Once up the mountain to an area where he'd located owls in previous years he began imitating the call of the No. Spotted Owl. He paused several minutes between calls and after the 3rd attempt I saw an owl fly in and land about 50 feet from us. I began snapping photos fearing it would disappear but little did I know how tame this species is. It sat on a bare fir branch gazing at us with those enormous brown eyes. I can't begin to describe the feeling one gets gazing upon such a magnificent bird. He looked for and found a band on the owl's leg from a previous year's banding.
While following Stan up the mountain I'd noticed a plastic tube with holes in it attached to his backpack. I wondered what it was. Inside he had mice that they raise in their office area. He took one out and placed it on the ground. The Owl quickly came down and grasped it flying back up to a fir tree. He was hoping to get it to lead us to a nest, but the owl quickly ate it. He figured the owl was especially hungry so he released a second mouse. This time the owl flew to a nearby fir broom, a deformed, gnarled mass of fir branches caused by mistletoe growth, where they will most often build nests. We followed it there and found that the owl was stashing the mouse. It sat and watched us waiting for another mouse. A third mouse was released on the trunk of a huge fir tree and the owl immediately came in and grabbed it from the trunk. Again it stashed it.
Reluctantly he released his last mouse and again the owl stashed it. Again she waited for another mouse to be released and when one didn't came in quite close to beg. He said he never gives an owl more than 4 mice since they will quickly relate humans to giving them food which could produce disastrous results.
After the 4th mouse was released Stan got out his notebook and found the owl we were watching to be a female. They should be on nest by now and it's usually the males that come for the released mice to take back to the female at the nest. This was not a good sign since it could mean something had happened to her mate and there would not be a nest this year unless she found another mate. He'll return in a couple of weeks to check the area again. This particular female had been banded as a chick and was 13 years old. She probably would have mated the first time at age 3 yrs. and had been in this area since that time.
He said there are more males than female No. Spotted Owls in the forest. They just had to find one another and she might have to move from this area to do so.
There are four groups of two researchers in the northwest area of Washington and Oregon who look for, and keep track of the owls and their nests. They work from 2-10 pm daily. Stan and his partner cover 100,000 acres of forest usually out alone but in radio contact. Necessary to aid one another and for safety reasons. They must constantly be on the alert for the silent Mountain Lion and occasional bear. (He found fresh tracks in the snow, a bit early, in the area we were at.) They go out at night and listen for owls. If heard they mark the area on a map and return early evening and call the owls in as he did for me. Hopefully the released mice will lead them to a nest.
After the nesting time they work on compiling their data and turning it into a central office. In his recording notebook he has all his data from the early 90s to the present. I asked how many nests/pairs they found yearly. In 2010 they found 12 pairs that resulted in 7 nests down from 75 nesting pairs in 1992. This does not bode well for this species. Last year they found a male Spotted Owl mated and nesting with a female Barred Owl which produced offspring called 'Sparred Owls.' My sister was able to hold one chick while they banded it.
All I can say is a big THANK YOU Stan for an amazing experience and beautiful bird.
