Two-Owl-Day on
Machias Seal Island 20/11/99 NEWSFLASH!!
Yesterday was a Two-Owl-Day on Machias Seal Island. Yes
folks, lighthousekeeper Paul Cranford was not
hallucinating (though at first he thought he
was). When making one of his
frequent walks between buildings, a small owl was spotted
clinging to the window of the main house in the lea of
the wind. Not good at identifying this type of tiny owl,
he studied it for perhaps five minutes from 30 feet, then
headed back to house for a birdbook and binoculars. A
thorough study of the books narrowed it down to two ... a
Pygmy or a Boreal ... the latter seemed more likely, but
it was so tiny, he got excited and told assistant
lighthousekeeper, Rick Daley, he had 'identified' a rare
bird: a Northern Pygmy Owl. Now perhaps if Paul'd
get his act together for an eyecheck-up, postive ID could
have been made first time round ... but in this case it
was a blessing in disguise. The bird had disappeared, and
the only option was a thorough search of the island (he
had already been on the island over a week without a
proper walk ... other than between bed, food, fiddle and
computer). After circumnavigating the island once,
something caught his eye ... a smallish hawk? No, an owl.
Thinking it was the same bird sighted earlier, he
approached cautiously, with birdbook and binoculars in
hand. (lucky he didn't trip on the rocks). Confused Cranford
thought: " ... was I that blind
the first time round ? ... this owl seems much
bigger, and now its ears are showing". Hmm... The bird was relatively
tame, and Cranford had a good 15 minutes with this bird -
half at 50 feet and the remainder from about 30 feet.
When approached closer, the bird flew. Different angles
and good binoculars made a postive ID ... LONG EARED
OWL. A savvy birder,
Cranford realized that the first owl hadn't grown that
much in an hour ... so he kept looking for a second
sighting of the Pygmy. After another revolution he
returned to the main house dejected ... when, low and
behold, he sighted the squirt, now in a corner against
the foundation of the building. The bird was incredibly
tame, and Cranford was able to crawl on his hands and
knees, within four feet of the exhausted munchkin. Still
wanting to believe it was a Northern Pygmy he called for
the unbiased opinion of resident soap opera and satellite
television expert, Richard D. Daley. (ex mayor of
Shirk-argo). After checking the books, without guidance,
his honour came to the conclusion ... Northern
Pygmy. Cranford had to be
certain. His birding 'friends-in-higher-places' would
surely be grilling him for details ... and although Owly
was tame enough for a 'sample taking', Cranford didn't
have the stomach for the scientific approach (the
pip-squeak was just too cute ... and to boot, if allowed
to live, maybe he'd eat some bats .... and if voracious
enough, and the bat population declined, perhaps then the
Mayor wouldn't be afraid to go out at night). Back to the books, "All
the Birds of North America" mention that the Boreal is
"very tame". In "Birds of Nova Scotia" Robie Tufts'
description of one that a wind storm brought to Sable
Island, seemed exactly like this fellow ... and to boot,
Mr. Tufts mentioned that although rare in NS, Boreals do
often hang out in Grand Mannan. Still, it seemed sooooo
small. (Pygmy is supposed to be 7" and Boreal 10" ...
Perhaps Cranford's desire for a rare sighting caused the
confusion ... and to further cloud the issue, his aging
eyes initially estimated this fellow at 8" ... what could
it be? For a final ID, it was
going to be necessary to see the proportions of the tail
to the body; and with Owly snuggled in its corner, the
ingenious lightkeeper took a novel approach ... the bird
seemed so tame, Cranford went for a long stick ... hoping
the owl would perch on it. Returning with an 8 foot piece
of one-inch conduit, Mr. Cranford didn't take 10 seconds
to scare the previously tame bird into flight. When its
tail was fully visible, postive ID was possible BOREAL
OWL. Cranford once again has
vowed to get his eyes checked. (At age 46, still no
glasses, he's been saying this for a year or so) Since
it's rare he takes his vowed daily walks, it's unlikely
that he'll sight the owls again before they decide to
head for greener pastures.
Machias Seal Island | Cranford Biography
last upddate 28/11/99