Tag: owl

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.

Barn Owl

I have always wanted to see a barn owl. We do have them in New York, but the Ebird reporting site protects the location of where they are sighted as they do exist, but are rare in the state. Going to a castle in England was my best shot at seeing one of these owls.

Some castles have many different activities to bring in money. They may have tours, host large concerts, put on Medieval or other historical shows, have high end lodging, etc. However, my favourite event to see are the falconry shows.

This falconry show at Warwick Castle does not disappoint. They had four falconers flying the birds. They had owls, falcons, hawks and eagles. Unfortunately it was raining that day. I did remove the raindrops from these photos. However, it messed with my autofocus and most of the flight shots did not pan out. I think the size of the owl came into play as well.

If I ever return to England, I hope to spend a few days visiting this castle. They have many shows and multiple falconry shows a day. I would also like to see a barn owl in the wild some day. Have a great rest of your week.

Unexpected Owlets

These are an unexpected find. It is an unexpected location for many reasons that I cannot go into detail about.

Unexpected Owlets screaming for parents and most likely food

The weather has been absolutely horrid. Very cloudy most of the time it seems, so it makes for very dark conditions amongst a group of trees. The photo at the bottom I actually got caught in a passing rain storm.

Unexpected Owlets – Two in the hole

I actually heard the sounds days before I saw them at the tree hole. The first few days they did not appear at the tree hole. I walked on all sides of this tree and the sound appeared to come from the other side of the tree no matter what side of the tree I was on. I concluded it had to be inside the tree. I even had a friend listen to a video of the sound to confirm it was an owlet. I never heard them make these sounds inside the tree hole, only after they ventured out of the hole. Then I saw one on a different day appear at the hole. On another day I saw two heads. It almost appeared the one would push the other out.

Unexpected Owlets- It was raining and I had to leave.

All of these photos, but especially the one on the bottom are taken in very low light conditions at a high ISO. Even in a location you would never think an owl would nest, they might. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Barred Owl Open and Shut

The barred owl has a facial disk. The disk is composed of feathers that grow around the owl’s head. These feathers help make the bared owl a skilled hunter. These feathers they say help direct sound to the bird’s ears. They say it is the same effect as cupping your hands behind your ears. The disk feathers allow them to hear the movement of a mouse in the grass, the flapping of feathers in the night, or the slithering of a snake in a tree or on the ground.

Barred Owl Open and Shut- In a brief window of light from the setting sun
Barred Owl Open and Shut- Cloudy

The hunter becomes the hunted in the Pacific Northwest. The government wants to cull barred owls. The barred owl is being blamed for the decrease in population of the spotted owl. The barred is more indigenous to the east coast, but has been moving over the the Pacific Northwest. Therefore, the US Fish and Wildlife wants people to kill 500,000 of them. It is very controversial as it will eliminate a species in one area to save another. What do you think?

The Barred are Back!

This pair has been in and out of public land at one of the many places I hike. It has mostly been outside of public land past two years. Too many things have happened and continue to happen that keep them on private lands. Tonight the pair crossed the border into public land.

The Barred are Back!

I actually saw one of them on Sunday morning. I was looking at another bird and the owl made one of the many sounds a barred owl makes. Turns out it was in a neighbouring tree. I would like to think it was saying hi!

The Barred are Back!

I have not heard any of the usual telltale signs they are near in the past several months such as the complaining of robins, bluejays, chipmunks, etc. Birds complain when a hawk or owl is nearby. Tonight was the first time I heard the signs, but it was well after I saw it.

The Barred are Back!

The pictures above and below are at sunset. It actually caught something on the ground and carried it to a neighbouring tree to its mate. The mate ate a little then carried it off towards private land. I think they will only be occasional opportunities on the fly to see them again this year.

The Barred are Back! It caught something on the ground right after this picture.

I hope I see them again in the future. This was unexpected, but great nonetheless.

Short-Eared Owl Grand Finale

These pictures were taken recently in what may have been the short-eared owls last day here. A big event happened and that may have driven them back up north to Canada. The season started out with not much luck for me, but ended with a bang.

Short-Eared Grand Finale- Sat on a post and lingered for a while

I did not have much luck until sometime around mid-February and had more luck after the time change. On weekends in winter the place is mobbed and the behaviour of some of the photographers I believe keeps them far away from where we are allowed to stand. I say some, not all. Most respect the rules of the location and the animals. The short-eared owls usually leave sometime in March, but they stayed until past mid-April. People were hoping they were going to stay year round. (I went to another location yesterday and I was told it was a great year for short-eared owl viewing there as well).

