Owls

It’s been a good monthlong stretch of owl sightings. We’ve seen 5 or 6 Northern Pygmy Owls, a stunning Long-eared Owl, and a seriously intimidating Great Grey. In each case, these were my first ever sightings in the wild.

The Great Grey sighting was the most dramatic. Obi and I were on our monring walk and I caught a fleeting glimpse of something swooping through the trees – it was 30 minutes before sunrise.

I figured it was an owl, so I ventured off trail to see what i could see. I noticed a huge bird-shaped figure at the top of a nearby Ponderosa pine sillouetted by the dawn sky. No ear tufts- must be a Grey or a Barred.

It gracefully dropped off the treetop and flew withing 20 feet of me in complete silence. I was able to get a short, dark video capture of the encounter and figured that was that.

At the end of the walk as we came back to the car and there he was again- sitting on a tree branch looking all intimdating. He let me take about 100 images and then I left him alone.

Amazing encounter.