Owl monitoring program survey a real hoot

The alarm went off at 11:45 p.m. I had been able to get about three hours of sleep before heading out to listen for owls.

“Whose idea was this?” I grumbled as I drove to meet my survey partner, Paul Markson.

It was mine, of course. I had taken part in the Maine Owl Monitoring Program in three previous years. The route was well established; I knew the protocol by heart. The data we gathered would be used to determine the distribution and abundance of Maine’s owls.

Still, the thought of missing several hours’ sleep had me grumpy. A quick stop at a convenience store for coffee perked me up somewhat, and I started to anticipate what we’d hear that night.

We arrived at our first survey stop on the County Road in Milford. Last year, this particular stop had been punctuated by noise – a radio from a pickup truck, its motor idling as it sat in the driveway of the house down the road. This time, all was silent and peaceful. Still, we heard no owls on this particular stop.

We continued down the road to our next stop. I consulted our survey route information sheet. Stop 2: Odometer reading, 2.7 miles; stop description: just past Sunkhaze Meadows sign after curve in road (Baker Brook); habitat description: mixed-wood stand, early regeneration.

We got out of the truck, and Paul recorded the air temperature, cloud cover, snow cover and noise from wind or other sources. I readied my data sheet to list any owl responses to our recordings. As a change from previous years, this time Maine Audubon had provided us with a CD (instead of a cassette tape) of owl calls, with listening times automatically built in.

I pressed the button and started the initial three-minute listening period; this was followed by the playback of a long-eared owl, the first time this owl had been included as part of the survey. We were rewarded with the distant hooting of a barred owl in the following two-minute listening period, before the playback of a barred owl.

The next listening period was the longest – six minutes – because past surveys had shown that barred owls often take much longer to respond than do other owls. However, we had a barred owl respond within the first minute but not again after that.

The last playback – a great horned owl – was followed by a final two-minute listening period. As per instructions, we adhered to this protocol at each stop without variation.

Our next stop did not produce any owl responses, but that was OK. We were delighted by the constellations and the occasional meteor streaking across the crystal-clear night sky.

Our two most fruitful surveys occurred later, between 3 and 4 a.m. On stop seven we had both a northern saw-whet owl and a great-horned owl hooting almost continuously. Stop eight provided us with dueling great horned owls, each responding to the other’s calls every 8-10 seconds, no matter which owl recording we played.

We ended the night satisfied we had done our part in helping biologists determine the number and distribution of Maine’s owls. All in all, it was a successful night, filled with hooting owls, shooting stars, and even the occasional calls of coyotes.

Then it was time to head home to a warm bed and a much-needed few more hours of sleep.

BDN bird columnist Chris Corio can be reached at bdnsports@bangordailynews.net