Snowy Owl Season
Welcome back to Snowy Owl season! I took these photographs of a very calm and sleepy Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) today at Silver Sands State Park in Milford, Connecticut. One had been reported about a week ago in the area, though it was not seen again until the last couple of days. I was able to go over and briefly enjoy this bird sitting on a rock jetty along Long Island Sound with a few other birders. It was in the perfect place to be seen and not disturbed, and unknowing folks taking a walk or jogging were mostly on the nearby boardwalk and far enough away from the owl so that it did not...
Read MoreBarred Owl (Strix varia)
This Barred Owl (Strix varia) saw me long before I saw it, monitoring my movements from afar while perched in this tree on a cloudy May morning. Those enormous dark eyes tracked me in a relaxed fashion as I was still rather far away when I noticed it. I had been watching several warblers and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher before my eyes stumbled on this slightly larger species. Barred Owls are, of course, usually snoozing during the day, but not always – and the spring season is when I have seen them the most active diurnally. This bird did not wake up because I was there, nor was it sleepy....
Read MoreSnowy Away
This is about the best photo of a Snowy Owl that I could get in the last couple of weeks. They have been elusive, to say the least, even when nearby. Most of that time I have encountered the far more wary individual – one of two hanging out for the winter in the Stratford Point area – and it has been certainly as jumpy as ever lately. On Tuesday it was chased off by crows before anyone noticed it hunkered down in the grasslands. The shot here is the result of it flying off last week before I could even raise my camera between the door and body of my Jeep from hundreds of feet...
Read MoreSnowy Owl
Welcome to winter! It took a while, but we are really feeling it now, with more to come this January as we look at long-range weather models. Here are a few more upland photos of the Snowy Owl that I enjoyed last Friday on a much warmer day without any snow. As we get deeper into the season we will inevitably see a few more winter birds…additional Rough-legged Hawks? Perhaps finally some of those record-setting Common Redpolls that were pouring south in Canada during autumn? It seems to be a down season for irruptive passerines, but I have to think we will at least have more backyard...
Read MoreSnowy Owl Eyes
The Snowy Owl currently delighting the Connecticut shoreline stopped by Stratford Point again today, and I took a few minutes to take some shots of our friend. This bird first visited us 11 days ago, and it has made the lighthouse its home at times. Today it was sitting on the tip of the bluff as it was during its initial visit, and I was able to get some closer photos. These were taken at 500mm and are extremely cropped. I have plenty of photos with its eyes mostly shut, and my point is that the bird was not alarmed by our presence – I just chose to share the shots showing its...
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