From Bryce Gaudian
From posts I’ve read on a number of Facebook Owl and Birding groups, there are A LOT of people who have yet to see or have had an opportunity to photograph a Northern Saw-whet Owl.
I was in communication this morning with perhaps the most legendary steward and finder of Northern Saw-whet Owls on the planet - Don Poggensee of lda Grove, lowa.
Don is happy to help anyone who reaches out to him to see and photograph these amazingly special owls if they are willing to drive down to lda Grove, lowa to a park where, for this his 40th year, he literally goes out every morning from November to March to find them and then calls whoever is on his list for that day if he is successful in finding one or more, to call them to drive on down.
To date, Don has shown OVER 8,000 people – yes, 8,000+ people have seen and photographed Northern Saw whet Owls that Don has found.
Myself and a friend drove down there several weeks ago when Don had found two for us to photograph. He told me this morning he has been finding two almost every morning consistently.
Don said he would love to hear from anyone desiring to see and photograph a Northern Saw- whet Owl. He told me to share his Cell number for you to call him directly and get on his list for whatever day works for you if he finds one that morning. You can feel free to Message me for his number and I will give it to you.
You can look on a map and see if you are willing to drive to lda Grove, Iowa to finally fulfill your dream of seeing a Northern Saw-whet Owl if that dream is yet unfulfilled.
I commend Don on the gift he has given so many and continues to do so at age 80!! You can know that Don has the deepest respect, stewardship, and dedication to Northern Saw-whet Owls. His observations of Northern Saw-whet Owls for over forty years could fill a book. (By the way he does not charge anything. He does this out of sheer kindness.)
Awright, party at Don’s place tomorrow. There are 3.37K subscribers here, let’s try to all show up, mkay?
Let’s change it from Iowa to Owlowa!
Those poor lil Saw Whets! 😆
Hopefully he only calls one or two people at a time. Swarms of birders arriving to look at rare birds can be very disruptive and stressful for the birds.
It sounds like he’s a very respectful guy. Searching his name turns up a number of articles about him and owls and other photography projects of his. I didn’t see anyone mention any negatives, and he works other projects like banding the owls, so he’s involved with things to help them.
This article was pretty nice and has some great photos as well.
Don: A photographer to see you, my liege. I believe he is from Poughkeepie, sire.
I like thinking this is a single celebrity owl now, and this guy’s is just its agent! 🤣
It’s impressive that he can be so consistent with it and presumably isn’t using any cheats like baiting with food. Do the owls see him as this affable neighbour who keeps trying to call them to hang out or an annoying friend that can go away if they just strut their stuff?
Either way it’s pretty neat.
It sounds like it’s just from experience at this point. Where he’s at seems to be a decent climate and hunting ground for the owls, my wild guess is all the corn storage in Iowa makes for a healthy rodent population. As soon as a couple set up their vacation home turf in the park, he just knows what tree types and such they prefer and he’s good at spotting their “calling cards” by now.
A Bing search for his name has some of his posts on a Google Group chat as one of the top results and it has his number and him just talking about owl sightings. This just seems to be his knack.
That is really really impressive. Even if people go into the field for years being able to just pick out what the right signs are and therefore where to look for the best success isn’t that easy. Kudos to the guy.
I found it highly impressive too. He’s not only tracking owls with high success, he’s tracking one of the smallest owls of all.
I was researching something yesterday about Long Ear community roosting, and people were saying even groups of medium owls sitting together still is not the easiest thing to spot randomly.
The fact he seems like a very kind person is just the icing on the cake. I was really happy to find a story like this.
