[EBB Sightings] Re: Berkeley barn owls

Dear all,

Yet another mature canary island palm tree was cut down this past week
in Berkeley--a tree that housed more barn owls. This is the second time
this year that this has happened. I am interested in forming a "Keep
Barn Owls in Berkeley" group--an informal advocacy group--that would
educate Berkeley residents about the many benefits of barn owls (I am
sure people would be interested in their incredible rodent control
talents for one). I know the owls can be loud during nesting season, but
I am hoping that if more people understood what a neat opportunity is
taking place (owls in the Berkeley flatlands?!), they would be less
inclined to cut their trees down. My ideas for this group are to have an
educational web site and to occasionally publish articles in local
papers--watch for Joe Eaton's piece on barn owls in the Fall issue of
Terrain published by the Berkeley Ecology Center, for starters. I
thought maybe eventually the group could try to get Berkeley to pass a
tree ordinance that would include mature canary island palms, which the
owls seem to like a lot.

Is anyone interested in helping or joining the group? Does anyone know
of a group that could donate space for a web site and/or help design a
web site? And, would anyone in this group be interested in conducting an
owl survey (to find out exactly how many owls are in Berkeley--we know
that at least two pairs fledged young this year).

Thanks for your help.
Lisa