I saw this barred owl this morning. It was just after sunrise in low light. This photo was lightened a bit. Happy Owloween!
Happy Owloween!
Tag: #OwlsOfNewYork
Another Barred Owl Family
This is a new family for me. I only saw one owl on the side of a rural road when it was getting towards dark, but earlier I had heard two calling back and forth deeper in the woods in the same area. For a few days I have been witnessing the tell tale signs of their presence, but they appeared to be staying deep in the woods when I was there. Last night I was finally lucky.
This was was pretty close to the edge of the road. All of these photos are lightened and cropped. I also use a zoom lens.
I could not believe how close this one flew behind my car which I was using as a blind. It seemed totally unfazed by me. I think it may be an owl born this past spring. By now they are the same size as their parents and indistinguishable from the older owls. In addition, by now they are on their own. They are hunting for themselves and will move further away, but usually within 8 miles of the nesting tree they were born in. Cornell University banded some owls and they found they did not move any farther away than 6 miles from the tree they were born in.
The owl flew back to the tree. Then another person who pulled over said when it flew eventually further away they saw another owl perched further back. If it was a juvenile, that might have been its sibling. These owls were flying low and luckily this road was in a farming area, so not a lot of traffic, but crossing roads is one of the biggest hazards for owls. Collision with cars are the leading cause of injury and death for owls. Happy Friday!
Welcome Back Shorties!
Short Eared Owls are winter visitors to New York. They spend the warmer months up in Canada and Alaska, but end up coming down south for the colder months. We have usually seen them between November and the beginning of March.
I did not expect to get any good images of the owl the day I was there. However, we had a brief window of light between the clouds and a cooperative owl who flew near me during that time period. Don’t you love it when they do that?
Later, when it was just too dark, it flew quite close to me, but alas the images were just too grainy.
Here’s hoping I can see them close up in good light. Have a Terrific Tuesday!
Short-Eared Owl With a Vole Feb. 2025
These are not the best images, but at least I got to see this. If I remember right I was standing in front of the viewing platform when this shorty caught a vole then was immediately chased by a harrier hawk. The short-eared owl flew circles around the platform with the vole then flew off as another harrier hawk joined the pursuit.
As the owl flew off it flew in circles higher and higher until you could not see it anymore. I think the harriers gave up, but I could be wrong.
It all happened so fast it was hard to get focused pictures when you were trying to keep the owl in frame so close and work around the other people standing close to you in the area. As I said, I am just happy to have seen this. There have been no sightings in over a week. We are hoping they left early this year and it is not due to the avian flu. One young eagle south of here along the river recently had it. Have a great week!
Short-Eared Owl Hi!
I understand they have not been seen for a week. It has been very windy. Hopefully, they are still around, otherwise they may have already headed north.
Avian flu is in the area, so hopefully it is not that. Have a great week!
Short-Eared Owl Head On
I love it when the owls fly right towards you, especially in good lighting conditions. Most of the time they come up a little before before sunset, but sometimes they come up earlier.
A quote from Helen Keller:
Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.
In the case of the owls, occasionally they look people straight in the eye. On this large piece of land where people can only stand on a very small section of it, it is great to see the owls come up close to people and look them in the eye. Enjoy your week.
Wakey-Wakey Screech Owl
This screech owl was in a tree close to a little traveled road. Cars stopping in front of the tree did not wake it. Construction vehicles, and aircraft flying around did not awaken it. Other wildlife could not rouse it. It is one heavy sleeper.
I was rooting for this bird, I think a nuthatch, to wake it up. It flew from another nearby tree and proceeded to walk down the owl’s tree towards the hole. I think it thought it was not such a good idea to go further. According to All About Birds:
The Eastern Screech-Owl is known to eat a variety of songbirds, including the European Starling.
This was the closest it got to opening its eyes. This bird must have been tired out from hunting during the night. It could also be a good sleeper. Can you sleep through a variety of noises?
A Windy Day
Usually you do not see short-eared owls on very windy days. Sometimes you are lucky. Since there is ice covering the ground I think that caused some of the shorties to come up well before sunset.
Some used that to their advantage to ride the wind and seemingly hover when they were hunting.
This one landed on a post in front of where we were allowed to stand. Lucky us! It seemed to battle the wind to stay on the post.
Sometimes windy days can be good days. Have a great rest of your weekend.
Short-Eared Flight
The sun was mostly behind the clouds, but we had a few short periods where the sun peaked out for a few minutes and gave us good light. Unfortunately the owls were only up during the last period of a few minutes of good light.
These pictures are from the last period of light, and it flew right in front of the viewing area then past us. I just love it when they are accommodating.
We have parks in NY that are closed due to finding dead geese and they suspect avian flu. I was told a farm locally had to kill all their chickens due to avian flu. Hopefully the owls, eagles, and hawks do not get infected. I wish there was some way we could tell them not to eat birds. Have a great Friday!
Barred Owl January 2025
I usually only see owls deep in the woods and not in open areas. This is a barred owl. I was lucky enough to take a lot of pictures of it in a short time period from the road.
It was on private property. One of the local home owners said they see the owl on their property daily. It rested its eyes on the power lines for a short time. Sometimes they do that to fool the animals in the woods.
It moved to different perches and was actively hunting while I was there. Two or three different times I saw it move from a perch to swoop down in the grass. It was unsuccessful each time. It was great seeing an owl out in the open, despite it being a dark and dreary day.
Off to another perch. I was very happy to come across this owl. A local had mentioned she had seen one here a few times when she passed by, so I checked it out. It is farther away than the two families I followed this summer, so I am sure they are not related.
Stay safe! Stay warm! Have a great rest of your week!
