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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostSat Oct 03, 2020 5:54 am 
Pyrites wrote:
I didn’t know anything ate possum.
Southerners?

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coldrain108
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PostSat Oct 03, 2020 6:37 pm 
Just looking through some older photos and remembered this head scratcher... Looking up towards Cameron Pass - some 4 legged creatures are using the trail.
Close up to see who it was.

Since I have no expectations of forgiveness, I don't do it in the first place. That loop hole needs to be closed to everyone.
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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostMon Oct 04, 2021 12:51 pm 
bump Did a nice long loop walk around my neighborhood today w/ the Edmonds waterfront as the highlight. Walking past the ferry terminal, on the sidewalk right in front of me was a little critter. Didn't quite look right for a squirrel. Brain was trying to figure out what it was seeing. The critter is checking me out as I'm checking it out. Then it clicked. Weasel! About that time it high tailed it out of there and disappeared into the brush. I NEVER would've expected to see that there. Ive been down there dozen of times, never had a clue there were any mustelids about (well maybe other than otters). I'm guessing short tailed, although that's not definitive. I suppose it could've been long tailed or least as well. But absolutely a weasel.

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Anne Elk
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PostMon Oct 04, 2021 1:19 pm 
Pyrites wrote:
Atop neighbor’s roof in suburbia. Mature bald eagle eating a possum. I didn’t know anything ate possum.
And the eagle probably left some of the carcass up there - yuck. I saw an eagle in Sitka that left part of a salmon dangling from the mast of a sailboat in the marina. Less yucky except that it could fall on your head. smile.gif

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood

Pyrites
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Bowregard
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PostWed Oct 06, 2021 6:43 am 
I posted this in the Maple Pass TR but thought there might be more interest here. We hiked the Maple Pass loop in 2018 and I noticed this owl perched on a branch in broad daylight. The only time I have ever seen or heard owls before is at night or very early in the morning so I assumed they hid in their tree or wherever they live during the day. Does anybody know where they spend their time during the day and whether seeing them like this is unusual?

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Sculpin
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PostWed Oct 06, 2021 7:50 am 
Bowregard wrote:
I assumed they hid in their tree or wherever they live during the day. Does anybody know where they spend their time during the day and whether seeing them like this is unusual?
As I type, I can turn my head and the see the Barred Owl in my back yard. Owls don't move around much during the day, so you either have to see them light or know where they spend the day. Both Barred and Spotted owls are very unwary, you can walk up to them and they won't flee. The local crows announce when the owls - we often see two at the same time - are moving. It looks like the owl you saw is a Great Horned. I think after mating season, with no nest to return to, they just roost wherever they find themselves in the morning.

Between every two pines is a doorway to the new world. - John Muir

Bowregard
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Bowregard
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PostWed Oct 06, 2021 8:25 am 
Interesting. We hear owls where I live most every night but the only time I have ever seen one is very early in the morning. Your comments regarding the one in the photo make a lot of sense. I just happened to be looking right at it and wasn't even sure it was not part of the branch for a long time. Too bad I only had my little pocket camera.

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kitya
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PostWed Oct 06, 2021 7:36 pm 
Most owls usually prefer a somewhat hidden spot to spend the day, but once they find it, they rely on the natural camouflage they have and not moving to stay hidden. They will also often stay many days in the same spot day after day, if they like it. Barred owls in particular usually spend their whole life in just a small area, as long as they find food and safety. This also makes owls very popular with birders, on birding forum sometime someone will post a location of some rare owl and hundreds of people will come day after day to the same spot to take photos of the same owl. As far as we know owls don't really mind that. This spring I spent many days taking photos and videos of the same owls near me and each day I could find the owl family maybe just a few hundred feet away from the day where they spent the day before. They got quite used to me and Cookie and in fact I think the owls liked Cookie.

Anne Elk, Bowregard, neek
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Anne Elk
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PostThu Oct 07, 2021 11:11 am 
kitya wrote:
They will also often stay many days in the same spot day after day, if they like it. Barred owls in particular usually spend their whole life in just a small area, as long as they find food and safety.
This is good info to know, Kitya. I remember when Paul Bannick came out with his first book of owl photography and was being interviewed on KUOW, et al. His photos are fantastic but I was more astounded by his ability to find enough of them to make a photo book. No doubt their habit of hanging out in small areas helped. Thanks for sharing these videos! up.gif

