I went to a place to walk I have not been before. It was my second hiking location of the day and it was less than two hours to sunset. I was happy to see an owl flying in a field heading towards a woods. I followed it. I did not find the parent, but I found one owlet in a nest and one in a branch of the same tree. I could only get the one in the branch from very far away and with the wind it was hard to get a sharp shot.
Great Horned Owlet staring at me. Most of the time it was following its parent with its head and eyes.
I saw these from a distance. This are greatly cropped. A parent from flying tree to ground to tree nearby hunting. I am pretty sure this is the one in the nest.
It was very windy, but it was still great to catch these even from a distance. I could even faintly hear the owlets screech for food. This made my day! Take joy in the little things in life. Have a great week!
I started hearing mayhem amongst the birds in the woods. Crows, a blue jay, some other bird with an annoying call were complaining loudly. I went towards the sound and thought maybe the owl or a hawk caught a bird. The following pictures were taken right before sunset in the woods.
I saw what I believe is the female owl sitting patiently looking up in the trees in the direction of the sound. It turns out the male owl had caught an animal. The birds slowly one by one flew away complaining. After things had quieted down I saw what looked like the other owl fly to a tree and make a short who sound.
The father owl then flew to a neighbouring tree. The mother owl flew over to the tree he had gone to first. The father had left an animal for the mom to eat. How nice of him! I could not tell what it was at first.
I love the heart shapes in her lower feathers by her tail.
The mother owl was nice enough to take the animal and fly off to a neighbouring tree branch where I could get a better view. It appears to be a chipmunk. We are seeing more chipmunks and squirrels now, but not nearly as much as in past years it seems. Many people in this area are commenting the same.
The mother owl spent a lot of time trying to swallow this, give up, then appear to try to rip it or bite pieces, then repeat.
When she was done she flew to another nearby tree and perched for a while. I always feel lucky to see this pair. They have not been together much this year so far. I hope I did not gross you out too much. Enjoy the end of your week!
What may be a good time to find owls? It appears after a rainstorm at night. It seemed to rain much of the night here. They may have needed time during the day to hunt.
I found this one first. You cannot use the usually bluejays being ticked or chipmunks making noise to find them this year. There are a lack of those around as well as squirrels, which are all part of their diet. More hawks around I think is greatly culling the animal population.
This one’s mate was at a neighbouring tree not too far away. The mate is more stealth. If I cannot find him right away I give up and let him show himself to me on his terms.
This one was taken into the late afternoon sunlight.
After resting for a while, they started following each other around. One landed on a branch. When they other one tried to land on the same branch , the branch broke off and fell to the ground sending the owls in quick flight. The one owl was not putting up with having the other on the next branch it landed on. It forced them off.
Later afternoon sunlight. Some dark clouds were coming , so I left.
So they ended up on the same tree. but different areas of it. I think they were wondering if they would see a sunset or another rainstorm. It ended up being another rainstorm.
Since the leaves are just starting to come in, this owl is still choosing to hang out on pine trees. Another day another pine tree.
This time some birds were aware the owl was there. Some were protesting, but they still kept a safe distance. The owl positioned itself next to a stream hoping for some wildlife to stop by and get a drink.
Leaves of trees between where I stood and the tree the owl was on are filling in. It is going to be tougher to find the owl soon. Here’s hoping I find this one’s tree hole.
Have a great week and I hope you have great weather!
What do owls do before the leaves are on the trees? Hang out in pine trees or stick close to the trunk of other trees. These pictures were taken before sunset near a road. People walking by had no idea it was there.
In this picture I lightened the owl a little bit. It was lighter to begin with.This one I didn’t. You can see how it blends in somewhat.
The owl tends to hang out on the shady side of the tree. It tries to fake out other animals by pretending to sleep for a minute here and there.
On a side note I don’t know what is going on with the squirrels and the chipmunks. I am just starting to see them. I also have heard less blue jays than usual. I am seeing more hawks around, so I am wondering if they picked off a lot of small animals over the winter. Is anyone else noticing the same thing?
