Oregon Coast Range Old Growth trail to The RockI went home (to The Hill). Sunday morning I woke to the sound of what seemed like a hundred different birds opening the day's light. Slipped into clothes, and up the mountain I went.
Through the forest of my childhood I wound myself up to the top for a view of Oregon's coastal mountains and valleys.
En route I witnessed many birds, flowers, etc. ... including barred owls tending a nest just above our well. After the hike I contacted Mary O'Leary (a biologist and cousin). I accompanied her back to the owl nest site and we sat in the duff of the forest floor for 1.5 hours watching them swoop and call in response to her bird-song tape and our presence near their young. We heard, but never saw the baby owl. These aggressive east coast owls are beautiful, but they are taking over the habitats of the native and endangered spotted owls. It is suspected that they were able to migrate to the west coast because of global warming effects on the northern boreal forests -- the forests now remain viable habitat year-round, so they were able to migrate through it.
No comments:
Post a Comment