CU Birding Club Cameron Pass Boreal Owls!

[William Anderson]

Hi All,

Last night, 4 members of the CU Birding Club went up to cameron pass to see if we could hear/see Boreal Owl (BOOW). We left Boulder around 7:30, and made it up to the pass by 10:00.  We started our search at the Ranger Lake Campground, and at 10:16, we had our first BOOW response to our playback! It was a distant bird and it only called a few times, but it was quite apparent! It was awesome to get the bird on the first stop, so now with no pressure to find another, we were able to just owl our way back towards Boulder. We next made a stop about a mile up the road, and had two BOOW respond to our playback. (For playback, I was giving 9-12 BOOW trills and then waiting 2 minutes, then trying again with 6 trills and then leaving, trying to minimize disturbance). It was awesome to hear the two birds singing at this spot, and one was quite angry, giving the song once every ~4 seconds for about two minutes. We then proceeded to the Larimer side of the pass, because hey, why not try for it in two counties! Our first stop was unsuccessful, but just down the road, we hit the jackpot. I had placed the speaker on top of my car, and was standing near it, letting the recording play. I then saw a gray blur about 7 inches from my head, and then felt a solid but light object brush across the side of my face. Of course, since it was pitch black out and I am only human, I let out a very loud scream, because something had just wacked me in the face. As soon as I screamed, I then heard a Boreal Owl (the one who had just hit me in the head) meowing from a tree right beside the road. With a flashlight and binoculars, I was able to make out the bird. It was a rather mediocre view, and the shaking of my hands from adrenaline and cold didn't help, but I got looks at a small grayish owl with mottling on the head. The bird gave the meowing calls a lot, but then changed to a strange chirping call, given in series of 3. Those recordings can be found in the eBird list below, labeled Larimer. The owl proceeded to swoop back and forth over the road, and we were able to follow it with a flashlight, seeing the interestingly shaped wings. The wings tapered down towards the body, and were quite long and seemed wider at the tips. On the third pass over the road, a Long-eared Owl swooped out of the trees and seemed to have the intention of grabbing the BOOW, but it curved off and flew back into the trees. For that reason, we didn't put a specific location for this owl. It is obviously very very responsive, and we don't want the bird to be harassed and maybe eaten. If someone can find the bird themselves, more power to you! But there are a ton of BOOW up there right now and that specific owl doesn't need to be disturbed. Overall we heard 4 BOOW, saw one LEOW, and then on our drive down, at the intersection of Highway 14 and Stove Prairie Road, we stopped and heard a Saw-whet Owl. The roads were pretty treacherous as well, with huge fog banks covering them, reducing visibility to about 3 feet on the way back down. Cameron Pass itself was beautiful though. Minimal wind and it wasn't too terribly cold. We also had a fantastic night with mammals, finding:

3 Red Fox

2 Striped Skunk (in a pair)

1 Bobcat

1 Otter (was a mystery mammal until it clicked this morning)

~50 Elk

Lots of rabbits

Tons of mice crossing the road, even up at cameron pass. I can see why the BOOW love it so much.

2 Cats :(  (Keep them inside!!!!)

Overall it was an incredible trip, and if anyone really needs BOOW, now is the time to go get them. Just watch the weather and you should have a fantastic chance at hearing them, and maybe even seeing them.

Will Anderson, Boulder

President, CU Birding Club

wian...@colorado.edu

Larimer: https://ebird.org/checklist/S65889828

Jackson: https://ebird.org/checklist/S65889832 (pretty faint, but you can hear it will with headphones/if you have good hearing. Can read the spectrogram around 7-9 to see the notes that show up well.