And, speaking of owls…
… and we were — always — this Great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) was giving us the eye from our big backyard pine tree, right at sunset tonight. The Gila woodpeckers, doves, and local hummers — both Anna’s and Black-chinned — were really ticked off at the eminence tigre, and zoomed and hovered threateningly. I’m unable to report if the owl even noticed.
The noise of the scolding yard birds, and the nervous upward glances of the “wild” African collared dove, Hoover, tipped us off.
<< Great horned owl (Photo A.Shock)
Hiding behind a shred of pine-bough seems to be a mere formality for the large owl. It’s probably looking for another Desert cottontail, to follow up the one it helped itself to part of on the weekend, leaving the rest of the bunny for the resident raccoons.
They ARE imposing…
barn owl update: they seemed to have moved to nest #2 across the yard. Female seen lurking inside entrance hole daytime, and coming out onto the perch at deep dusk (so dark that binocs are almost impossible). The adults have been so quiet I don’t know they’re there, but with a little one screeching for dinner, the nest apparent. Very troubling are the two (at least) GH owls who are calling back & forth from the euc branches just 20 yards away. We”l just have to see how things go…I’m hoping at least the GH are doing some rodent hunting at the back of the lot.
Great horned proximity to barn owls is always a bit worrisome, but I just came from a place where the two species were apparently co-existing, so far, within a few hundred yards of each other (at Dead Horse Ranch State Park). So, as you say, keep your fingers crossed that the GHOWs are getting enough rodent to keep them from snacking on Barn owlets!
[…] but she ignored them. She looked at me, and looked away, bored. She might be the same one I took photos of last year in our big pine tree; maybe, maybe […]