Category Archives: Year 8

One Half Year with the Amity Owls

Year 8

Back in mid February I found this year’s Great Horned Owl nest by taking evening hikes and listening for the hoots of owls in love. For three years I have followed the Amity Owls around the Lester / Amity Forest. However, for the past two weeks the owls had made themselves scarce, but that changed two days ago when the now almost fully grown owlets hooted in my yard at 1 am. At 5 am the hoot resumed, and 75 minutes before sunrise I found the owls hunting from the top of some nearby white pines.

Yesterday evening the owls started calling not too long after sunset, which told me a dawn hike was required for this morning. Jackpot! I found two of the five owls. I think the owlets are now only occasionally being fed by the parents, which forces the youngsters to hunt after sunrise till they hone their skills.

Regardless, it was fun to find my friends again this morning …

Bog in the Fog: Great Gray Owl

Year 8

For all those times I have watched Great Gray Owls hunt in sub-zero weather in January with three feet of snow on the ground, this morning at sunrise in Sax-Zim Bog was a unique and beautiful experience. This Great Gray Owl was out hunting after sunrise. The lower light than normal was the result of two conditions:

It is always a privilege to watch a Great Gray Owl hunt. This morning it was also artistic from a photographer’s viewpoint.

Great Gray Owl in Ground Fog … Early Morning Meadow

Great Gray Owl with Forest Fire Smoke Sunrise (very difficult photographs from a technical vantage point … it is difficult to take photos directly into the sun, and still get other items in the image to display)

Great Gray Owl … no fog and not into the sun!

I also took a short video of the owl preening. Notice how wet the bird is! (video link for email subscribers).