Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) stares back at me in an old growth forest.
I went on a search to find Northern Spotted Owls this year as I do often. The hike was steep but I was soon rewarded when I stopped to catch my breath and a female was looking right down at me. They rarely see humans so don't view us as a threat (although they should) and are quite curious. I enjoyed sitting there watching this beautiful creature look back at me and come in closer to investigate.
The spot I went to the year before sadly no longer held them and Barred Owls had moved in. This is a great problem with this species in addition to logging of the old growth forests.
It was a true privilege to be in her presence. This female had 2 chicks and it was fantastic to see them. It was particularly special to see the juveniles which gave me hope for the future. These owls do not reproduce every year so to see 2 healthy, curious babies made me very grateful. They have a long hard road ahead of them and I wish them all the success and luck in the world... they are going to need it.
It is imperative we preserve our old growth forests before we lose this endangered and magnificent bird forever.
They need old growth forests to support all their life stages and especially because they eat almost entirely a diet consisting of Northern Flying Squirrels.
The birds in BC are basically extirpated with a captive breeding program that was essentially doomed to fail from the start.
WA did a better job of managing the logging of old growth forests and conserving this bird but still are battling with the increasing population of Barred Owls. Barred Owls take over the territory of Spotted Owls and push them out of an area causing them to ultimately starve and perish. We can't blame the Barred Owls as we paved their way from the East over here. The Barred Owls have also displaced and killed off many Western Screech-Owls. In Vancouver and the Lower Mainland we no longer have Screech-Owls due to development and predation from Barred Owls.
Seeing these owls is always a treasure but along comes with it sadness that it may be the last time I see that particular bird or even species. Each year they seem to continually decline at a rate of 7% per year and population estimates in WA are around 200 birds.
We must do all we can to prevent this owl from disappearing from the little remaining old growth forests we have left, if not the forests will be a far darker place.
Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) stares back at me in an old growth forest.
I went on a search to find Northern Spotted Owls this year as I do often. The hike was steep but I was soon rewarded when I stopped to catch my breath and a female was looking right down at me. They rarely see humans so don't view us as a threat (although they should) and are quite curious. I enjoyed sitting there watching this beautiful creature look back at me and come in closer to investigate.
The spot I went to the year before sadly no longer held them and Barred Owls had moved in. This is a great problem with this species in addition to logging of the old growth forests.
It was a true privilege to be in her presence. This female had 2 chicks and it was fantastic to see them. It was particularly special to see the juveniles which gave me hope for the future. These owls do not reproduce every year so to see 2 healthy, curious babies made me very grateful. They have a long hard road ahead of them and I wish them all the success and luck in the world... they are going to need it.
It is imperative we preserve our old growth forests before we lose this endangered and magnificent bird forever.
They need old growth forests to support all their life stages and especially because they eat almost entirely a diet consisting of Northern Flying Squirrels.
The birds in BC are basically extirpated with a captive breeding program that was essentially doomed to fail from the start.
WA did a better job of managing the logging of old growth forests and conserving this bird but still are battling with the increasing population of Barred Owls. Barred Owls take over the territory of Spotted Owls and push them out of an area causing them to ultimately starve and perish. We can't blame the Barred Owls as we paved their way from the East over here. The Barred Owls have also displaced and killed off many Western Screech-Owls. In Vancouver and the Lower Mainland we no longer have Screech-Owls due to development and predation from Barred Owls.
Seeing these owls is always a treasure but along comes with it sadness that it may be the last time I see that particular bird or even species. Each year they seem to continually decline at a rate of 7% per year and population estimates in WA are around 200 birds.
We must do all we can to prevent this owl from disappearing from the little remaining old growth forests we have left, if not the forests will be a far darker place.