Applegater Fall 2014
11
BIRD EXPLORER
Wild owls and sustainable agriculture
by Peter j. thiemann
This is a story about a very special owl
family that raised its young on a ranch high
up in the mountains a little east of Ashland.
I knew about Great Gray Owls (GGOs)
from sightings in Applegate during the
summer of 2012, then during 2013, and
again this spring. I documented the lives
of several families at Howard Prairie Lake
in the Cascade Mountains.
Late this nesting season
came a call from Klamath Bird
Observatory president Harry Fuller,
who was notified that the owners of
Willow-Witt Ranch near Grizzly Peak
had located an active GGO nest with two
young owlets on their property. The owlets
appeared to be only one to two weeks old in
June and could be seen with the female owl
in a very small old nest, probably a raven’s.
Owls don’t build their own nests and rely
on used hawk or raven nests or sometimes
broken-off tree snags.
Willow-Witt Ranch is a certified
sustainable goat ranch that offers farm
stays in a B&B, camping, birding and
special events. This GGO nest was in the
campground not far from ranch buildings.
This species normally nests in remote
mountain areas far from civilization, so
Female Great Gray Owl at
Willow-Witt Ranch near Grizzly Peak.
this was pretty amazing!
Harry and I visited shortly after
the phone call and found a very peaceful
setting with the female GGO brooding
her two young. We could see that the old
raven nest was much too small with little
space for the growing owl family. For a
week we monitored the nest as both adults
were caring for the young and the male
also doing all the hunting for meadow
voles. He would bring the prey and give it
to the female, who then would feed their
young. I had hoped that we could observe
another GGO nesting success as I had
seen the previous two years at Howard
Prairie, but I was wrong. Soon, one owlet
disappeared. Maybe it fell out of the nest
or was kicked out. Strangely it was the
older, larger owlet that was lost. Anyway,
we never saw it again.
Then we heard a report that the
remaining owlet had jumped from
the nest and was down on the forest floor.
It is normal for young owls to leave the
nest before they can fly. Then they crawl
back up a tree snag and learn to fly. But
this owlet was very young and could not
get back up. This is the most vulnerable
time for young owls as predators may
Nesting platform with female Great Gray Owl
and her young at Howard Prairie.
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find them on the forest floor. The mom
owl was there to guard the little guy as I
visited the next day. Although it appeared
the owlet was nearby, I could not locate it.
The female GGO was sitting low on a tree
branch and—a first time ever for me—I
was dive-bombed by her—directly over
my head! I’m glad I was wearing my hat. It
was a clear message to stay away—the owlet
was probably still on the ground nearby.
So I left and the owl family was never seen
again, not by the ranch owners or anyone.
We will never know what happened, but
hopefully the female GGO was able to
move the owlet into the protection of the
forest and eventually coax it to safety on
some tree. What we do know is that the
owls at Willow-Witt Ranch need our help.
The two GGO nesting successes
at Howard Prairie Lake that I observed
in 2013-14 were in nesting platforms
installed by a landowner. Earlier this year
I initiated a project to install more nesting
platforms, with one completed in March
at Little Hyatt Lake. Building on that
success, and seeing the need at Willow-
Witt, we have now organized a much larger
effort, with Rogue Valley Audubon Society
(RVAS) handling the donation paperwork.
Great Gray owlet on snag before
learning to fly at Howard Prairie.
Two platforms for
Willow-Witt are
in the planning
Peter J. Thiemann
stages with
more to be located on Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) land. Donations
are coming in and the future of GGOs at
Willow-Witt looks bright—research from
northeast Oregon, Canada and Finland
has shown that this owl species will readily
accept nesting platforms. We will destroy
what is left of the old raven nest at Willow-
Witt in order to discourage the owls from
returning next year.
In the Applegate we will
research the Ferris Gulch area
for a nesting platform location on BLM
land. Anyone interested in supporting
these projects can send a donation to
Rogue Valley Audubon Society, GGO
Conservation Fund, PO Box 8597,
Medford, OR 97501. All birders and
others are encouraged to visit Willow-Witt
Ranch at the base of Grizzly Peak off Shale
City Road, a half hour east of Ashland.
Peter J. Thiemann
peterjthiemann@yahoo.com
Peter J. Thiemann,
Flickr photo stream
Female Great Gray Owl with two young
in raven nest at Willow-Witt.
PHOTO CREDIT
All bird photos courtesy of Peter J. Thiemann, Flickr photo stream.
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