who goes there?

A few days ago, Don said he saw 2 Long-eared Owls (Asio otus) perched in one of the conifers here at our farm. Since then, he’s been keeping an eye out for them and found a lone owl on a couple of subsequent occasions – always perched in the same conifer. Today, he again found the owl in its tree and watched as it moved across into a nearby aspen. He then came to get me from the house so that I could see and photograph it. We found it right where it was last seen. Unfortunately, there were quite a few branches screening our view, but it was still nice to get a few photos. There have been Long-eared Owls around the farm in past years, but we’d never seen anything to confirm nesting activity. However, it would seem likely that we have a pair nesting somewhere in the woods near this owl’s favourite hang-out spot.

The Long-eared Owl is quite a small, thin bird — the body probably no bigger than a crow. It has very orange-brown facial disks with strong vertical black markings that cross the eye area. Its back seemed sort of like a tweed jacket with a grey and brindle mix. The ear tufts are long and set fairly close together. It flew a couple of times while we were watching. It was very silent and did not fly far, just moving a couple of trees over. It was scolded by a Bluejay, but seemed to ignore it. We’ll try to keep watch for more activity over the next few weeks.

Here’s an information page on Long-eared Owls from The Owl Pages website.

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5 Responses to “who goes there?”

  1. Wayne Says:

    Oh-oh-oh! What a nice catch! And now you have a date and record.

    For the last two months I’ve been hunting down crow-ruckasses hoping to catch site of the target of their hatred. Sometimes it’s hawks, but I’ve really wanted owls. I’ve been looking for barred owl roosts in our floodplain too. No success.

    I had a breath-catching moment last year when I was walking around the house, approached the pond in the woodland garden, and there was a great horned owl sitting in the bald cypress, watching me. Oh my.

  2. burning silo Says:

    Wayne — Yes, you’re right.. a date and a record. I also love to see owls here at our farm. I’ve seen a few over the years. We used to get the odd Snowy Owl sitting on fence posts around our barn in winter. They would perch there hoping to spot rodents in the snow. On Dec. 22, 2004, I photographed this cute little Screech Owl on our front porch railing. For several weeks, we kept seeing something flying up from the steps occasionally when we walked up to our porch, but we could never get a decent look at it. Then, one night, I looked out when the porch lights were off and could see a strange “lump” atop the knob on the railing post. I was pretty sure of what it was, so I got my camera, set the flash on it, then quietly opened the door, stepped onto the deck and shot a photo. Success! (-:

  3. Rexroth's Daughter Says:

    What a fantastic find and a great photograph. I do hope they are nesting nearby. We never see owls here. We’ve gone out on a few hikes specifically to see them, but have come back without a sighting. It is a delight to see this one. What a beauty.

  4. burning silo Says:

    RD – Yes, we think it’s a great find too. I’m quite confident that they are nesting nearby, so I’ll try to watch for owlets later this spring. My main concern right now will be to avoid disturbing them as it looks like they may have chosen to nest somewhere near our main path through the woods. We’ll reroute and walk around the farm another way and try to give them some space. In the same general area, we also found a nesting woodcock a couple of weeks ago. Looks like it will be a bumper year for birds around the farm!! (-:

  5. Wayne Says:

    Oh my! What a very cute little screech owl! Another congratulations is due.

    With our barred owls in such quantity we have very few screech owls around. But I remember in town, where apparently screech owls feel more comfortable, the occasional late night shriek during late winter just outside my open bedroom window as one attempted to scare up some food in the yard.

    I don’t know how sensitive owls are to nesting disturbances. I understand that if they get upset you can get talons in the back of your head without having heard a thing.