About 45 people attended the annual SLAS Woodcock
and Owl Prowl at Busch Conservation area. The pre-trip found the Pine
Warbler previously reported by Chris Kirmaier. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
and a Brown Creeper were also found near the beginning of Fallen Oak Trail.
One or more Eastern Towhees were calling but did not make an appearance.
The group left the meeting area and
proceeded to the Lake 8 parking lot, were we
all had scope views of the Great Horned Owl sitting on its nest. From
there we went to the Lake 33 shorebird area in
hopes of a Barred Owl. Unfortunately no owl was seen or heard. One
pond held a couple dozen Gadwall, a Great Blue Heron and several muskrats.
From there we headed to the fields north
of Lake 23 to wait for dusk and the Woodcock
show. The drizzle began to thicken and blow sideways, coating glasses,
binoculars and flashlights. A few peents were heard right at the corner over
about 15 minutes, but then we really began to hear them just a couple hundred
feet south of the corner. We moved south and into an over-grow field west
of the road. We could hear many birds and were able to see a few of them
against the sky before total darkness. The drizzle made flashlights
almost useless when the birds were very far away, and the high vegetation
completely hid the birds on the ground. We heard Barred Owl in the
distance, and decided that it was time for dinner about 6:45.
In an interesting experiment, David Rabenau
brought an infrared camera in order to help locate the birds. They
appeared as little white spots on the screen and gave a general location of
them, but it wasn’t exact enough to pinpoint them in the tall
vegetation. He could clearly see when they flew up though.
Mike Grant
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