[NatureNS] Pockwock Owl Survey

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From: Steve Shaw <srshaw@dal.ca>
Date: Thu, 10 May 2012 20:12:55 -0300
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
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Hi Suzanne/Patricia,
This may be the same place I was introduced to by the Payzants on a  
Lep walk, accessed via the exit from route [1] to the [101] from Mt  
Uniacke, pointing in the direction of  Halifax. The dirt road is  
barred and locked so three of us had to walk in a bit later to pick  
blueberries, so this was probably in August.

At that time perhaps ~8 years ago we encountered (from memory) three  
extremely noisy ATVs racing back and forth along the dirt road that  
goes first left from the approach road, so this encounter of yours is  
not new.  In our case it was in daylight, mid-afternoon.  I guessed  
that the machines were clocking perhaps 60-70 km/h and would have  
easily creamed any of us who'd been foolish enough to step out from  
behind a bush by the side of the road.  The short road to the right  
is a dead end and from the fresh tracks there you could see that they  
had been breaking in across a little gully, presumably via a broken  
fence nearby.   We went back a few years ago -- more overgrown, very  
few blueberries and no ATVs at that time.  There are regulations  
posted but presumably no patrols so no enforcement, just the way  
rogue ATVers like it.
Steve (Halifax)

On 8-May-12, at 10:17 PM, Suzanne Borkowski (by way of "P.L.  
Chalmers" <plchalmers@ns.sympatico.ca>) wrote
> Hi;
> On Saturday night Patricia Chalmers and I ran our last Owl Survey  
> in the Pockwock Watershed.  This is usually our best one with  
> regards to the number of owls we detect.  To our surprise we only  
> saw/heard 4 owls!  This route, on average produces 15 or more.
>
> Our first six stops produced no owls whatsoever.  These stops are  
> along a dirt road which runs along the east side of Pockwock Lake   
> It's not that far from Highway #101, and we can usually hear the  
> sound of distant traffic, which becomes quite loud at stops 5 and  
> 6.  This year we were dismayed at how loud that noise has become.   
> We're not sure if the traffic has increased, or if more trees have  
> been cut providing less of a buffer?  I'll check with the Watershed  
> Manager on this last theory.
>
> At stop 6 we encountered an ATV which turned around and left the  
> way it came as soon as he/she saw our headlights.
>
> At stop 8 we got our first owl for the night.  It flew in against  
> the backdrop of a brilliant full moon before we started our  
> recording giving us excellent views.  It then perched at the top of  
> a Spruce and studied us.  It never made a sound.  When the  
> recording started, it flew down to a lower perch, just out of  
> sight.  How long it stayed there, we're not sure because it never  
> returned to view and never made the slightest sound.  We both  
> reached the conclusion, before discussing it with each other, that  
> this was a Long-eared Owl.  When we checked our records - this was  
> the stop that had a pair of Long-eareds last year!
>
> At stop 9 we had a distant Saw-whet, and at stop 10 we had another  
> Saw-whet and a Barred.
>
> Also at stop 9 we had 3 ATV's come barrelling toward us.  We were  
> in the middle of a playback so there were no lights on in the car.   
> For one awful moment it looked like they were going to crash right  
> into us!  These were the first ATV's we've ever seen in the  
> watershed in the 11 years we've been running this route.  There are  
> strict regulations prohibiting motorized vehicles in the  
> watershed.  To get my car in I need permission on three levels and  
> a gate key and a cell phone to report my whereabouts!
>
> All in all, a night full of surprises!
>
> Cheers;
> Suzanne
>
>
>
>

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