The Great Horned Owl that has been seen in Central Park this fall, has been shifting trees as the ones she has chosen to roost in lose their leaves. She’s now using the last tree in the area that still has some leaves. It will be interesting to see where she ends up, once this tree is bare.
I worry about the noise bird watchers make when looking at the Great Horned Owl, but today the major noise was from above in the form of a mob of crows and an airplanes. At first it was four crows who arrived, landed above the owl and sure got it’s attention.
After things settled back down again, a slow flying airplane with a banner saying “I Love You Raymond ♥ Nana”, circled the park a few times. The noisy plane really annoyed the owl. It’s a really strange way to say you love someone by to hire an advertising plane, on the same weekend the global climate deal was signed. Let’s hope Nana also bought some carbon offsets to show Raymond her love!
We saw a pellet regurgitated, and it was recovered by a biologist who was watching the owl. Fly out was early and I was able to follow the owl to five more perches before losing her.
This afternoon started a little slow. The Great Horned Owl was in usual spot around 2:30, and I was thinking what am I going to do until fly out at dusk? Luckily, a mature Cooper’s Hawk arrived and the owl decided to fly over to it to show it “who was boss”. Then the Cooper’s Hawk started calling and decided to try and show the owl who was boss. They ended up shifting from perch to perch a few times. There was no contact and it just a lot of bluster but fun to watch.
The Cooper’s Hawk left but returned about an hour later to make it’s presence known. This time the owl just ignored it.
While preening, the owl broke off a branch and chewed on it. It might have been using it to clean it’s beak. It was hard to tell.
The Great Horned Owl continues to be seen in Central Park. It would be great if it stayed around for the Christmas Bird Count. Tonight it few to a nearby tree and we watched it for about five minutes before it flew briefly to another tree and then out of sight.
Central Park was delightful this afternoon. After visiting the reservoir to see the Ring Necked Duck that’s been hanging around the southeast corner, I found a Peregrine Falcon perched on the south tower of The Eldorado.
Soon after, I found a Red-tailed Hawk in the Pinetum, who was joined by a second hawk. They circled over Seneca Village before moving out of sight.
My last bird of the day was the Great Horned Owl that has now been in the park for three weeks.
At the risk of being repetitive, here are some more photographs of Central Park’s Great Horned Owl. I’m off to Los Angeles for Thanksgiving, so you’ll have a break from owl photos for a week! Tonight the owl explored the tree it was roosting in, by jumping/flying to three additional perches before flying out for the evening.