Short-Eared Grand Finale- They seem to stretch themselves out like this before they fly. Light changed while it was lingering here.

One owl would land on trees, various posts and do close fly-bys. I among others believe it was the same owl every time. When I say close fly-bys I mean within 5-10 feet of you. I hope the same owl returns next year. Otherwise, I enjoyed it while it lasted mid-February through mid-April. Seeing an owl close up was not a daily occurrence. Sometimes it would come up to a nearby post or do fly-bys when there was low light. If the conditions were not right you would not see them close or at all.

Short-Eared Grand Finale- Take off from the post

One thing I learned and it seems to be true is the short-eared owls do not like wind over 10 miles and hour. It was rare to see them fly when the wind was above 10 mph. I believe on this night it was not promising, but a cloudy day changed into one with no clouds at the horizon and it made for good light after 6. The winds also died down. Right around the time for these two events we started to see them pop up and fly.

Get out and enjoy the wildlife that reside in your state! Have a great rest of your week!

Short-Eared Owl on the Ground

The short-eared owl was in a new spot tonight. I am convinced it is the same owl every time one lands on posts etc. This time it landed on the ground next to the parking lot. The wind had picked up and it settled there for a long time looking to be in a not so happy mood. They do not seem to like winds above 10 miles an hour.

Short Eared Owl on the Ground

Yes, I felt the earthquake today. I was on the third floor of my workplace. The building shook for about 20 seconds or so, the floor seemed to shake, and there was a rumbling noise. I was surprised it was only a 4.8, but there appears only be some minor damage in places such as cracks on walls and water in basements. I did not feel any of the aftershocks. The were less intense. The one most likely to be felt I think occurred around 6 p.m., but I was watching this owl by then and was further away. Have a great weekend.

Short-Eared Owl Post Hopping

There were maybe 3-4 other cars at around 4 p.m. The others left, then I saw two owls on the far side of the field come up and do short flights spaced.

Short-Eared Owl Post Hopping

Later, as cars started to arrive, one flew and landed on one post and stayed for a long time. The post was far out, so no pictures here. However, when it flew, (as its audience was growing again) it flew back and forth over the trail and landed on various posts on both sides.

Short-Eared Owl Post Hopping. This post is close to the trail. Its my favourite one the owl lands on for that reason.

By my count it landed on four different posts, at least one of them multiple times.

Short-Eared Owl Post Hopping

It flew rather close to the parking lot and the trail.

Short-Eared Owl Post Hopping Back to my favourite post

Despite the cloudy, overcast sky they came out before sunset and at least one of them gave us quite a show. Anything is possible even on a cloudy, dreary day.

Short-Eared Owls at Sunset

You never know if a day will be good or bad. You never know if you will be standing in the right area. You never know for sure the light will be good. The light was good before sunset and I was really hoping they would come to the area I parked myself to watch the short-eared owls..

Short-Eared Owls at Sunset

I saw two short eared owls far away in front of me. Then one flew towards where the viewing platform was. It seemed to be lingering so I walked over. It was on a post, but all pictures I took it had its back to me. Finally it flew off the post and flew closer to me. Only the first few shots after it flew from the post were in focus. Maybe I would have better results if I took the zoom down from 600 to 200- 300. I switched from a lower shutter speed to a higher one quick without looking. I figured out later it was too high -1/4,000.

Short-Eared Owls at Sunset

Maybe I can account for that higher than desired ISO when I eventually get a program to remove noise. It was nice to see them in this light, if but only for a couple of minutes. Have a great weekend and get out and enjoy nature!

Short-Eared Owls Out and About

After stopping by after work yesterday and not seeing any owls, there was already short-eared owls out and about when I arrived in the parking lot at around 5 p.m. today. Evidently they were out around 4:00 or prior to that busily hunting .

Short-Eared Owls out and About – First pictures in tree

I could see the owl in the tree from the parking lot, but I like moving along. The owl stayed in the tree for a while.

Short-Eared Owls Out and About

Right after I started walking up the trail I saw one owl very close to the trail. Unfortunately I was not prepared and had my camera set around 1/500 or a second. The above photo has blurred wings but otherwise not too bad.

Short-Eared Owls Out and About

The above was also taken at 1/500 of a second.

Short-Eared Owls Out and About

It was getting too dark shortly after this photo above. There are two other kinds of owls at this location. A great horned owl had a lot to say tonight. We can’t get close to them at this location.

I believe at one point there were 4 short eared owls flying around in this one area of the trail. There were only 3-4 people photographing in this area. After yesterday I was thinking they may have left for Canada, but they are still here. This made my day. Have a great weekend!