Category: birds

Short-Eared Owl in a Tree Jan. 2025

I have been catching every illness it seems coming into work since December. Therefore, I have not made any trips and have stayed close to home. If I can see an owl near a road I drive on, all the better. Luckily I have seen, two since December from a road. This short-eared owl was close to a road.

Short-Eared Owl in a Tree January 2025- sun was behind the clouds

It was near a bird feeder that was active and a lot of small birds were raising cain in the woods around the owl. I was wondering if it would go after birds visiting the bird feeder. Someone has told me they don’t, however by logic it would be a possibility as barred, great horned, and snowies will get a bird. According the the NYSDEC website:

Short-Eared Owl in a Tree January 2025- Looking towards the bird feeder ‘s direction.

Short-eared owls are the most diurnal (active during the day) of all the northeastern owls. They are most often observed in the late afternoon and at dawn or dusk. These birds eat primarily small mammals, but they occasionally take smallbirds, and the young sometimes eat insects. 

If it chooses to land on a tree in good sight of a bird feeder, it is watching the bird feeder, it is probably contemplating a bird for dinner.

You usually do not see the ear tufts on the short-eared owl. I thought it could have been because of the wind, however, according to National Park Service website:

“The ear tufts of the short-eared owl (Asio flammeus, family Strigidae) are inconspicuous until the owl becomes defensive or curious, at which point the whole facial expression changes: feathers around the nose may flatten and eyes narrow slightly.”

Short-Eared Owl in a Tree January 2025- Sun behind the clouds

It seemed to be both curious about the bird feeder and defensive as many little birds nearby were expressing their displeasure at its presence. Have a great week!

Red-Tailed Diva

This hawk wants all the attention. She flies close to people. Sometimes she flies by us with her catch. Sometimes she lands near us to catch vole. Other times she brings her catch to a post or tree close to where people are allowed to stand so we can admire her hunting ability. It is a red-tailed diva.

Red-Tailed Diva Flying from a bird house on the hunt.
Red -Tailed Diva – This time it caught a bird. Goldfinch?

She flew from the top of a bird house to an area with short grasses and had a bird. I did not see her catch it. Not sure if she caught it in mid-air or what. Yes, different kinds of hawks will stalk bird feeders.

Red-Tailed Diva- She flew to a post with her catch faced the photographers and let us get a good view of her catch. This one is facing us.
Red Tailed Diva- Then she posed and gave us a side view.

Do any animals act like divas around you? This one seems to be a diva for camera clicks. Enjoy your weekend.

Icelandic Gull

One very windy Sunday morning I went down to see if I could spot loons wintering near one New England Beach, which they usually do. No luck spotting any, however, I saw this gull which appeared to be picking up a rock, but I am sure it is a shell.

Icelandic Gull

Merlin gives three choices for this gull. The first one is an Icelandic Gull. If I am wrong, let me know. The other two to me do not look that close to this one. It is hard to tell with the early morning light, but it appears to be an immature. The east coast of the northern US is within the range for the non breeding gulls. Only some of the gulls migrate south for the winter. Many stay in the arctic all year.

Icelandic Gull- flying off towards the jetty

The gull appeared to be heading in the direction of the jetty. Possibly it would try to crack the shell open there? Have a great weekend.

Barred Owl Family Number 2

I found two barred owl families this spring/ summer. The first family had three owlets and they were making the hissing like noise they make when hungry while inside the tree. This second family, in another location, had one owlet.

Barred Owl Family Number 2- most likely the mom

The first family had a great horned owl family come into its territory. Either the parents moved the owlets farther away onto private land, or the great horned owls got them, which they will do. I saw the second family’s baby for several days, then saw it no longer. To be fair, it was very close to private land when I saw it. Owls will have the baby move around, although it seems no further than about a 1/4 of a mile from the nest, when it is still relying on parents for food. I am hoping the story on this one is they moved to private land.

Barred Owl Family Number 2– they had one owlet

The parents are savvy and hide in the shade. The owlet seems to relish the light from the sun. Enjoy your week!

The Red Tailed Star of the Show

To say this hawk is unusual is an understatement. Usually red-tailed hawks do not want to be around people. This one seems to crave attention. She can hunt anywhere on this big expanse of land. Instead she chooses to stick near the parking lot where people are.

