Thanks for the reminder Jay. I’ve been amazed how early owls will
begin courtship and nesting. I once had a singing Saw-whet with a
pair chasing each other around some junipers in a Canyon near Twin
Falls in January. Doesn’t seem like nesting season but???

Cliff

Lots
of you know this
already but this is an
especially sensitive time of year for nesting owls. 
With all bird species
I’m familiar with (i.e., I’ve studied their nesting
ecology and/or read
scientific literature), they are much more likely
to abandon a nesting
attempt early in the nesting cycle – i.e., during
courtship, nest-building, and
early incubation.  And, since many owls begin nesting
quite early (as
early as January for Great Horned and a month or 2
later for some others),
the next couple months are the time when most owls will
feel most vulnerable or
stressed.

 

For
owl species that nest
in shorter trees/shrubs (i.e., willows) and/or
in smaller thickets of vegetation surrounded by open
country, they have less
room to hide and are more likely to
flush when approached by a human or predator.  If they do
flush, I imagine it’s likely
much more stressful than for a forest owl flushing from one tree to the
next.  Importantly, flushing can expose them
to diurnal
predators, including ravens. 
Even if they aren’t being flushed each time, for owls are
nesting in a popular birding area there’s
potential for repeated visits (by different birders or
the same
person/people returning to a favorite birding site)
to cause a much higher
cumulative stress load than a site than only receives an
occasional visitor – and this could lead to a failed or
abandoned nesting attempt.

 

I say all this to suggest
that people be careful/deliberate in approaching known or
suspected nesting
sites.  Any isolated clumps of willows or other shrubs/trees
could be suitable nesting
habitat.  I’m including a couple pictures that Heidi has
from fieldwork around the state that show potential
nesting habitat.  And, for fun, a picture of a fledgling
Saw-whet I found during some surveys many years ago in a
riparian draw many miles away from conifer forest (this
was June and after fledging so a less stressful time for
this bird & its parents – but I still backed away
quickly to keep it from flushing). 

If you do see an owl,
please keep your distance.  After
all, we all care about birds and know that they have many
additional stressors
in this modern world.  And, what’s
more important?  A better look at or photo of an owl or
birds being able to nest in peace
without too much disturbance/too
many approaches?

 

Thanks for your time and
please feel free to pass this on!

Jay

-- 
Cliff and Lisa Weisse
Island Park, Idaho
cliffandlisa@...

Saw flock of common redpolls land near the WMA campground yesterday – first sighting for me.  Dang, they’re cute.  

Did any birder lose a nice cabled wool hat near the intersection of Montour and Main last week?  Looks brand new.  Happy to return it to you.

Liz Medes
Emmett ID

Larry, I checked out your eBird checklist and saw the Orange-crowned warbler mentioned coming to your suet feeder. I’ve been putting/smearing Bark Butter on bark of a tree in our yard. This morning I noticed an Orange-crowned warbler pecking at it along with juncos. They need/like that fat! 

Looks like a Barred Owl