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Long-eared Owl? on Alligator River NWR



Hi folks:
	Thursday morning at very first light (approx 6:25a.m.) I observed what I
believe (95% sure) to be a Long-eared Owl fly in from the farm fields and
enter a thick patch of pine/hardwood forest. It was a fairly dark owl
(definitely darker than a Short-eared Owl), with the long slender wings
similar to a Short-eared, not the broad wings of a Great Horned or Barred.
Although I could not see underneath the wings, there was an obvious dark
patch on the upperwing as depicted in the Sibley's guide. After I lost the
owl in the woods, I played a Long-eared Tape (just a couple of hoots) and
got an immediate answer.
	This morning I went back out there a little earlier in hopes of seeing the
owl again. After waiting and watching for a few minutes, I briely played a
tape again and had an owl fly by. It was too dark (and foggy) to make out
any details but I did catch a couple more glimpses of the bird as it was
foraging over the fields. By the time it was light enough to really see the
bird, it was gone, presumably to roost.
	The field and patch of woods where I observed the owl is the first on the
right as you enter the refuge on Milltail Creek road off of highway 64,
approx. 2 tenths of a mile from the highway. Of course, the refuge is off
limits at night.
	Jeff Lewis - Manteo