Its owl season

[Bill Anderson]

The owl flew east to one tree, but quite quickly flew back across the creek and over the path to another tree adjacent to the walkway. For the time being the owl does not mind people and their dogs walking directly under it.


I showed the owl to a woman walking her dog. She said that "some kids" were out looking for owls and she was going to go back and get them. The "kids" turned out to be a Girl Scout troop and several parents who were more than thrilled to actually see an owl. It was getting dark and I know that they would have walked right past (under) it if I had not been there to point it out.


One young girl started playing a barred owl call on a recording device. I asked her to stop as it really agitates the owls. It was certainly not necessary to draw in an owl as one was already present. The call did draw in a second, smaller barred owl which perched nearby.


My last shot of the first (larger) owl before it took off after the second owl.


I'm not sure, but there may even have been a third owl which was drawn in by the electronic owl call.

 

[Terry O]

Great shots, Bill! One of these evenings.....

 

[Bill Anderson]

Great shots, Bill! One of these evenings.....

Remember your comment while we were in the park looking for the owl after lunch?

You won't see it as long as I am here.

Based on what I have seen and heard over the past two days, I wonder if there are more than two barred owls in the park.

 

[JaniceL]

The funny thing about owl hunting is that the owl can be sitting nearby watching you without you ever knowing it.

I believe that is true of many critter shots.

Lovely series.

 

[Terry O]

I think its going to call for an evening visit for me, Bill

 

[Bill Anderson]

The great Yost Park barred owl hunt of 2013 continues.

Terry and I found the owl Tuesday (5/14) morning sleeping on one of its usual perches.
uncropped


cropped


I returned in the evening. The owl flew into the clearing where I have photographed it before and perched on two different trees....
uncropped


cropped


before landing on top of this stump.


The barred owl remained on the stump for only a few seconds before taking off south, where I heard what sounded like two owls hooting. I thought the stump looked too small to be a nest/burrow, but I staked it out anyway in case the owl returned. At times I heard a lot of crows cawing and robins emitting distress calls near me, but I never saw the owl again.

The shot of the stump was taken at 1/125, f/5.6, and ISO 25600 using the camera's high noise reduction (NR) setting. I must experiment with the NR + H1 (51200) ISO settings when I am hunting owls in the park after dark.

Still no signs of baby owls. Does anyone know if barred owls will skip laying eggs for a year or two like bald eagles do?

 

[Christine]

awesome owl shots! i havent a clue to see them around here..

 

[Terry O]

It was a great morning of owl sleuthing with you Bill. As usual my shots are almost identical with yours. With your evening scouting, if there is a nest, I'm sure you will find it.

I will be interested to see how your 5Diii high ISO/NR works. Hope it does. I would not want to use flash in any case for fear of stressing the owls.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Owl

Sunday (5/19) afternoon, one of the resident barred owls was sleeping deep within the foliage of Yost Park. I would never have spotted it if not for:
1) I know the owl's territory,
2) an evil minion of the Dark Lord was raising h*** nearby, and
3) the nice birder lady who was with me had a good pair of binos.

While some may think it is boring to go back to the same site every day, by doing so you gain the advantage of knowing each bird's habits and movements within that site.




I still have not found a nest or owlets.

 

[JaniceL]

So true about going back to the same place and learning the habits. They tend to develop patterns. Love the little eye peaking through the foliage.

I hate to be a downer, but I suspect that finding the nest may be a project for next year as I suspect that they may have fledged. But you might still see the owlets. Listen for their "Feed me!" call.

 

[Christine]

loving all the owl photos!

 

[Terry O]

Persistence will pay off, Bill....

 

[photographmemories]

So, those pics of the owl sleeping, I assume it was up in a tree?

Bill and Terry, the nesting season maybe over and that looks like a smaller owl. I'm wondering if it wasn't an owlet.

Also, with all the time you are putting in at the park, I'm thinking that if you did enough sleuthing, there's probably a person who hangs around there that knows where that nest is.

Did you guys ever confirm an adult Barred owl total for the area?


Chad

 

[JaniceL]

Or is that an eye I see? I'm with Chad, the last two picks could be an owlet.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Bill Anderson]

The great Yost Park owl hunt of 2013 resumed Thursday (5/23) evening.

The incessant distress calls of this guy...


led me to this guy.


The evil minions of the Dark Lord joined the robins in harassing the owl and it took off for the trees high on the south side of the ravine near the service road.

 

[Bill Anderson]

It didn't stay there for very long and flew back to the opposite side of the same tree where I had first photographed it.

It stayed several minutes and provided me with many good shots from the walkway below.




The din of the evil minions of the Dark Lord became too great and it took off to seek cover deep within the thick trees of the ravine's "bottoms."


I saw the mate fly past me. At one point I walked directly under the second owl without seeing it. The two owls called to each other and made more flights between the trees, but it was getting very dark and I was unable to take any more photos.

 

[Bill Anderson]

So, those pics of the owl sleeping, I assume it was up in a tree?

Bill and Terry, the nesting season maybe over and that looks like a smaller owl. I'm wondering if it wasn't an owlet.

Also, with all the time you are putting in at the park, I'm thinking that if you did enough sleuthing, there's probably a person who hangs around there that knows where that nest is.

Did you guys ever confirm an adult Barred owl total for the area?

Chad

Or is that an eye I see? I'm with Chad, the last two picks could be an owlet.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

I think my pics of the owl hidden deep within the tree were those of an adult. They are not very good photos and I only posted them to show how effective the owl is in hiding from the harassing robins and evil minions of the Dark Lord. From what I have read, barred owls are very territorial. Once the owlets are able to fend for themselves, they must leave their parents' territory to boldly seek new territories of their own.

I am always talking to Yost Park regulars and asking them about the owls. To the best of my knowledge, no one has seen any owlets this year. Based on my observations and your photos of the PDX barred owlets, my local pair either had no babies this year or the owlets have already fledged.

 

[JaniceL]

Once the owlets are able to fend for themselves, they must leave their parents' territory to boldly seek new territories of their own.

Actually, it seems they stick around for quite awhile. I remember a few years ago seeing and hearing the family group weeks beyond the owlets losing their downy feathers. They could be heard calling back and forth and flying from tree to tree. But that fuzzy cuteness is gone.

 

[JaniceL]

I was at Ridgefield NWR today and saw there was an Great Horned Owlet and a parent. I didn't think I got a good pictured of it because the light was horrible, but I was able to pull some detail. Too bad he gave me his back side.

 

[Bill Anderson]

I was at Ridgefield NWR today and saw there was an Great Horned Owlet and a parent. I didn't think I got a good pictured of it because the light was horrible, but I was able to pull some detail. Too bad he gave me his back side.

I have all too often experienced our typical horrible PNW lighting, so I consider that to be a good photo. I would love to take that close a shot of a great horned owlet under any lighting conditions.

This year's wide variation in the times our PNW owlets are hatching is quite interesting. The owlets of the resident great horned owl pair at the Nisqually NWR hatched in January and fledged in February. While your PDX barred owlets have already fledged, a friend who has been taking videos of our local owls for many years recently told me that if there are barred owlets in Yost Park, they may still be two weeks from fledging.