[mou] Spooked LEOW

[Terence Brashear]

I ASSUMED this message was a private response just sent to me - I feel so silly now for assuming.

Today, Sandy spooked what she thinks was the bird because she did not know it was there.  Do I have an issue with that?  No.

Yesterday, the bird was sitting in a tree in a spot that was known to a large group of people.  Fifteen minutes later it was gone.   Completely different scenario.

Nothing in my original post was either an assumption or short-sighted. 

What did I learn from this?  Be cautious about sharing bird sightings with people.

Terry Brashear
Hennepin County, MN
http://www.naturepixels.com
birdnird AT yahoo.com

----- Original Message ----
From: Sandy Kuder <fivekuders at yahoo.com>
To: Terence Brashear <birdnird at yahoo.com>; mou-net at moumn.org
Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2007 1:42:12 PM
Subject: Re: [mou] Spooked LEOW


I went to MAC park about 11:30 yesterday.  Ran into a couple of other birders, no one was seeing the Owl.  Spent a couple of  hours enjoying the park (I never realized it was there).  I was about to leave around 2 or so when I heard a crow making a racket not too far in front of me.  Continued to the vincinity of where the crow was and just stood there for a couple of minutes.  The crow wasn't diving at anything.  After a bit the crow flew away and I still stood still.  Just looking and listening.  Didn't even raise my bins.   Eventually, I took one step.
   
  W H O S H.  
   
  Guess what?
   
  An owl was no more than 10 feet in front of me and I never saw it until it flew. 
   
  Does that make me an awful person?  Should I feel shame because it was so well camoflauged that I didn't see
 it until it flushed?   Nope.    I'll tell ya what I felt.  Frustrated at the fact that I knew it was an owl, but never got my bins on it.  So I can't tell ya if it was a Long-Eared or not.  
   
  But I'll tell you how I feel now.  Frustrated and a little angry at the short-sighted assumptions that some birders make about other people.   
   
  And you know what they say about assumptions....................
   
  Happy Birding,
  Sandy Kuder
  

Terence Brashear <birdnird at yahoo.com> wrote:
        It appears someone got too close to the Long-eared Owl at the MAC
 park in Crystal this morning. I heard that people looking for it around 11AM could not find it.  I was with 3 other people that found it in a different location around 9AM and we were kind enough to let people know the location - it was not easy to find.  I left at 10AM and it was still sitting calmly in the area we found it.

Whomever spooked this bird, and you know who you are,  you should be ashamed of yourselves.

I only hope it returns and can be seen by more people.

Please use common sense when you approach birds.

Regards,
   
Terry Brashear
Hennepin County, MN
http://www.naturepixels.com
birdnird AT yahoo.com
Moderator MOU-NET


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