Once in a while stop and look up. You never know what is above you. Have a great weekend!
This tree had two visible holes, but the larger hole I did not think was large enough to host an owl that was egg sitting. After seeing an adult owl perched in the tree I realised it could. I also figured out there was another hole I could not view.
Not sure if this is a nest tree or the barred owl was just chilling. No wildlife seemed to spot this owl here so it seemed to be a good perching spot. I haven’t seen two owls together yet. I have not heard them calling to each other. It has been rather quiet this year in the woods. I am open to the belief this owl and its mate may be hanging out more on private property.
Despite that it was a cloudy morning, I was happy to spot this owl. The tell tale signs of the nearby wildlife being upset were not there. Looking at tree holes and knobs of branches helped today. Walk slow and appreciate nature.
Still hoping to see short eared owls up close. I caught these right before sunset. Occasionally you may have to opportunity to see them earlier in the day, but many times they come up an hour or two before sunset.
In hunting mode. They seem to get a lot of voles here.
Short eared owls sleep on the ground, making them susceptible to predators. I heard possibly a coyote got one at this location a few years ago.
Once again I saw an owl and a harrier fighting over food, although I did not include it here.
Just two short eared owls having fun.Sitting on a rock and staring at me.
Again, these owls are very far away and these images are heavily cropped. Regardless I got in a long walk, and it is fun to see them from afar as well.
I saw a sign up for a raptors show when I was on my way to visit a relative. Of course I had to stop. The program was more than halfway through, but I was able to take these photos the short time I was there. It was in the basement of a building so the light situation was not good.
Barred owl
I love barred owls. I have followed a family in the wild for three years. I always say the mother owl found me. She flew right over my shoulder one day when I was walking. I returned to that area every year she makes herself known to me. I feel lucky. Seeing one this close up is great even if the light was bad.
Barn Owl- They said this one is rare in New York. Oddly, I know someone who has seen one in their yard. Their yard borders forest and farms are nearby.
I hope to see a barn owl in the wild, but realise that may be on a to do list for an England trip.
A wild bird rescue introduced these raptors. They are not falconers. I think most if not all of the birds for one reason or another are not capable of being in the wild. They may have been hit by a car, be partially blind, etc.
Two greyish screech owls in front and one reddish one huddled in back. Never got to see much of that one.
I was lucky enough to see one of these in a tree hole in the wild. Again, it was a thrill to see them up close.
BuddiesPeregrine Falcon
I have seen peregrine falcons in the wild. They fly too fast for me to get a picture of one. I only got some of them perched on a cliff.
Your best view of these birds would be through a falconer or a rehabber who has an educational program. Take advantage of one of these programs, especially if you have kids. The children there were mesmerised.
I saw these when I went on a walk. They were very far away. I took these with a zoom lens and the images were heavily cropped. They are not sharp, but most likely the best I will get as I never see these owls up as close as I have seen snowies or barred owls. Maybe someday I will get lucky.
They were flying pretty fast.Two short eared owls having fun between diving for food.A fight with a Harrier. The mole/ vole was dropped. If it wasn’t already dead, it had the flight of its life without a parachute.
Get out an enjoy nature. There is a lot to see out there.
The ongoing saga has been will the barred owlet catch prey on its own. I have witnessed it catching bugs on its own, but nothing else yet. I guess he has to start somewhere.
After the owlet caught a bug on its own, the parent came by and gave it another bug. I am wondering if these are cicadas?
After I saw the owlet catch a bug on his own, one of the parent owls came by and briefly dropped off another bug. The owlet is still making loud screeching sounds though, which will not help him trying to catch other prey such as chipmunks.
These pictures were right before sunset in the dark forest. They have a lot of noise in the photos.
Hopefully the owlet will be able to learn to not give itself away and catch prey that will keep him satisfied. Is that a cicada or beetle he is eating?
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