The established Central Park Great Horned Owl has found a great tree to hide in. I couldn’t find in the tree during the day but saw it fly out at 5:00 pm.
Today, I was able to find it in the afternoon, and at fly out. She even gave use a few hoots before flying off into the night.
As the leaves drop in the fall, especially after the first frost, our Great Horned Owls end up looking for new trees to roost in during the day. Both Great Horned Owls that have been in the park have been moving around. This one was nicely hidden and in an area that is locked for the winter today. It was in the same roost on Christmas Day. It’s a great place to avoid being bothered by all of the winter visitors to the park during the holidays!
The more recently arrived Great Horned Owl of Central Park, gave bird watchers great view today. It was in a location it had used a few days ago, which proves an unobstructed view of the bird. Those of us crazy enough to watch this owl in the bitterly cold weather had a great time.
While we were watching the owl, an Adult Bald Eagle flew overhead. If the reservoir freezes, we might get to see it land on the ice over the next few days.
Central Park has had a Northern Saw-whet Owl roosting only about ten feet off the ground in a tree, with the exception of one day since Sunday. It has attracted large crowds and has been a sensation on social media. I have avoided the owl for the most part. On Thursday, I got up early to see if I could see it at sunrise, but it had choose a different roost and could not be found.
Today, I went to see if I could get photographs of the owl covered in snow. While I did get some wonderful pictures, it didn’t not get off the owl covered in snow given the gale force winds! I almost got blown over twice, but the little owl hung on tight and was fine.
There were only a few folks watching the owl while I was there. The observers kept their distance, were quiet and enjoyed great looks at the Saw-whet. It was nice to see everyone being so respectful. None of us had to worry about waking the owl up however, as it was wide awake dealing with the wind!
On Tuesday, the newly arrived Central Park Great Horned Owl was easy to watch in great light. It was nice to watch the fly out, but we quickly lost track of the owl as it went north.
A Northern Saw-whet Owl was seen in Central Park today, along with a Barred Owl and two Great Horned Owls, so our fall bounty of owls continues. The question on everyone’s mind is whether this is the same Saw-whet or have we been seeing multiple birds migrate through the park? The general feeling about the five sightings over the last few weeks, is that we might have only one or two unique Saw-whets.
