It should go without saying that living in the county that has the highest known density of breeding ‘Northern’ Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis) in the world is nothing short of fortunate and amazing. But even living here in Marin County, CA for 5 out of the last 10 months has not been enough for me to detect a single Spotted Owl, either visually or by vocalizations. However, my luck changed yesterday, dramatically, and I was able to not only observe 1 owl, but 4! This was possible because I am fortunate enough to work for an organization that also conducts Spotted Owl research that allows fellow biologists to help in the studies, and as a result I was able to witness one of the most amazing spectacles of bird behavior that I have ever observed: A pair of Spotted Owls at their nest site in a shady redwood forest with 2 chicks nearing 3 weeks of age on the nest! For having experienced this amazing spectacle, I am undeniably indebted to Katie Fehring and Renee Cormier of PRBO Conservation Science for allowing me to come along.

The reason for our seeking out the owls, was the male was reported by a US Fish and Wildlife biologist to have a color band on its leg that did not match any of the birds in PRBO’s database. So, as a result the bird needed to be resighted and to have its color band correctly identified to see if this bird was indeed a different bird than we knew about, which if so would have resulted in us capturing the owl to read the bird’s other band, a silver metal one with a serial number to find out exactly who banded this owl, and where this took place.

To find the male owl, we first had to find its territory which held an active nest in a redwood stand at a site within Marin County (this site will remain unidentified for obvious reasons). Finding the general area from the USFWS biologist’s directions rather quickly, it only took a few minutes of searching before we found the pre-described tree which held a “penthouse of a nest”. With a quick glance through the binoculars, the nest was revealed, and on top of it, two fuzzy young, apparently around 3 weeks of age. Success!

As good as it was to watch these beautiful chicks enjoying a lazy afternoon (~2:30pm), things suddenly became more amazing when the female returned to the nest site quietly, out of nowhere, with a large Wood-Rat which she cached on top of a broken log for future consumption. Undeniably with a look through my binoculars I realized that Spotted Owls are easily one of the most underrated birds for their beauty. This bird was absolutely gorgeous! Covered in an almost- rich chocolate brown with white and beige spots, this bird looks like it was hatched from a redwood tree, and I suddenly realized that I should have included it on one of my previous posts about the birds I feel to be North America’s Most Beautiful.

Upon viewing the female, we realized that she was unbanded…certainly interesting, but not a problem. The main question was “Where is her mate?” Within a few minutes of searching we were able to find the male, and he soon started calling a mere 30 meters away from us! After finding him, we had to now view his band. This was easier said than done due to the position he often perched himself in. But like all good field biologists, time was on our side, and we had several hours to wait if necessary.

Fortunately, that much time was not needed, and within 10 minutes of viewing, we were able to site the bird’s band: Orange/White/Orange with a Red tab. This bird ’s band was not what they had originally thought it to be. It was not a new bird, thus, it did not need to be caught again. So, even though getting to see a Spotted Owl in the hand would have been nothing short of amazing, it was hard to have topped our experience. And as a matter of fact, John and I both talked about the experience on and off over the next day, remembering what we had just observed a mere 24 hrs before. So what made this event so special? We were able to sit on a lush redwood forest floor a mere 30 meters from a Spotted Owl nest as the adults actively called and moved about, at times as close as 10 meters from our location! Seeing a Spotted Owl in a redwood forest near a nest is a birder’s and photographer’s dream and this was something that I will always remember for the rest of my lifetime, and for that, I am extremely grateful.

~Chad (05/27/2006)