Dear Birders,
I came down to Tasmania in April for a ‘family’ holiday with only 2 birding objectives, firstly to see the small Tasmanian Owl that the IOC have designated as the Morepork Ninox novaeseelandiae leucopsis ( a split from Southern Boobook) and the second was to see the Tasmanian sub-species of Masked Owl.
I did the usual literature searches and made a variety of enquiries which lead me to find (a) that both birds can be very tricky and (b) that Mick Todd is prepared to provide professional guiding on weekend nights for those seeking to see nocturnal birds in Tasmania. Now Mick was recently awarded his Ph D for a thesis on the Masked Owl in Tasmania, written after hundreds of hours of seeking these birds at some 211 locations in Tasmania – so he should know something about the birds. His thesis can be downloaded from https://www.dropbox.com/sh/a93sxw6lsosftfk/5yY20FrsFZ . I found it very readable and contained an enormous amount of information not only on the Masked Owl but also on the Morepork and the Australian Owlet-nightjar. This convinced me that I should contact Mick and see if we could work out an evening that would suit us both. Fortunately we could and the chosen evening turned out to be windless and only lightly overcast, perfect weather for owling.
We went up the Derwent Valley from Mick’s home in Molesworth in the early evening aiming for a number of sites Mick had selected from Google earth on the basis of habitat suitability. We pulled up at the first selected area and awaited nightfall. Just as Mick said “They should be leaving their roosts about now, we could give the call a try” there was the piercing screech of a Masked Owl from nearby. Mick played the call briefly and the owl, a brown male bird, alighted in the tree above our heads. As it did so there was another screech from the opposite direction. Another short burst of call saw the second bird arrive, this time a larger brown female bird. After a bit of circling around the 2 birds landed in the branches of a vast old eucalypt, not more than 2 meters apart. and spent at least half an hour chattering to one another. Mick was able to record a good part of this interchange. Eventually the birds flew off to hunt leaving Mick and me gob smacked at our good fortune at finding not just one bird but a pair and for being able to observe such a long interaction between them.
We eventually dragged ourselves off to Mick’s second selected site and started with the Morepork call. A bird responded by call but didn’t show. A third site was one where Mick had seen Masked Owl previously. Again we started with a Morepork call which was answered but the bird didn’t show. The call of the Masked Owl however again resulted in the location of a pair of birds. A very large brown female bird and a smaller and distinctly paler male bird. They both provided prolonged views with some chattering calling between the birds but not the close interaction of the first pair.
I was still without a view of the Morepork so we stopped at another site on the way home. The Morepork call elicited a vocal response and the bird flew over our heads providing excellent flight views in the spotlight. Tired but happy we returned to Mick’s at around midnight after an exceptional night of nocturnal birding. The trip was made even more pleasurable due to Mick’s knowledge and enthusiasm, both of which he was eager to share in ample measure. Truly a great night’s birding and money well spent. To put this experience in context Mick noted that during his research he often did not see or hear a Masked Owl in an evening of searching; very rarely had he seen more than a single such bird at a site; and that he had never before had 2 pairs on one night. Best of the numerous mammals seen was Eastern Quoll.
Mick can be contacted at maskedowl@gmail.com or by text to his mobile 0487766957. Please note that Mick is still studying and has a young family, both of which might limit his availability at short notice.
Regards
Peter Marsh ===============================
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