Great Horned Owl Continues
The Great Horned Owl in Central Park continues to stick around. The owl delighted us with some owl yoga just before fly out.
Category: Owls
Great Horned Owl
Over the last ten days, there have been three Great Horned Owl sightings in Central Park, including one today. Beth Bergman has photographs of the two previous sightings, Friday the 6th and Wednesday the 11th on her blog.
It’s generally rare for the park to have a Great Horned Owl, so it was very interesting when those who had seen the Great Horned Owl on previous days, thought today’s owl might be a different bird than that seen earlier! It’s quite possible since we’re in a peak migration period for owls.
Looking at Beth’s photographs however, I could lean either way. Is it just one bird or more than one?
My Favorite Red Head
I’ve been keeping track of the Eastern Screech-Owl pair in the north woods over the last few weeks. They seem to be doing well, although they were harassed by an owl tour the Monday before last. After the tour the owls switched roost trees and tonight a robin helped me me find the red phased male’s new roost.
Sharp-shinned Hawk and Eastern Screech-Owl
While leaving the Wildflower Meadow, I flushed an immature Sharp-shinned Hawk by accident. I was able to watch its wing beats and see its tail shape to confirm it was a Sharp-shinned, rather than a Cooper’s Hawk. It was just another reminder that summer was almost over. The light was already starting to fail, so the pictures aren’t that great.
It was great to see something completely unexpected. Migrations season can be like that. You think you know what to expect and then you’ll see something unusual.
I did get to see one of the Eastern Screech-Owls in their roost tree. They really seem to have settled down again now that most of the tree removal work is done.
Eastern Screech-Owls Settling Down
The North Woods Screech-Owls seem to have settled down again after all of the storm clean up activity. For about a week they seemed to be all over the place, but now that tree trimming equipment isn’t parked next to their old roost, they’ve returned to their favorite tree.
Keeping track of them has been frustrating. Some nights we don’t hear them and on others they’re very vocal. Most nights we don’t see them, but on some we can watch them fly for blocks. I can’t wait for the late fall, when the leaves will drop and they’ll be easier to find.
Two Wonderful Voices
Tonight, we heard both of the North Woods Eastern Screech-Owls loud and clear. The female called loudly and the male answered. It was great have confirmation that they had both survived the storm.
I took some more pictures of the storm damage. Although lots of trees were lost, luckily they were scattered throughout the North Woods. Once the damaged trees are removed the park will not look too scarred.
Doug Blonsky, the President of the Central Park Conservancy has issued an appeal for funds to help with the clean up. Details are on Marie Winn’s blog.
