Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge - Woodland Trail Jan 26

[Steve_Kahl at fws.gov]

I took a nice morning walk around Woodland Trail at Shiawassee National
Wildlife Refuge on Jan 26.  I very much enjoyed the peace of the woods on a
virtually windless day.  A light snow fell for the entire 4 hours of my
walk.  Not a huge number of species, but I got a beautiful look at a barred
owl.  It did not appear to be in roosting mode, but actively hunting.  It
flew from the edge of the trail and perched about 100 feet away.  It stared
straight down at the ground for several seconds and seemed unconcerned with
me.  It then parachuted down to a perch about 4 feet above the ground.  At
this point it kept looking straight below, with some glances in my
direction.  I did not want to interfere with perhaps it's only opportunity
at a meal for the day so I continued down the trail.

I have managed to take a morning walk around the trail all four weekends in
2008 - one New Year's resolution still adhered to!  My Woodland Trail
yearlist is now at 31 with barred owl the only new species.

My complete list submitted to eBird included:

Canada Goose - 20
Herring Gull - 5
Mourning Dove - 2
Barred Owl - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 3
Downy Woodpecker - 6
Hairy Woodpecker - 4
Pileated Woodpecker - 1
Blue Jay  - 4
American Crow     10
Black-capped Chickadee - 18
Tufted Titmouse     6
White-breasted Nuthatch - 12
Brown Creeper - 5
American Robin - 7
European Starling - 10
Northern Cardinal - 3
House Finch - 1
American Goldfinch - 3

Steven Kahl
Refuge Manager
Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge
6975 Mower Road
Saginaw, MI  48601-9783
P (989) 777-5930 ext 16
F (989) 777-9200
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/shiawassee/