Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2000 07:26:21 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "Wilkerson, Jordan T." Subject: saw-whets (behavior question) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Not in MD, but general calling behavior question Is it unusual to have a saw-whet call all night this time of year? Camping in Dolly Sods Wilderness WV these past few nights. There were several Saw-Whets. At one point around midnight while hiking in, one saw-whet burst into a call that started higher and faster than expected, then slowly eased into to the expected constant toot-toot-toot. He paused briefly and continued to sing at irregular intervals. This was definitely not an audio-lure since it was up in a small evergreen not big enough for a person. There is a banding station in Dolly Sods, but it is on the other side of the wilderness from where we were. While we never saw the one calling there was another about 8 feet off the ground and less than 6 feet away in plain view (even got a few pictures). He was not at all concerned about us, but seemed very interested in the one calling above us. I understood that the owls wouldn't call this time of year. This one called all night after he began, but we never heard the unexpected beginning part again. Where can I find good notes on saw-whet and other owl behavior (seasonal or otherwise)? Thanks, Jordan Cloverly, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================