April 28th, 2006
owl at sunset
After checking on the progress of the wood frog eggs, we were were surpised to see the Long-eared Owl perched in the top of a Poplar tree, illuminated by the late afternoon sun. It seems that this owl is becoming comfortable with our presence on the trails around the farms.
Tags: Long-eared Owl, Asio otus
April 28th, 2006 at 11:54 am
Bev – that is so lovely it makes me want to cry. I love hearing our owls, mostly barred owls, and they can get very chatty with insane cackling giggling, but I very seldom see one. I’m just gonna have to sit down somewhere near dusk and wait.
Early one morning, several years ago, I was listening to Great Horned Owls and started practicing my calls just to hear their responses. The responses got closer and closer, and as the sky was lightening, I could see silhouetted against the sky at the tops of the pines half a dozen of them looking down at me. Whoa!
April 28th, 2006 at 1:00 pm
Wayne – we feel so fortunate to have these owls around the farm this year. The owl in the tree tops at sunset was especially beautiful.
I think you’re right about having to sit somewhere at dusk to wait for them to appear. Last night, right around dusk, I saw a large owl flying up the path through the woods right behind out house — not sure of the ID though. The only way we’ve found owls in the past has been, for the most part, by watching for birds flying far ahead of us when we’re walking in the woods. Owls are usually so observant and shy, that they move on ahead along a trail long before we reach them. As they seem to pick favourite trees for perching, we then watch that tree on future visits and often see the owl perched above us if we approach slowly and quietly. Even with all of this, we don’t see all that many.
April 28th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
Amazingly beautiful, Bev. As always, thank you for sharing your findings with us. It’s always a treat to see what you’ve recently seen.
April 28th, 2006 at 8:19 pm
Bev– I echo what Wayne and Randa said. That owl is such a beautiful sight. The light on her is truly magnificent. It does make me want to cry. Something that beautiful always does.
April 28th, 2006 at 11:46 pm
Randa – Thanks. I enjoy being able to share some of what I see when i’m out and about.
RD – I think what is so special about this photograph (to me), is that I never expected to see an owl perched in the tree tops where it would be bathed with light at sunset. The owl looked entirely different than on any of the other occasions when Ive seen it.