I was in to get our online camp registration system ready for its noon launch. I knew we'd be busy, come noon, and I wanted to get as many pieces in place as possible prior to going live. Not my favourite activity in the world, computer work...but, just like daylight savings time, I might not enjoy it, but it sure can be practical.
The one-after-the-other arrival of other Ed Team members broke the monotony of database maintenance. Stories of the weekend happily punctuated my early-morning uploading.
Katrina had a cool story to share. A saw whet owl had moved in to her parent's neck of the woods.
"Sounds just like a truck backing up...and it goes on, and on, and on!"
I've since learned this is true of saw whet owls. Nomadic in nature, and not mating for life as do other owls, each spring new pair bonds are formed. For saw whets, finding a mate involves incessant singing to attract a compatible saw whet- and the song never changes.
My office-mates left as quickly as they arrived, to prepare for various programs, leaving me to website work, alone.
Then the phone rang.
I was expecting to answer a camp query. There's a lot of those to answer a few hours before registration begins - which was exactly the reason I was scheduled to stay in the office Monday morning.
The call had nothing to do with camp.
It was a woman, living near Bird's Hill Provincial Park. She and her family had been hearing a new sound, around dawn and dusk.
"It sounds just like a busy phone signal," she said.
I'm not sure what part of my brain suggested this, but "A busy signal? Or like a backing truck?" came out of my mouth, before I had fully processed the thought.
"Exactly!" she exclaimed. What a coincidence - I have never before gone through a day when saw whet owls came up in conversation twice...let alone within the same hour!
I suggested the sound might be a saw whet owl. I got her email address, and promised to find saw whet owl sound clips and email them to her, so she could compare the recordings with what her family was hearing
The busiest day of camp registration we've ever seen at FortWhyte Alive ensued. Online owl calls had to wait until Tuesday morning.
I sent the clips first thing Tuesday. Ten minutes later, I had a reply.
"...upon listening to the audio clips, it certainly must be the saw-whet owl..." - using the phone, email, and the internet, we'd ID'd the bird. 21st century style birding, this one - without ever being near the owl, or hearing it myself, I was able to assist in identification.
Camp registration continued to roll out with hardly a hitch - but the owl ID made my day in the office just a little sweeter!
-BM
Photo of the week:
Stuart O. submitted this shot of a pileated woodpecker, working on a trembling aspen here at FW.
Beautiful! Stay tuned to the blog - with the sap starting to flow, woodpeckers won't be the only ones tapping trees!
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