Dear all
Apologies for the length of this, but it seems an issue of importance
judging by the number of postings.
Re: http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/2009/03/stygian-owl-in-ohio.html
Not being at all gullible, I took the trouble to check the issue of the
claimed Stygian Owl sighting.
I was concerned that the US Coastguard appeared to be renting its
cutters out as fishing boats under assumed names (I guessed the crunch
has hit them hard too). This matter I took up with the aforesaid agency
who advised that all their vessels are accounted for and certainly none
went under name of 'Trix' - although there was a 'Richard M. Nixon'
this had been decommissioned for some time. However, if I am right in
identifying the tree propped up on the forecastle of the 'fishing boat'
as about 10 metres high, then extrapolating from the photo this vessel
is at least a kilometre long. I got back to the US Coastguard who
assured me that none of their vessels was of this length. They kindly
informed me that a vessel of such dimensions (probably with a beam of
300 metres) would displace well in excess of 30 million tonnes. By rule
of thumb, this would have meant that the vessel had a draught of about
350 metres, and thus would be able to dock at very few ports in the
world, none of which is on the Great Lakes.
The obvious conclusion is that this photograph was taken at sea, and
quite likely some distance offshore. We have to entertain two
possibilities. First, that Stygian owls are oceanic migrants. I think we
can dismiss this as ridiculous. This means a second hypothesis is worth
following up: that this is a previously unidentified marine owl.
Marine Owls are something of a specialised topic. Being nocturnal and
oceanic they are rarely recorded. There are few ocean-going birders and
none of these can be trusted to identify an owl in flight in pitch dark
from a heaving deck . Quite frankly the idea of oceanic spotlighting
must be laughed out of court. Until, that is, the appearance of the
so-called 'Trix'. A vessel of these dimensions - the SS Minerva - was
purpose built for the Marine Owl Research Oceanographic Network (MORON)
in 2003 in order to provide a stable viewing platform and a vessel
capable of mounting the 6 million amp arc lights required for marine owl
spotting. Most of the mystery is now solved. A quick telephone call to
the MORON head office in Canberra revealed that something of an April
Fool's hoax has been played on us all. According to the Director Dr
Strabismus, the photo appears to be of the Great Horned Owl (Bubo
virginianus). These are known to be diurnal, hence the possibility of
photography. Dr Strabismus laughed out loud at the suggestion that
marine owls would roost in trees. It is not known where marine owls
roost during the day (possibly on very large stationary waves). However,
no marine owl worth its salt would come within 50 kilometres of land.
Trees would be completely alien to them. A sighting such as that
suggested in the 'report' posted on birding aus would be about as
plausible as a report of Royal Albatross nesting in Martin Place. (Well
OK, there was the report in '03 but that turned out to be a Wandering
Albatross).
We all like a bit of a wheeze, but also this could have put back the
work of MORON, which was already running short of funds. Have you any
idea of the cost of keeping a ship the size of the Minerva at sea for 6
years? George Bush used it a yardstick against which favourably to
compare the cost of the Iraq War. As it is, most of Minerva's sightings
of marine owls have been challenged and the only photographic evidence -
thought to be of the Pigmy Gannet-Owl and the Great Diving Owl - turned
out on closer inspection to be, respectively, a Wilsons Storm Petrel and
either an immature Shark-eating Eagle or a pale morph Whale Hawk.
Fortunately, in breaking news the G20 meetings appear to have agreed
that international funding of MORON will do more to restore consumer
confidence and free up credit channels than the originally planned
funding of bankrupt Third World economies. The future of MORON now looks
secure. I will send further reports concerning marine owls as
information becomes available.
Don't wait up.
'Pat O'Malley' (real name withheld for security reasons)
PS Dr Strabismus asked how preparations for the section on marine owls
in HANZAB are coming along. Anyone know? He has promised copies of his
'field' notes should anyone want to update their 'field' guides.
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