[NatureNS] Great Horned Owl

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From: Randy Lauff <randy.lauff@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2020 13:02:58 -0400
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"Scaring birds into responding by excessive pishing, playback or
broadcasting alarm calls just isn=E2=80=99t right."

I completely agree (except for the "scaring" part). But the key is
"excessive." I would bet a lot of money that the Nocturnal Owl Survey
routes are done once, then are not revisited until the following year.
Total playback at each site is around 5 minutes (spread over four
bouts)...think of it this way, if nesting birds were THAT sensitive to
intruders that a few minutes playback causes them to abandon, the species
would have been doomed long ago.

Done over and over and over again...that's a different story.

Randy
_________________________________
RF Lauff
Way in the boonies of
Antigonish County, NS.


On Wed, 12 Feb 2020 at 11:23, nancy dowd <nancypdowd@gmail.com> wrote:

> I am extremely happy to hear about the Listening Together survey protocol=
.
> I also do not wish to be involved in surveys relying on playback. This cu=
ts
> off many I would otherwise get involved in (Marsh Monitoring and the
> forested wetland species mentioned, for example). Scaring birds into
> responding by excessive pishing, playback or broadcasting alarm calls jus=
t
> isn=E2=80=99t right.
>
> Nancy D
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> > On Feb 12, 2020, at 10:31 AM, Bev Wigney <bkwigney@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > =EF=BB=BFHi John,
> >
> > That sounds like an interesting project.  I just bought an AudioMoth
> > unit to try out and was thinking of buying a couple more.  I bought
> > this one to put in forests to determine which birds are nesting in an
> > area.  I'll be interested in hearing more about how you will be
> > putting your units to work.
> > Agree -- I think community listening projects could be quite useful.
> > Our local facebook group has a few hundred members in the Annapolis
> > Royal area and many are very interested in nature.  I'm quite sure we
> > could get something going for listening for owls as many people are
> > already doing so at their farms and rural residences.
> > I look forward to hearing more about how you'll be putting the
> > AudioMoth units to use in your area.
> >
> > Bev
> >
> >> On 2/12/20, John Kearney <j.f.kearney@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> Hi Donna and all,
> >>
> >> This kind of census has a great appeal to me. I don't participate in t=
he
> >> nocturnal owl studies sponsored by Birds Canada since I don't agree wi=
th
> >> disturbing and agitating breeding birds that may result from the
> >> requirement
> >> to broadcast recordings of owl calls. So many studies of birds, in the
> name
> >> of conservation, are stressing birds through capture, tagging, and
> >> playback.
> >> Studies are beginning to show that stress during the breeding season
> from
> >> human-generated sources can affect not only breeding success but
> long-term
> >> physiological health.
> >>
> >> A new project, called Listening Together, in Southwest Nova Scotia, is
> >> developing a survey method that people could use to replace the Birds
> >> Canada
> >> survey method. This method involves the placement of inexpensive but
> >> programmable recording devices along an owl survey route. This method
> >> enables the survey participant to listen on a more frequent basis for
> the
> >> presence of owls on the route without disturbing the owls. The project
> is
> >> also working on methods to detect the presence of owl calls in the
> >> recording
> >> automatically and even identify the species. These more advanced
> features
> >> will take more time to develop but I'm hoping to have automatic
> identifiers
> >> for a few species-at-risk, Canada Warbler, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and
> >> Rusty
> >> Blackbird, in the next few months. These identifiers will be useful fo=
r
> >> confirming the breeding presence of these species-at-risk in woodlands=
.
> I
> >> hope to have recording devices, called AudioMoths, available to borrow
> by
> >> conservation groups by early April. Unfortunately, the coronavirus may
> >> delay
> >> the arrival of my order since China produces the circuit boards.
> Listening
> >> Together is funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada, Nova Scot=
ia
> >> Lands and Forestry, and a group of university and NGO partners in
> Southwest
> >> Nova Scotia. Please contact me if you would like to know more about it=
.
> >>
> >> John
> >>
> >> j.f.kearney@gmail.com
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca On Behalf Of Donna Crossland
> >> Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2020 20:58
> >> To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
> >> Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Great Horned Owl
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> It would be fun to form some sort of auditory census for Great-horned
> owl
> >> nesting pairs right about now.  It's interesting to learn of just wher=
e
> >> they
> >> are nesting and whether they are increasing/decreasing.  The nocturnal
> owl
> >> survey takes care of this to some extent, but it would be interesting =
to
> >> learn more of their whereabouts, particularly close to towns, etc.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Here's hoping that this 2nd apparently 'open winter' (I know that Marc=
h
> can
> >> still surprise us) does not negatively affect Barred owl populations.
> >> Bernard Forsythe's report of last year's uncommonly low (nonexistent?)
> >> success rate for nesting Barred owls leaves us hoping this winter will
> be
> >> more productive.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> The yellow-breasted chat must be regretting its choices by now?
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Donna Crossland
> >>
> >> Tupperville
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On 2020-02-11 10:25 a.m., James Hirtle wrote:
> >>
> >> When I got out of work on Feb. 16 at 23:00 there was a great horned ow=
l
> >> calling.  It sounded like it was somewhere in the vicinity of Woodland
> >> Gardens.  I was on Dufferin Street up over the hill from there.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> The yellow-breasted chat continues at Barbara McLeans in