Re: owls at Beaver Creek SWA/WSA

In a March 5 post I noted hearing a Northern Saw-whet Owl calling at Beaver Creek SWA. In a Comment at the bottom of the post, Brandon asked if I was sure it was a Northern Saw-whet since a few days after I heard this owl he saw 2 Northern Pygmy-Owls in that area. Since then he and I have communicated off-blog and I told him the owl I heard had none of the pauses between call sequences as do Northern Pygmy-Owls. Instead, the owl I listened to called on and on and on in an monotonous manner which is the manner in which Northern Saw-whets call.

This illustrates how good the Beaver Creek State Wildlife Area(SWA)/Wilderness Study Area(WSA) is for birding, especially for small owls. Having both of these species in this area I believe is attributable to having great habitat; and that habitat is only there because it is protected by the SWA and the 27,000 surrounding acres in the WSA.
There are also excellent hiking opportunities in the Wilderness Study Area with two maintained trails. One trail loop takes about 5 hours and there is the opportunity to hike a much longer distance over more than one day.

SeEtta