave a wonderful sense of - spring is just around the corner. Inspired by the previous evening spent calling owls, we brought along our iPod and mini speaker to try our luck. Learning from Andy's example, we tried the smaller owls first, Screech and Saw Whet, then the Barred and finally Great Horned.

Last sun of the day in a patch of forest where we stopped to call owls

Several times along the trail, we stopped in piney woods and called, with only a local dog responding. Then we heard a brief raspy cough and turned in the direction of the sound. Within moments Jorge was saying - there it is, it's there. Here take the video camera, turn it on, get ready - and through all of this I still wasn't sure where it was, or even what it was.

Barred Owl, Strix varia varia, Shenipsit State Forest, Stafford, Connecticut

Finally I got my binoculars on a big old Barred Owl, quietly watching our antics from its perch right up against the trunk of a White Pine. Blinking at us through half-opened eyes, it just kept watch, occasionally turning its head to follow some other sound or movement. As Jorge approached closer, crunching through icy snow, the owl turned quickly and flew off into the forest.

 

 

 Barred Owl in Shenipsit Forest

Northern terminus of Connecticut's Shenipsit Trail. I don't think I've ever seen a trail mark like this one.

Half moon high over sun-tipped White Pines and birches

Half-moon and sunlight on tips of birch branches - admirable handheld photo for my little Nikon Coolpix 7600 at the furthest range of its optical zoom.

The Barred Owl brings Jorge's Connecticut 2010 list to 81 species.

If you've noticed the bird list in the right sidebar, the numbers are much higher.  That list reflects all birds mentioned in this blog, so it goes back to the fall of 2009, and takes us to other states as well.  It also covers birds that I may have seen while he was away.  Yeah, it's a lot of lists to keep track of!