YOU CAN OBSERVE A LOT BY JUST WATCHING—TRUTHFULLY!

Rex Burress

Most of our natural history lore has come via a linkage of like-minded nature-loving people strung through the last few hundred years. We have leaned on one another in making discoveries and adding to the storehouse of knowledge. Progress has depended highly on truthful observations.

There is no room for exaggerations and lies in reporting outdoor observations, because an untrue description can set-back what's really going on for years. Imagination can perhaps throw one off in poor light or such, just as we wonder about “Bigfoot” reports, but truth will finally come out when there is the proper intent of creating understanding.

I was writing a story about Great Horned Owls, and had trouble verifying whether they mated for life, knowing they had a long life span of up to 30-40 years, but are mostly seen as solitary except at nesting time.

When I worked at Oakland's Nature Center, there was a renowned naturalist who was a friend of the Center, and left his considerable nature book collection to the Naturalist's Program. A room was made into the “Bugs” Cain Library, and I reverted to the priceless books long before Mr. Google arrived on the scene.

In the collection was the 21-volume set of the Life Histories of North American Birds by Arthur C. Bent, [1866-1954]--life histories that had taken a lifetime to compile! The books were uniquely designed with known facts listed, and then there would be pages devoted to observations sent in from all over the county describing certain aspects of a bird's life. I could find a little detail I needed--a fact that never goes out of style--and slowly build up a knowledge of wild animals--facts that are always a true instinct. Truthful observations are essential and you will generally find that someone who has sincere interest of the species at heart will be accurate.

Arthur Bent was placing his confidence in fellow ecological devotees for the success of his project. There was no money involved as the key function, but rather just a free sharing of the love of nature. I found that reference to owl mating observed over a hundred years ago, but still valid. The deduction was that Great Horned Owls are monogamous except at mating time when they get together via hooting. A male owl will hoot in the winter up to six weeks to attract a mate, and the female will hoot in return for only one week when she is ready! Someone of the nature citizenry had spent many hours deciphering that observation and contributed it to the storehouse of natural history understanding.

Thus it is with all we know about wildlife and the environment. Somebody studied it...and wrote it down like a proper scientist will, leaving it for students who follow; naturalists who will follow. Each owl species, each bird species is treated in the same way. We found not all owls are monogamous, such as the Barn Owl, that shows much more affection and devotion to its mate, and is more inclined to mate for life.

We know of the importance Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus [1707-1778] had on taxonomy and an orderly way of understanding the placement of a couple million species of organisms on Earth...and still counting. His “Systema Naturae” published in 1735, was the first formalized binomial nomenclature. The systematic study of animate and inanimate species of matter became a heated race to see who could be the first to discover new species in the 1500's when the Bauhin Brothers partially developed a taxonomy system, but soon fleets were going all over the world to aid Linnaeus in recording new species. Fellow tribesmen continued the thrust—Audubon, Darwin, Thoreau, Muir...and thousands of other biologists, birders, teachers, writers; right onto this day—those who in the love of nature hold communion with her visible forms.

“You can observe a lot by just watching.” --Yogi Berra