Troutbirder II

Troutbirder II
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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Owls

As all the birders know, this winter, from Maine to Minnesota, Montana and Washington State, there has been a big snowy owl irruption. These beautiful artic birds have been coming south in unusual numbers to the delight of many..... except me. It isn't that I haven't tried to see my first one. It just hasn't happened. So take a look at just a few of the many that Montanagirl http://girlinmontana.blogspot.com/ has been able to take. She is the greatest.
Although I had seen more than a few Great Horned Owls during my trout fishing days, it wasn't till a little screech owl showed up in a woodduck house that I'd placed in my woods, when I began paying close attention.




















This Barred Owl, from LoieJ in Northern Minnesota, reminds me of the first one I'd ever seen. It was a more southerly version in Audobons Corkscrew Sanctuary in Florida. Many years ago when making our annual summer trip flyfishing in Montana, my youngest son and I did manage to see a great grey owl high in a Ponderosa pine above us.



























My most recent rare owl sighting came just a couple of weeks ago. I had joined topgun Minnesota birders, John Hockema, Andy Nyhus and Gary Erickson for the annual Golden Eagle survey sponsored by the National Eagle Center. A Golden Eagle didn't turn up on our assigned route that day, but amazingly Andy spotted a Long Eared Owl, buried in a dense thicket, as we zipped by in his pickup. With his highpowered camera, he managed to get the following photograph. To see more of his work... http://www.andrewnyhusphotography.com/

The Long Eared Owl was a "lifer" for me. Owls - wise and mysterious. You gotta love them.....

23 comments:

  1. I belong to a birding email list here in Bellingham, and I've seen some of the most amazing pictures of owls this winter. But your incredible long eared owl I have never seen before! Thanks for the links, and oh Happy Valentine's Day! Have a bit of chocolate for me, please. :-)

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  2. I do so love the owls. Lucky you! Best wishes to the Missus. Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day.

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  3. Its nice to get a sighting any time for me.

    Spent a lot of time at Hayden Prairie.

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  4. i'm lucky to have the barreds here. montanagirl ROCKS the snowys!!! :)

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  5. The pictures of the snowy owl are wonderful -- I hope you will be able to get one on your list soon. I haven't had much success with owls at all.

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  6. Wonderful photos..that last one of the Long Eared is fantastic..what lucky people to have captured the owls so well in photos. I would be happy to see an owl..we here one sometimes at night..but I have not seen him or her.
    Thanks for leaving me a comment..so glad to here that Mrs T is recovering..and you are taking her out for Valentines Day! Happy Valentines Day to you both! :)

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  7. Oh my, you really sang my praises! Thank you!! Your Owl photos are really nice. That Long-eared Owl is a pretty shot. And I really like your Great Gray Owl. I have never seen one of those, and only one Long-eared in the 10 years I've been back here.

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  8. All Owls are neat but that Snowy Owl is just beautiful.
    BTW, thank you for the ID on my post. I knew you would know.

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  9. Great pics! This post reminds me of a book I just read recently. I know you are reader so you might like it too - altho' it's a children's book ( I happen to really like Children's books myself). Anyhow - by some chance that you might be interested, it's called "Adopted by an Owl." Pretty interesting/amazing very short story.

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  10. Great photos of a beautiful bird. I've had a Northern Flicker on my suet bar this week, along with many finches, pine siskins, Oregon Juncos, and titmice -- of course many ravens and crows, but have not seen owls, although I hear them ocassionally.
    Hope all is well with Mrs. T!

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  11. Great photos!! Thanks for sharing. I have yet to get an owl picture...I hear them at night when it's nice enough to be out on the next in the dark. ...but never see them.
    Hope you and Mrs. T are have a great Valentines Day!!!

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  12. The snowy owl is a beauty. I hand not heard about their abundance up there. It is wonderful when they do things like that. I hope that by winter's end that you see one too. We have been have some American eagles flying around and over the town in which we live but I have not seen one yet.All we normally see is turkey buzzards or red tailed hawks.

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  13. I love owls and hear them sometimes on our farm, but I haven't seen one! Maybe in the near future!

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  14. amazing and wonderful!

    i don't get to see many owls up here....usually i only "feel" them as they swoop in the dark.
    WHOOSH! SWOOP! and then they are long gone from sight....

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  15. You sure do have a pretty dog, TB. There are quite a few owls around here; one has been hooting at me every morning as I take my son to dialysis at 6:30 AM. He keeps saying: "There is always hope."

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  16. Aren't owls just the most beautiful creatures? I love them! Those Snowy owls are just fantastic. I saw 2 on the drive home from Regina two weekends ago but of course, my camera was at home! Isn't that always the way? Well let us hope you and I get the chance to see them ~ with our cameras in hand!!! :)

    I hope you and your love had a wonderful Valentine's day my friend! Wishing you both good health!

    xo Catherine

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  17. This post makes me want to get outside and start looking for owls. Last week I was driving the country roads on the way to visit my mother. Saw an owl sitting on one of the lower branches of a big tree. Had my camera and so I turned the car around to go back for a picture. Got out of the car, slowly walked closer to the tree...only to find out it was a big plastic owl mounted to the limb. Dang, I felt stupid!

    donna

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  18. What great shots!
    We just released a barred owl last week... will send you a shot.

    Would LOVE to see another snowy. Oh my!

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  19. What a nice collection of photographs! It was so nice of the photographers to let you use them! How nice to have seen all those owls. I have seen all but the Great Gray. However, I have only seen Long-eared owls once long ago in Colorado and since I currently don't have a date to match the sighting it is not on my eBird life list. Owls are magnificent birds and Montana Girl's photo of the snowy is outstanding! Very Nice post!

    Thank you for the kind comment you left on my blog. It meant a lot to me.

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  20. I heard barred owls calling this afternoon when I was at the park. I have not seen a snowy owl since I was a little girl living in New Hampshire. Tennessee is way too south for them.

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  21. I've heard about the snowy owl being seen farther south than usual. Unfortunately, I haven't seen one here, or ever.
    Great owl photos! They are magnificent and fascinating birds.

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  22. Birder friends sent me pics of the snowies sitting on rooftops and yard fixtures in a Helena suburb--I guess there are a lot of rabbits there that attract the owls despite all the people.

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