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Hi; On Saturday night Patricia Chalmers and I ran our last Owl Survey in the Pockwock Watershed. This is usually our best one with regards to the number of owls we detect. To our surprise we only saw/heard 4 owls! This route, on average produces 15 or more. Our first six stops produced no owls whatsoever. These stops are along a dirt road which runs along the east side of Pockwock Lake It's not that far from Highway #101, and we can usually hear the sound of distant traffic, which becomes quite loud at stops 5 and 6. This year we were dismayed at how loud that noise has become. We're not sure if the traffic has increased, or if more trees have been cut providing less of a buffer? I'll check with the Watershed Manager on this last theory. At stop 6 we encountered an ATV which turned around and left the way it came as soon as he/she saw our headlights. At stop 8 we got our first owl for the night. It flew in against the backdrop of a brilliant full moon before we started our recording giving us excellent views. It then perched at the top of a Spruce and studied us. It never made a sound. When the recording started, it flew down to a lower perch, just out of sight. How long it stayed there, we're not sure because it never returned to view and never made the slightest sound. We both reached the conclusion, before discussing it with each other, that this was a Long-eared Owl. When we checked our records - this was the stop that had a pair of Long-eareds last year! At stop 9 we had a distant Saw-whet, and at stop 10 we had another Saw-whet and a Barred. Also at stop 9 we had 3 ATV's come barrelling toward us. We were in the middle of a playback so there were no lights on in the car. For one awful moment it looked like they were going to crash right into us! These were the first ATV's we've ever seen in the watershed in the 11 years we've been running this route. There are strict regulations prohibiting motorized vehicles in the watershed. To get my car in I need permission on three levels and a gate key and a cell phone to report my whereabouts! All in all, a night full of surprises! Cheers; Suzanne
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