Like finding a needle in a haystack

Yesterday, I finally got out on a three-hour birding walk from Shannon Terrace to just before Bebo Grove, in Fish Creek Park. It was a cold morning and we only managed to see nine species of bird.

After the walk, four of us went for lunch at Tim Horton's before braving the cold once again at the area where the tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl has been seen on some days during the last few weeks. Friends Cathy and Terry happened to be down in the park and they had already found the owl, which always helps. We got the chance to see it up close when it flew down into some bushes, but the rest of the time it was either high or very high up in one or two different trees. Though I love close shots, I thought this distant one might give an idea of how small this owl is.

"The Northern Pygmy-Owl may be tiny, but it’s a ferocious hunter with a taste for songbirds. These owls are mostly dark brown and white, with long tails, smoothly rounded heads, and piercing yellow eyes. They hunt during the day by sitting quietly and surprising their prey. As a defensive measure, songbirds often gather to mob sitting owls until they fly away. Mobbing songbirds can help you find these unobtrusive owls, as can listening for their call, a high-pitched series of toots." From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pygmy-Owl/id

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_pygmy_owl