Central Park Snowy Owl 2021, Owls

Snowy Owl In The Snow

On Thursday night, February 4th, I had a Zoom meeting and then ate dinner. I saw reports of the Snowy Owl being seen again in Central Park, so I decided to visit the park around 9:00 pm.

I ran into a person who I’ve met a few times at the Evodia Feeders and one of the Barred Owls. This person said the owl had just left and was headed north.

I tried to think like an owl and thought a large snowy field would be a likely spot to relocate the owl. After some walking around, the person I had bumped into by chance found the owl. Wire fencing was in the way of our view, and we started to walk towards a low fence. The snow had an icy crust and the crunch was enough to make the owl move on. (I felt horrible that I had flushed the owl, but we had been more than 150 yards away and I didn’t realize the snow was crunchy. Accidents like this happen even if you’re careful!)

It would have been great to just have seen the owl for a few seconds, but luck was on our side. We walked around the area and scanned the fields. My new acquaintance said, “There’s the owl, oh sorry it’s a snowman.” But I had already lifted my binoculars and I said, “Yes that’s a snowman, but the owl is right next to it.” Luckily the heavy markings of this bird make it easy to pick up in snow.

The Snowy Owl was eating a Brown Rat in the snow. The light was very dim, and we were about 250 yard away but somehow my camera was able to pick up the owl in the low light. The images won’t win any awards, but they will give you an increadible insight into what this owl is up to in the park.

We were about to watch the owl for over an hour and twenty minutes. It took its time eating the rat. It then cleaned its beak and talons in the snow and then did some playful short flights before flying off.

I’ve been lucky to have had many magical moments with nature. But this ranks in the top ten. To see a Snowy Owl eat a rodent, in the middle of Central Park was unreal. If I hadn’t recorded it, you won’t believe me if I told you the adventure.

Owls

Barred Owl Continues to Surprise

The Barred Owl seemed back to a relaxed roost after a few day of high winds and show. It was in a standard perch, did its normal stretches, and then made a few calls before flying out.

It made some quick long flights, and I was surprised we kept up with it as long as we did. It visited areas I haven’t seen it in before. It was in much higher perches than normal. I suspect after two days of snow, it was on patrol duty, rather than worrying about a quick meal tonight.

Owls

Snow Day

The Barred Owl flew out north tonight in a snowstorm. It seems to be doing fine with the snow, but while I saw it concentrate of hunting, it didn’t seem to be going after anything.

It called two times and I was able to follow it to three perches before it gave me the slip.

Owls

Lesson Learned

On about a third of the nights I’ve watched the Central Park Barred Owl, I’ve lost track of it. Tonight, I learned my mistake. It’s always about prey, not location.

The night started like many others. With the calmer winds, the owl was on a standard perch, and made one call. It took a few steps west and stretched, the standard one wing down, the other wing down and both wings back stretches before flying out.

The bird quickly made long flights west northwest, much farther than I would have expected. But once the owl got to its final perch to hunt I understood why. This section of the park the owl uses as home base, has three people who feed lots of food to birds, squirrels and sometimes raccoons. Each feeding location, due to the excess food, also has colonies of rats.

I’ve always ignored looking around tonight’s hunting location because it is brightly lit and has lots of foot and electric cart traffic. I thought no owl would want to be out in the open in the bright light. But for the owl this location is a buffet, and in the trade off between privacy and food, food clearly was winning.

So, I’ve learned my lesson. It’s all about prey.

The photographs all used the lighting that was there. The street lights, two electric cart lights and the focus assist light of an older DSLR being used by another photographer. I didn’t add any.

Owls

Cold Day

The Central Park Barred Owl was on a very low branch today. It got sunlight and being next to the trunk wasn’t being blown in the wind. Two squirrels gave it a hard time before fly out, but otherwise we saw then normal stretching and preening.

The owl flew southwest and hunted near where a man feeds pigeons and sparrows, and indirectly rats. We hear a noise that was hard to find. But the owl located the source, a squirrel at the top of a dead tree limb. It was the next stop for the owl. After a few attempts to catch the squirrel, the owl then flew west and we lost track of it.

Central Park Snowy Owl 2021, Owls

Snowy Owl In Central Park

A Snowy Owl spent the day in Central Park’s North Meadow today. It roosted on the ground between 3rd Base and the Home Plate of the number four field. Luckily for the owl these fields have been fenced off for the winter, and with the help of the Urban Park Rangers, everyone respected the owl and stayed far away. The only exception was someone who choose to illegally fly a drone above the owl.

The owl also had to contend with a Cooper’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawks and American Crows, who all would have been happy to see the owl move on.

As has become his habit, David Barrett choose to exploit the owl and promote it over social media with his twitter based Manhattan Bird Alert, as well as with his press contacts. While this specific owl was safe today, Mr. Barrett’s continued promotion of owl locations without also promoting owl watching ethics frustrated many of the city’s bird watchers.

At dusk, the owl flew around two of the ball fields, using the backstops as perches, as well the infields before flying off to the southeast.