[Tweeters] Northern Pygmy-Owl sighting - to report or not report?

[Ronda Stark]

Hi Lukas,

I am glad you are fully considering the ramifications of reporting the
owl's location. I have never seen a Northern Pygmy Owl and although I would
love to see one, I have seen
what happens to other owls whose location is fully identified. I recommend
you do not publish the exact location of the owl!

Ronda

On Thu, Mar 21, 2024 at 10:06 PM Lukas Evans <LukasEvans at live.com> wrote:


> Hi everybody,

>

> I've been following tweeters for a while but this is my first time

> posting. Yesterday, I had an extremely exciting encounter with a Northern

> Pygmy-Owl in a local park where I live in Sammamish. I relocated it again

> this morning, so it's still around. This is pretty unusual for my area, I

> think there are only one or two eBird records of Pygmy-Owl in all of

> Sammamish. They're usually restricted to the cascade foothills farther

> east, but this one appears to have spent the winter here.

>

> But now I'm faced with a dilemma - do I report it to eBird now, or wait

> until after the bird has likely left for the spring? I would love to share

> this sighting and help others have a chance to see this owl, but I'm also

> nervous about the potential for people disturbing it by using playback or

> other invasive methods.

>

> My understanding is that Pygmy-Owls are one of the owl species least

> vulnerable to human disturbance. The owl was hanging out up in the forest

> canopy, and didn't seem alarmed by my presence. It feels like a good

> location for the owl to have personal space if people do come to look for

> it. Am I correct in this assessment, or should I hold off on reporting the

> owl to keep it off the eBird alerts? Or at least not provide detailed

> information in the checklist about where I found the bird? Am I

> overthinking this and being too cautious?

>

> An additional note - this was in a public park with parking lots, so

> access isn't a problem. Thanks,

>

>

> Lukas Evans

> Sammamish, WA

> Lukasevans at live.com

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