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Barn-owls



I have perhaps 12 nesting pairs in nestboxes in silos in eastern NC.  I have 
not cleaned out the boxes for two years, and will probably clean the boxes 
out this winter.  I will post the approximate date, when I get organized, if 
anybody wants to go with me on the good chance of seeing some roosting owls 
this winter.  I will try to say nothing about barn-owls until then.

Also, I will ask some landowners in Rocky Mount and Scotland Neck areas 
about the possibilities of having a trip in the spring (Memorial Day) on 
which more birders than my immediate family could go to see owls leave the 
box and/or nestlings be banded.
I also have nestboxes in Hyde and Pamlico Counties, which may be places 
where you can stand on a public road and squeak up the owls at dawn.
(And, maybe Mattamuskeet or Pungo or Alligator River or Pea Island NWR might 
want to set up a few nestboxes for the public to view Barn-owls, as is done 
at Forsythe and Gateway NWR in NJ and NY.  About half the boxes would be 
occupied in coastal areas.)
I have not asked John Wright, but when he has trips to Scotland Neck in the 
spring, I would think the landowners would be as glad to see him as me, and 
birders don't care who they are with when they see what they want.
I wonder whether a fee ($1 to $5) per participant might not help encourage 
the landowners (especially the hunt guides, who are a money-making 
enterprise, after all) to allow birders to visit.  Might result in more 
access, at more times. I need to ask the hunt organizers who are actually 
tenants, not owners.

Frank Enders, Halifax NC.  fkenders@hotmail.com

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