The Red Tailed Star of the Show – She flew close to me.
The Red Tailed Star of the Show – I was hoping she would turn around with the vole, but this was the best shot I could get.

She gives people plenty of chances to see her landing on posts, landing on trees, landing on the ground near them, and flying very close to where people are standing.

The Red Tailed Star of the Show

In the above photo she landed on the section of trail that was closed right next to the barriers and sign. She was stomping the ground hunting for a vole.

The Red Tailed Star of the Show

In the above photo she is hunting from the outhouse ventilation.

The Red Tailed Star of the Show – Perching in her current favourite spot

When the short-eared owls arrived from the arctic to winter, they would try to knock her off posts. Now she is spending more time hanging out on this tree. This attracts the owls to the tree, but they seem unable to fly close enough to knock her off. On Christmas she kept eating a vole while ignoring the close fly bys. Below is one of the approaching short eared owls. They seem to take turns going after her.

The Red Tailed Star of the Show- an approaching short-eared owl getting ready to harrass the hawk

It is always a show when this particular red tailed hawk is nearby. She either gives us one or we get a double feature that includes the owls. I hope everyone had a Happy Holiday. Have a great weekend!

Short-Eared Owl on Christmas

I went down for a short time to see if I could catch any short-eared owls this afternoon. There were a lot more people there late afternoon on Christmas Day than I expected. It was a sunny day, which we do not get too many of. Luckily a red-tailed hawk decided to hang out in some prime places. That usually draws the owls closer to harass it.

While the owls flew around one tree the hawk was perched in, I was able to get off some fly by shots.

The owl made my day. I felt like the hawk gave all the visitors a present by perching where she did, and the owls gave us a present by doing close fly-bys. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

Barn Owl Perched

We do have Barn Owls in New York, but they are rare. Ebird will allow someone to post the county one was spotted in, but not the town it was seen in. I think these are much more common in England.

Barn Owl Perched

This was another owl I got to see that a group brought in to show. It would be quite rare to see in the wild in New York, but you never know. Have a Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanza!

Spectacled Owls

Spectacled owls range from Mexico down into South America. I doubt I will ever get to see one in those locations, but I was able to view this owl and others through a group that puts on educational shows.

Juvenile Spectacled Owl

Spectacled Owls – Juvenile

This is a juvenile spectacled owl. They have different colouring than adults. Their head is more white, while the adults’ head feathers are more a darker brown.

Spectacled Owls – Juvenile

Adult Spectacled Owl

Spectacled Owls – Adult

How did they get their name?

I do not have a head on shot of the adult. It has white markings around its eyes that make it look like it is wearing glasses. One of their calls is a tapping sound, and they are also known as a knocking owl. The knocking like sound has also resulted in it being named the coffin maker in some places as the sound is likened to someone pounding nails into a coffin.

This was a treat! I was able to see from a short distance owls, some of which are not in the area I live in. I saw a show by a different group 1-2 years ago where they were against photos being taken and were anti anyone with a nice camera. It was nice to see this group was not like that. No flashes were used. Have a great weekend.

Moorhen

I viewed both moorhens and coots in Royal Parks in London. The moorhen reminds me of another bird, the American Coot. Coots and moorhens are related. How are they alike and different?

Moorhen

To me the major similarity are the legs and feet. I describe them as lizard like. They both are omnivores and eat plants and small animals. In addition they both have a reddish tint to their eyes. Both Moorhens and Coots can be seen in England and parts of the U.S. I have yet to see a moorhen in the US. They are also both known to hang around near ducks.

Moorhen

They do differ in some ways. Coots are more black in plumage while Moorhens have black and brownish colouring. Moorhens have a red face shield and a yellow beak, while coots have a white face shield and beak.

Did you know these birds are also known as swamp chickens? It may be because the body looks like that of a chicken. In old English they were known as morhens. In old English mor means marsh. Do you know any other birds that have interesting nicknames?

You Are in My Spot 2

This was shot from today. A lot of action with the owls repeatedly trying to knock the hawks off the posts. I had just arrived and the spots close to the action were crowded. I took these standing in between people from behind. This very large area of acreage shuts down access to most of the land after the short eared owls arrive to protect them. People are allowed to stand in certain areas very small areas on the land. The owls will fly close to where the people are allowed to stand.

You are in My Spot 2

The light was not ideal as it was cloudy and on the dark side before sunset. We are expecting rain the next few days which is greatly needed. Have a great week!