Owls

Where’s LEO?

On Christmas Eve day, we had three Long-eared Owls in their favorite tree.  But on Christmas day, I  could only see two.  Where’s LEO number 3?

The three Long-eared Owls
No. 1
No. 2
No. 3
The most visible of the two on Christmas day.
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Owls

Eastern Screech-Owls on Christmas Eve

I watched an Eastern Screech-Owls fly out on Christmas Eve.

This one stayed asleep for the longest time.
Then after being awake for a few minutes.
Like magic, there was a switch.
Hello owl number two.
It’s amazing how owls change shape.  Look at this photo and the one above it.  See how the feathers puff out to create what looks like a chin.
Always a look right and a look left before fly out.
First fly out.
Then very quickly the other owl appears.
And a fast fly out.
Everyone is gone.
I couldn’t photograph them, but we had two copulations tonight.
The owls scoped out their old cavity from last year.  This one watched as the other one went in.
They stayed around but it was cold, so we left before they did.  A rare event.
Other Red-tailed Hawks, Owls

Hawk and Owl

Today, I saw a hawk and an owl.

I started out doing a sweep around the pair of Eastern Screech-Owls, where we’ve lost track of one of the owl’s daytime roosts.  I started out at a tree I thought was a likely candidate, and heard two crying squirrels.  I looked around and saw a first-year juvenile Red-tailed Hawk finishing up a meal.  The prey had already been well eaten at this point, so I couldn’t figure out what was for dinner.

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I went down to the regular cavity and there was no sign of an Eastern Screech-Owl until quite late.  There was this first glimpse at 4:42.
A real look didn’t occur until almost 5:00 p.m.   I don’t know if it was the extra light from the reflection off the icy snow or the cool temperatures that delayed the fly out.
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We had the usual look left, look right exploration of the suroundings.  The fly out was at 5:19 p.m.  I missed the actual fly out and could not find the bird after it had left the cavity.
Other Red-tailed Hawks, Owls, St. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks

Owls and Hawks

On Saturday, I started birding at the Long-eared Owls.  Both were visible.

The most visible owl
The second owl, which is usually impossible to photograph finally had some light.
More of the shy owl

I then when north, trying to do a practice run for the Central Park Bird Count.  On my way north I found an adult Red-tailed Hawk that was having fun scaring the hundreds of Grackles north of the Reservoir.

As I kept track of the Red-tail, I ran into a Screech-Owl.  Needless to say, I was side-tracked by the owl for the rest of the afternoon.

Is there one or two?
An unhappy Chickadee
Keeping track of a Red-tailed Hawk.
Just before fly out.
An empty roost?
Not exactly.  There were two owls in the cavity.
One of the owls after fly out.  I couldn’t figure out if it was the first or second to fly out.