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood
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Exmoor
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PostSat Oct 09, 2021 11:14 am 
Owls generally choose secluded roosts to avoid other birds who will often incessantly harass them when discovered as well as possible predation by diurnal predators such as hawks and eagles. In the mountain forests where the bird population is generally a much lower density than the lowlands perhaps the owl just decided the trade-off to get some warmth from the sun was worth it. There's one local owl species that can be quite active during daylight in the mountains: Northern Pygmy Owl. I've fairly regularly come across this species sitting at the tops of fir trees in the cascades, but their tiny size makes them blend in with all the cones that are of similar size and shape. Even more common is hearing their occasional toots, which travel a long distance in the quiet mountains. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pygmy-Owl/sounds

Bowregard, Anne Elk
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Brushbuffalo
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PostMon Oct 18, 2021 8:36 am 
Barred owls frequently visit our place in rural Whatcom Co.. One will roost on a cedar branch in broad daylight over the pond and periodically sweep down to nail a frog or even a goldfish. Barreds are not shy at all! In fact they are known to get aggressive enough to ' attack' hikers and runners, usually in my experience striking one's head. Those talons are sharp! I guess these moves are in defense of territory. They don't seem large enough to prey on cats but horned owls will ( and on skunks!😝). Great grey owls prey on great horned owls!

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
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coldrain108
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coldrain108
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PostMon Oct 18, 2021 8:49 am 
kitya wrote:
My wife and I were walking the main loop trail at Discovery on Saturday, We start at the upper lot at the south end and were heading clockwise, we stopped at a trailside bench about half way around and sat for a few minutes. A guy came walking by and asked if we had seen any owls, he was "hunting" for them. At that point we had not seen any. Then I see a large bird flying low through the woods, it stopped on the top of a 10' snag. It sat there for the next 15 minutes rotating its head all around. It was very grey with no discernible markings on its chest, it looked a lot like the ones in that video. I assumed a juvenile barred owl. From my vantage point it looked about 18" tall, all grey and kind of fuzzy. We were about 20 yards away. If you want to see the critters you gotta stop moving for a while and quietly watch - quietly being the key point (very difficult for many people to do).

Since I have no expectations of forgiveness, I don't do it in the first place. That loop hole needs to be closed to everyone.
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Anne Elk
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PostMon Oct 18, 2021 9:09 am 
coldrain108 wrote:
If you want to see the critters you gotta stop moving for a while and quietly watch
That's true most of the time. Speaking of Discovery Park, I had a harrowing experience there with an owl back in the 80's. I can't remember what time of day it was - early evening, perhaps; but it was still quite sunny. I had a large dog at the time and Discovery Park was our go-to place for a long walk at least 3X/week. For a while I was babysitting a friend's dog, she was about the size of a toy poodle. I had both dogs with me, but little Phoebe was off-leash; she was very good with voice control. We were on the main loop trail and headed down one of those ravines, a long one that makes almost an S-curve. Phoebe ran a bit ahead and was out of sight for a few seconds around that curve. When I came around it, she was standing there waiting for me, but less than 15 ft above her, a huge owl was hovering, probably trying to decide if she was small enough to grab. I nearly had a heart attack!! I yelled and ran, and it flew off, but in all the excitement I wasn't thinking of what type of owl it might be. eek.gif

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood
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Bowregard
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PostMon Oct 18, 2021 10:11 am 
Discovery Park has been the source of a number of Owl incidents over the years. I have a friend that used to run there every day and he had to "fight off" owl "attacks" every once in awhile. I suspect they nest near the trails sometimes. I can't imagine why else they might get aggressive with people. I am glad your dogs were OK. Where we live there are often hawks and eagles that often circle over the houses and it always made me nervous when we had a small dog.

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coldrain108
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PostMon Oct 18, 2021 11:16 am 
We have a hot tub in our back yard so we spend a bit of time out there in the dark (no bathing suits). Many times we see owls cruising through. Had one sit on our wisteria arbor and watch us for a while. Luckily our cat is 18lbs, so a bit large to be prey. I hear them who-whoing quite frequently. We also have a pair of Falcons that have been living in the neighborhood for several years now. I hear their calls all the time and have seen them many times. We are on the main Crow route, at just about sunset we get a huge crowd of them flying over on their way to Bothell - like clock work they are. Occasionally they come in really low and make a huge racket. My band was playing out in the yard during the summer when they went over and several of them stopped to check us out... it's the same story the crow told me, it's the only one he knows Like the morning sun you come and like the wind you go. Ain't no time to hate barely time to wait wo-ho what I want to know where does the time go?

Since I have no expectations of forgiveness, I don't do it in the first place. That loop hole needs to be closed to everyone.
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