Well-hidden Long-eared Owl: February 26, 2022

This is the first winter in which I have led walks at Downsview Park. Today was my 6th and final winter walk here. During each of the first 5 walks, we spotted at least one owl and sometimes more. Here are some of them:

Short-eared Owl
Long-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl
Long-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl
Long-eared Owl

I was beginning to think that no owl would appear today as we carefully inspected every clump of coniferous trees in which I had previously observed an owl. No luck – no luck – no luck, until finally we found a Long-eared Owl almost entirely hidden from view. Here it is:

Long-eared Owl
Long-eared Owl
Long-eared Owl
Long-eared Owl
Long-eared Owl
Long-eared Owl

Other birds:

American Tree Sparrow
Rock Pigeons
American Tree Sparrow
Rock Pigeons
American Tree Sparrow
Rock Pigeons
Dark-eyed Junco (male)
American Robin
Dark-eyed Junco (male)
American Tree Sparrow
American Robin
American Tree Sparrow
Northern Cardinal (male) and American Tree Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow

Today’s group:

near the owl

The American Tree Sparrow has a very high pitched song which has been compared to that of a Song Sparrow up an octave or characterized as “fairy music.”

NATURE POETRY

Of speckled eggs the birdie sings
And nests among the trees;
The sailor sings of ropes and things
In ships upon the seas. Robert Louis Stevenson

Miles Hearn

2 thoughts on “Well-hidden Long-eared Owl: February 26, 2022

  1. Lisa Volkov

    Yeah, the poor things may be hiding now, because of all the harassment you described. I hope they don’t give up on the area entirely, that would be a shame. I guess people who got to see them in plain sight this winter were lucky!

    Reply
  2. Susan R.

    Thx. Miles – great pictures. Very Large signs at the Leslie Street Spit are now visible for all walkers to see warning us to keep our distance and noting that WIDE-eyed owls are stressed owls. As so many of these photos show wide-eyed owls I wonder if you concur? The signs are excellent teaching tools.
    I did not see any such signs at Downsview on 6 Feb. but I did see many people crowded around the trees where the owls were resting in the afternoon. At that time people were keeping their distance – mostly respectful photographers.
    Thoughts?

    Reply

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