I arrived after Flaco’s fly out. He had a bit of an adventure. Some young men, who just happened to be walking by before he flew out ended up chasing after him to get cell phone pictures. A few of the regulars, spoke to them, but Flaco wisely hid for about half an hour.

Flaco has attracted a number of inexperienced birders. When watching owls or any bird for that matter, you want to be careful about how you follow them. There is an art to following a bird. When birds move to a new location, they need to settle down and do an assessment of their new location. After a brief amount of time, you look at their behavior. If you see them alert and nervous, you keep your distance. If they look relaxed, you can slowly approach them. However, if you rush after them, especially if they are perched in a low branch or have gone to the ground, they will just keep going further away.

So, if you’re a new or inexperienced birder, and visiting Flaco, don’t rush after him to get a cell phone picture. You’ll only frighten him. There are usually a few folks who have experience watching Flaco at each fly out. Figure out who they are and follow their lead.

Once Flaco settled down, he stayed close to his roost tree. The farthest he got was a visit to a meadow 200 yards from his roost tree. Usually he goes much further, so this was surprising. But I suspect he learns a lot about the nearby prey while roosting during the day and knows where to look close to home at night.