[birding] Finley Barred owls

[Molly Monroe]

Banding season is in full swing again and has allowed me to once again confirm nesting of Barred owls at Finley. This time they are in the Brown Creek area on the NW corner of the refuge. I heard a juv begging at sunrise and Joan saw the adult. This is a typical location for them, nice big maples mixed in with old oaks and encroaching firs with lots of wet habitat in the vicinity. Highlights of the banding season so far are a pair of Cassin's Vireos, a pair of MacGillivray's warblers, and an increase in Orange-crowned warblers.
The neatest part of this project is that the oak restoration at Pigeon Butte is being paid off by an increase in white-breasted nuthatches, spotted towhees and Western bluebirds (observed, not captured). For three seasons now, we've had a Western wood-pewee nesting right above our station at Pigeon Butte and the sounds she makes coming and going from the nest are precious. We are constantly teased by a nearby Yellow-breasted Chat and Western Meadowlark.
Have a great weekend,
Molly~


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//"Endangered species are sensitive indicators of how we are treating the
planet and we should be listening carefully to their message



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