Urban Hawks

After finally thinking I understood the Central Park Barred Owl, it did something completely different tonight.

It kept looking south before the fly out, when it usually looks north. So, at fly out it went south, down the Point and across the Lake to the trees east of Bethesda Fountain. These trees have roost site for other owls and raptors in the past, and I wonder if it was keeping an eye on another bird. But it certainly could be just that it was changing up hunting teritories.

So, after a nice run of extended post-fly out adventures, the evening was brief.

The Barred Owl had visits from a Cooper’s Hawk and a Red-tailed Hawk in the afternoon, so just before fly out it called four times. It’s wonderful to watch how it uses its entire body to make the call.

After fly out, the owl made a long flight. (Some kids had been playing in the woods near the roost, and I suspect the owl saw that the squirrels that normally explore there had scattered, so the owl skipped this normal stop tonight.)

I lost track of the owl but someone with good vision found the owl, and someone else was kind enough to find me as I had overshot. The owl was on a log, and then next to a stream where later in the year we usually find American Woodcock. It was an area I always skip looking at, but is a logical place to look and I will from now on.

The owl then perched along the frozen stream about 20 feet up, before going to a small tree it uses to hunt rodents. It waited about 20 minutes before going to the ground and out of sight. It returned to the perch after a minute. I think it caught something and quickly ate it on the ground, but I couldn’t see for sure. It then flew north.

Another wonderful night with the owl.

The owl was along the trunk of the Hemlock Tree when I arrived this afternoon. (It has been near the trunk on windy days.) It looked relaxed, so I went off birding. Much to my surprise when I returned, it had flown out early and was perched about 75 feet NW of the roost tree.

The owl was in to rush to go anywhere and kept its eye on about six squirrels. One decided to be a pest coming close to the owl. Two Cooper’s Hawks flew past, but they seemed more interested in each other than the owl.

The hawk then made a number of stops before settling down in the area where feeders are located for about fifteen minutes. I lost track of it but found it over a stream in a small tree that it has used many times before. This area has a regular animal feeder, who also feeds the rodents, so it must be a great place to hunt.

I tried using a 50mm lens tonight, which has a brighter aperture than my telephoto. I was rewarded with some nice flight shots, and a few hunting attempt. I was able to observe the owl until 6:30 p.m., the longest time I’ve been able to observe it.

Before the fly out there was a close pass by a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk and a few minutes later a call from the Barred Owl.

After fly out this evening the Central Park Barred Owl followed a stream from its source, past a pond, and continued to a rustic bridge. For the most part the perches were low along the water, although there were some high perches.

Tonight the Barred Owl was out in an open tree branch across the path from the Hemlock Tree. It has roosted in this spot before.

Before fly out the owl kept track of both a Cooper’s Hawk and a Red-tailed Hawk. The Red-tailed Hawk landed near the owl and it fluffed up to appear bigger. The Red-tailed Hawk flew off, but returned to a tree about 100 feet away.

At fly out the owl went to a tree, it often uses as its first stop and then flew to where the Red-tailed Hawk was perched and pushed the hawk away. The owl then flew down low and we lost it in the low light.

After last night’s long encounter, I was due for a brief post-fly out experience!

The owl was in its regular roost spot in the Hemlock Tree when I arrived this afternoon. So, I birded around the Evodia Field and Shakespeare Garden before returning to the owl roost.

The wind gusts had been so strong, the owl had been forced to a branch just off the main trunk of the tree to keep from being flung around! It worked out nicely for the owl watchers as the bird was much easier to see in this location.

Unfortunately, folks had jumped the fences and walked near where the owl normally makes a first stop, so tonight the owl made a long first hop to a tree. These same folks, then flushed the bird and it flew to a low branch.

Luckily, at this point most observers left and a few respectful birders got to observe the owl. I was able to stay with it for about forty minutes.

It made a small journey to another branch and patiently watched for rodents. It also coughed up a pellet. It must have been in the same tree for at least 20 minutes. It hunted but most likely missed and ended up on a branch a few feet off the ground. After about 5 minutes, it pounced hard on the ground. It was too dark at this point to see if it caught anything, but given the small squeak I heard, I assume it did. After a few minutes the owl then went west towards water.