A Great Horned Owl was found in Central Park today. I came late in the day so I could see the fly out. By the time I arrived the owl, which had been harassed by Blujays, was now high in a tree and tough to photograph. But the owl moved now and then, and I got some good looks. I was able to see the owl preen, do some pre-flight stretches, and then fly out.
There was a Great Horned Owl in Central Park on Wednesday. There are concerns by many Central Park birders that owl safety is being compromised for “twitter likes” and so I thought it might be good idea to wait a few days before posting these photos.
A Northern Saw-when Owl was in Central Park today. It may be an owl that over wintered in the park or a migrant. I was surprised to see one so late in the year. But I looked up the frequency of Northern Saw-when Owl sighting over the last twenty year in Manhattan on eBird.org, I discovered Northern Saw-when Owls are seen until mid-April, with late March being a peak period for sightings.
I’ve avoided photographing a specific Northern Saw-when Owl for over a month because I’ve felt I had to be too close to the owl to photograph it without disturbing it. On Wednesday, during a brief but at times intense snow squall, the bird was on a new branch and could be photographed from a safe distance. The owl was wide awake after being bounced around rather intensely by high winds. The tree was pushed eight feet by the winds at one point.
Tonight, as the temperature quickly dropped below freezing the Great Horned Owl held on in very high winds. What a way to wake up! It coughed up two pellets one after another. Otherwise it was tough night for owl watching, with the owl quickly going out of view at fly out.
Just when Owl mania seemed to be over, three species of owls were reported in Central Park today, Great Horned, Northern Saw-whet and Barred. Only the Barred Owl was easy to photograph from a distance, so I choose to watch it. It was calm, except when two Red-tailed Hawks and a group of Blue Jays were nearby.
