Godwit Days Part I: Spotted Owl

I consider Humboldt County my old stomping grounds, and I was super stoked for the birding festivities. But I was also sick with a cold, and there’s something about scheduled events and name tags that makes me want to skip school and run away. I had hoped the payoff would be worth it.

It totally was.

Not only was the weather spectacularly perfect, but there was a Spotted Owl on my first trip. Too easy. No really, it was too easy. The trip was led by an employee of Green Diamond Resource Company, a timber company that owns over 1.3 million acres of forests in Oregon, California, and Washington.  They conduct their own Spotted Owl research, and in the study areas some owls have become accustomed to people.

This one came ridiculously close.

It swooped down and caught a (live) mouse clinging to the end of a stick offered from the guide (it was requested no mice pictures taken). The owl ripped the mouse’s head off, and swallowed the rest whole. The pattern repeated. The owl stashed the second mouse bits, and prior to devouring the fourth, he hooted to a partner somewhere hidden in the trees. No hoots were returned, so he swallowed up the final mouse. Good owl.

After a strict four mouse limit and 20 minute viewing time, we left to keep the disturbance to a minimum. Being able to watch this controversial, near threatened species in daylight and to observe its behavior was pretty remarkable. (Look at those zygodactyl feet!!)