Cameron Pass Boreal Owls, Jackson County

[Andrew Bankert]

My third trip up to Cameron Pass this year was finally the charm as I heard my first Boreal Owl of the year fairly high up in the Michigan River drainage in State Forest State Park.  Unfortunately for us, the bird was several hundred meters off the trail, but fortunately for others the acoustics in the area are really helpful for hearing distant birds and other birders reported hearing this bird from Highway 14 at a pulloff about 1.1 miles from Cameron Pass on the Jackson County side.  The bird we heard was about 1.5 miles from the pulloff on Highway 14, and as we were hiking back on the trail, we could still clearly hear it at 1.25 miles before the trail went around a corner preventing us from hearing the owl any more.  

Eurasian Wigeon joins Prothonotary Warbler on the list of cool birds I have gotten the same day as Boreal Owl.  

Good Birding,

Andy Bankert

Fort Collins