Greetings... The issue of how the owl roost at Killdeer Plains is treated by
birders comes up almost ever winter. This winter, in reply to a thoughtful
posting on the Ohio Birds list similar to Casey's from this weekend, Bill
Whan wrote the following:

"As Isaac Kerns implies, wintering owls are looking for cover at the roost,
and while evergreens are good for this, they'll accept other hiding-places.
At Killdeer, this is the second time I've heard a maximum number of fifteen
long-ears there this winter; the other time was a count taken of a group
spooked from the roadside cedar by a group of
birders who drove up right next to it and then slammed their car doors.
Thoughtless as this behavior was, the Killdeer Plains owls must be used to
it. They may have been at the roost Isaac and his party found because
they'd been flushed from another one. I've come to think of them as
Sacrificial Owls, who allow the indignities inflicted by a stream of
observers so other long-eareds can spend the winter undisturbed. There are
at least four other long-eared owl roosts of comparable size I've heard
about in the state, but because they're not so well known, the birds roost
in relative peace.  Long-eared owls are a lot more numerous in Ohio than
many think, both as wintering birds and as breeders; they're just
secretive. I wouldn't be surprised if they are often misidentified in flight
as short-eareds, as
they're easy to confuse. It's probably good for the species overall that a
hardy band of fifteen puts up with us on behalf of the others. Every group
making a pilgrimage to see the Killdeer birds should emulate the caution of
Isaac Kerns's group and leave them in peace.
Bill Whan
Columbus "

I can't imagine closing off portions of Killdeer to birders would be a good
idea (at least among us birders!), but given the general impression of
birders among many ODOW employees, I could see something like that happening
as a means of putting us in our place.

I've never been to Killdeer Plains, but one of the things that always amuses
me is when owl controversies pop up on the Ohio Birds list serve, we're
usually subjected to righteous epistles from people who write something
along the lines of "In my six trips to see the long-eareds at Killdeer this
winter, I've noticed a number of birders getting too close to the birds.
People should limit the amount of visits to the site to reduce stressing the
birds . . ." etc. The implication of such emails being "*I* know what the
owls tolerate, but you other dopes ought to just stay away." But my favorite
all time "friend of the owls" posting was from a guy who complained that
birders should do like he does and "find their own owls" and other good
birds. He added that he never shares owl sightings with other birders,
because they need to do their own work to find them. Then, with no
indication of even the slightest bit of self-consciousness, he added at the
end of the email a breathless report about a trip he took around Ohio,
starting at Killdeer where he bagged the expected owls, then proceeding to
Findlay where a varied thrush was hanging out in an urban front yard, then
to the Maumee River for a harlequin duck, then to the Cleveland area for a
Townsend's solitaire. People should "find their own birds," eh? Funny stuff.

I've been away from the computer the past couple of days, but Bob Lacker
told me that there's a saw-whet owl back at Gilmore Ponds. It's in the cedar
tree near the garbage can and bench, just east of the Symmes Road parking
lot. Same basic spot as last year. Though the bird wasn't providing looks as
good as it did last year. It's pretty well hidden away.

I'm glad Bob took pity on this dope and let me in on the wherabouts of the
owl ;-)

Take care,
---Mike Busam
West Chester, OH