I went up to a park in the north of Manhattan to see both a Barred Owl and an Eastern Screech-Owl today. The Barred Owl was tucked into some branches and difficult to photograph, so I concentrated on the Eastern Screech-Owl.

After a few nights of not seeing Central Park’s resident Great Horned Owl, and one night where reports were she was flushed by hawks and left the roost early, tonight was back to a very normal schedule. A roost where she was very visible for an hour before fly out, a few hops in the tree, then a flight to the highest tree and a high branch, a few hoots, and then off for the night.

After a few days of not seeing the established Great Horned Owl fly, it was back to a regular roost and fly out. She was in her regular tree, branching to more and more open spots before flying out to two nearby trees before flying south towards The Ramble. It was nice to see her again.

I enjoyed watching a Great Horned Owl tonight and seeing the connection between were the 927 Fifth Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Pale Male or Octavia roost. On the nights either of the Red-tailed Hawks roost in view of the Great Horned Owl, she lingers after fly out and flies between a few high tree branches before finally flying off for the evening away from the hill she has been roosting on.

Central Park’s, now resident Great Horned Owl has found a spot on a hill that is locked for the season, which is a great place to roost. She sometimes switches perches on the hill but always seems to find a spot with afternoon sun.

The video is a bit long, so feel free to skim through it. She did something we’ve seen her do before, with is to “floss” with a thin branch. She’s not flossing of course, but it’s fun to watch her grab the a branch with her beak. She also coughed up a pellet.

Once she changes positions there are lots of opportunities to see her left leg (on the right in the video). You can see the odd angle of the leg, which looks to be a past injury to the “ankle” joint. She’s had this odd angle since she arrived over 11 months ago, and copes with it just fine.

Everyone watching the fly out was quiet for the last few minutes before fly out, in case she hooted and grunted, but tonight she was quiet.

At fly out she hopped around her roost tree before flying to a nearby tree, and then to a second tree.

The hill is nearby where Pale Male goes to roost and she made two passes near his roost tree before flying to the top of a pine tree and then west. I guess it’s a good idea to check on the neighbors.

I went west to look for her without success, but three Eastern Cottontail Rabbits on a lawn in the Ramble were my consolation prize.

On my birthday, December 30th, an American Barn Owl was discovered in Central Park. It was a great birthday present. It was roosting in a pine tree and sadly got flushed by onlookers who had rushed to see it after a twitter alert, jumped a fence and got right under it. It was sad to see the lack of owl watching etiquette.

Luckily it went to a tree on a nearby island and sat calmly for two and a half hours from about 5 pm to 7:30 pm and could be watched respectfully from a distance. However, for some reason a few photographers insisted in pushing and shoving. Bird watching isn’t a rugby scrum. What really bothered me was that I had helped folks to find the owl in the low light, set up my scope and offered views, and then set up my camera and let folks look at my camera’s screen. I really don’t understand why anyone felt the need to push me!

For some reason folks get irrational around owls. The same thing happened today. The park’s visiting Northern Saw-whet Owl was impossible to photograph today, due to today’s perch, but folks insisted on spending hours under it. There is no reason to risk bothering a sleeping bird. On a day like today, go birding elsewhere and return for the fly out if you’re interested in seeing the owl awake.

The American Barn Owl hasn’t been relocated for 48 hours, so I think it’s safe to post pictures.