[obol] Any Sandhill Cranes Seen?& Owls in the Family? & Other Birds- Silverton

[JohnPam]

Winter is really getting here when Sandhill Cranes are seen/heard migrating
overhead. Anybody seen movement? (I realize there must be some at Ridgefield
NWR and Sauvies Island but haven't been up there this fall.) I have been
talking them up big time with the kids at Robert Frost Elem in Silverton as
the cranes oftentimes migrate almost directly over their building. We play
the calls every week so the kids will recognize their unique sound when they
hear it.

But, then, all my crane talk was preempted by a Great Horned Owl who was at
the foot of an oak tree for most of the day last Friday. We thought maybe he
needed rehab help for awhile as he looked a little puffy in the face from
the crows and jays who had spotted him and pecked at him. Pam had the
custodian set up warning cones and the kids and staff were kept back 40 feet
so he could rest. And, YES, we were out there with the binoculars sharing
with all classes who were on recess or came out to see the bird. Unusual to
say the least! Happily, he glided away at the end of the school day and
found a more dense area to hide in a nearby woodlot with no birds hassling
him and no curious humans coming up to look at him.

Pam and I checked on him later in the day -keeping distance- and saw that he
had found a great hiding place. The next day, Saturday, he had gone on and
hopefully will stay away from the crows. The bird looked like a first year
bird.  Needless to say, the "teachable moment" has all the owl books out,
kids writing about owls, and the 4th grade Bird Sleuth kids going bonkers
over owls.
The "subject of the week" just happens to be owls and lots of links are on
the school web page:
http://www.silverfalls.k12.or.us/staff/reid%5Fpam/ The subject owls is at
the bottom of the page and there is even a virtual owl pellet dissection
site. The owl photo on the page looks familiar and could possibly be the owl
at the foot of the tree; however, uh, well...the 4th grade kids love it!

As for other birds: saw a winter plumage Audubon's Warbler yesterday just
outside window in rhodendron bush at our house. Wanted to take a photo to
clearly show the kids at school what these birds look like since "we" saw
one at school but I doubt the kids saw it very well.  Also: there was a
Lincoln's Sparrow along with 4 Northern Harriers and lots of mallards,
pintails, teal at Ankeny NWR on a brief stop-by at midday yesterday. The big
movement of birds into the refuge is yet to come.

Keep on Birding,
John Thomas
5 mi N of Silverton