Newbie respect for nature question

[lidd]

I only joined this forum a few weeks ago and read somewhere about the 'etiquette' (if that's the right word) of birding or watching animals so I wanted to ask this question which maybe is dumb to avoid unnecessarily bugging animals (owls I think in this case) out of ignorance.

I was walking along a creek in Oakville at late late dusk last night and saw some birds - I'd say a bit bigger than a grackle but heftier. I wanna see what they are but I can't see. Does it harass them if I take my headlamp to be able to see a bit? It has that red lamp option on it. I've never seen an owl before and I'd like to, but I also don't have money for those crazy night vision binoculars. I guess I could just go a bit earlier too...

Do lights in general bother birds etc?

[Reuven_M]

It might bother them a bit, but a few minutes spotlighting owls shouldn't be a problem at all. If it turns out to be a bid that isn't nocturnal it's probably best not to disturb it though.

[lidd]

Thanks for the response.

As visually impaired as I was, they were flying literally a small creeks width away and I couldn't hear a thing. I'm 90% sure they were small owls. I was thinking screech b/c it seemed one had some reddishness to it, but my guide says barred are the ones that live along 'river bottoms'.

I'll go earlier and only use the red bulb if I feel I need to.

[Reuven_M]

The only owls in the city are screech (very common and most likely what you saw) and great horned.

[lidd]

oh, well that's that then. check mark for the front of my book!

[Pat Hodgson]

A review of the ABA code of ethics is always useful in cases like this.  Usually it boils down to good judgment and not overdoing things.  
http://www.aba.org/about/ethics.html

"Use artificial light sparingly" seems like a pretty good starting point.

Also, it's your own list and you can put on it what you want, but from what you described I would be extremely hesitant to count this as anything yet.  From someone who has been birding a long time, my advice is to make your standards high from the beginning, then you won't doubt your own sightings later. (insert friendly non-judgmental tone emoticon)

[lidd]

Thanks for the advice.

I actually went back there and sat around and saw nothing but a crow.

Though late last night ( between 3 and 4 a.m.) I had another almost owl sighting; a hawk sized bird flying pretty low but too quick for me to see much. I saw a lot of white underneath. It was by the Petro-can at Trafalgar and the QEW which i thought was weird but maybe not. One of these days, I'll see an owl ...

Point taken though, no checkmarks for those.