Ohio listserv
Subject: Burrowing Owl in Darke County!
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:52:45 -0400
This afternoon a gentleman stopped in to the Darke County Parks Nature
Centure at Shawnee Prairie Preserve stating that he thought he had a
burrowing owl near his barn! I ran out to confirm, fully expecting to
see something much more common, and low-and-behold, I see the yellow
eyes of a burrowing owl starring back!!
I apologize for the delay for the post, but I had to speak with the
land owners to ensure they were aware of the situation. The gravel
lane back to his barn will provide ample parking. To get here, take
OH-502 out of Greenville and turn North (right) onto Springhill Rd,
then turn left (west) onto Wildcat Rd. Look for the white fencing on
the left hand side of the road. The owl has been seen standing near a
culvert along the road.
According to the gentleman who alerted us to the owl, durring the
afternoon the owl stays standing by his culvert and only flies a short
distance off when a car passes, only to return shortly after.
I will post pics later tonight. Also, PLEASE stay OUT of the fields!
We must respect these people's land.
Also, we'd love to see how many people come to see the owl! Please
stop by the Darke County Parks Nature Center located just outside
Greenville on 502 and sign our guest book and state Burrowing Owl in
the comments!! (we have restrooms and a water fountain!)
Darke County Parks Naturalist
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:00:21 -0400
First, let me congratulate you on a GREAT FIND!
While my pictures are NOT from a 'bigger and better' camera, I offer them
for size perspective. I took these two pictures with a digital
'point-and-shoot' Canon A570 IS camera from the car window in 2006 near
Reno, NV while on a business trip (never leave home without your camera!).
The bird is perched on a metal fence post that supports barbed wire to give
you some size perspective.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mvalencic/BurrowingOwlNevada2006
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 05:22:41 -0400
How about we must respect the owl?
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:48:07 -0400
Well said!! I kinda thought that would go without saying, but thanks
for reiterating this most important point.
Please use common sense when observing our visitor. No sense in
stressing it out more than I'm sure it already is.
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:42:01 -0400
According the guy who's barn is right next to the area, he has seen it
for about a week. It appears to have taken up residence...at least for
now.
Would take about 2.5 hours from marysville according to google maps...
But there is a large detour on 36 right now, so that might slow u down
a bit.
He (pretty sure its a he,based on size?) doesn't seem to like people
all that much...not as tame as people have told me they are out west
and in FL. Not sure u'd be able to get within that range, but if u are
slow, it might work.
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:56:42 -0400
I've been talking with Troy Shively, who was at the site of the reported
burrowing owl this morning sometime after 7 am. As of now, it has not
been seen by him or several other observers. Local folks say it
repeatedly flushes from its culvert spot when cars pass, then returns.
The culverts are easy to survey, and were all empty this morning. Locals
also say 11 am--for some reason--has been the most reliable time to find
this bird, so Troy will be sticking around for a while; a Cincinnati
birder is on the spot now as well, and will let us know if it's found.
This bird seems unusually spooky, so quiet and stealth seem called for.
Needless to say, observers should obey requests they NOT trespass into
agricultural fields here.
If accepted, this would be Ohio's fourth record of this species. A
specimen exists at BGSU of one collected in 1962 in Wood Co, and the
most recent record came from Ottawa Co in 1981, also from a culvert,
which apparently relieved the bird from the necessity to do any actual
burrowing. I'll be around today and will pass along any news I hear.
Just got a call from Ben Warner, who should be on site in a couple of
hours, and will call if any results.
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:31:12 -0400
For those of who are interested...the Burrowing Owl is located in
Atlas Block 54D1NE. THIS IS AN OBBA2 PRIORITY BLOCK so for those of
you making the trek out to see this amazing raptor, please consider
adding some valuable Atlas data to this region of Ohio that is in
desperate need of more Atlas coverage. In addition, there are other
nearby priority blocks with ZERO data and I can help point anyone in
the right direction if needed.
This link has the list of species recorded in the "Burrowing Owl
Block" during the first Atlas. Interesting species include VEERY,
PROTHONOTARY & KENTUCKY WARBLERS. Might there be a Bell's Vireo
lurking nearby?
http://bird.atlasing.org/Atlas/OH/Main?cmd=viewSpecies&locID=L316685&editionID=ATLAS_OH_1982
I'll be interested to see what other Atlas observations come out of
this new Ohio chase species. Similar to the Circleville Black Rail
phenomenon, I'm confident that the current list of 31 species in the
Burrowing Owl Block could approach 70 without much effort.
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:40:56 -0400
As of 4pm this afternoon, the owl has NOT been seen.
Mandy Martin (another DCP Naturalist) and I headed out there at 3pm and
organized a "field walk" that included many of the 15-20 people on site (this
was OK'd by the farmer & land owner). We wanted to try to determine if the
owl was even present anymore. We hiked a large portion of the area where
the owl had been seen yesterday and were unable to flush it. It appears
that the owl is staying away from the known location (for now at least).
There have been numerous people there off and on since VERY early this
morning and if the owl is still in the area, this seems to be enough to keep
it from coming back... that, or the owl decided to leave last night, since
people there early this morning were unable to spot it. Given the fact that
this area sees only limited traffic (a vehicle maybe every 15min) and very
little human interaction, the sudden influx of this many people could very
well cause the owl second thoughts upon returning to his "burrow". There is
also the possibility that there is a second site that he has been using off
and on throughout the past week and this is where he is... basically, we
have no idea =)
At this time, I would NOT recommend anyone traveling out to the site.
Especially if you have a long drive.
I will check the site upon returning to work tomorrow and throughout the day
if need be and will keep everyone posted.
Thanks to all who tried to spot him and who helped with the 'field walk'.
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:22:20 -0400
It absolutely stuns me that anyone would gather a group in a "field
walk" in attempt to flush the burrowing owl.
Whether the owl was there or not, it had been well seen from certain
venues and if it wanted to be seen, probably could have been seen. As
birders, it seems to me that resource protection, not "another notch on
our pistol handle" should be our first aim. Did anyone think that
tramping through a field with 20 people might PERMANENTLY flush the bird?
If there were a black rail at Magee Marsh would a "field walk" be
organized to flush the bird? Or are the ethics different because this is
on private property? What about the well-being of the bird? What in
the world happened to birding ethics?
Good grief.
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:24:39 -0400
From 4 until 5 today scouted for the owl... No dice.
While scanning the fields, I saw a bird of roughly the right size and
shape fly for a brief sec and then land into a far off field, but it
disappeared from then on.
I'll check again tomorrow, but am not hopeful.
Ohio Burrowing Owl photos June 2008
