Owls 3

Yesterday, 19 February 2015, my daughter and I went NE of the city again to search for Snowy Owls. Recently, people have not been reporting many of these owls, though I was told that someone saw 18 of them on the one day. We were not so lucky, but my daughter did a great job of spotting two very distant ones - actually, three, if you include the wooden one that is guarding the rather nice old barn seen in one of the photos I've posted today. She also spotted a Bald Eagle perched at the top of a very distant tree. Some of the gravel backroads were really muddy and I had to focus on keeping the car on the road. We always feel very awkward stopping the car and standing in the road, photographing a barn when there is a house or houses nearby. There was also an old red barn across the road from the barn in another of today's photos, partly hidden by trees, with a house on the property. We knew we wouldn't be able to take photos of that one, but we really liked the one that was in full view. I pulled over and we got out and took a shot or two. We noticed a man down the road, walking towards us, talking on his cell phone. He said that he had seen us and thought he'd come and say "Hi". Said he lived there and that the farm and barn behind us was originally his Grandfather and Father's. He was looking after the house on the property for the owners for a few days, and told us we were welcome to wander round the farmyard and photograph the barn. Needless to say, that is exactly what we did. Greatly appreciated! Bird-wise, the day was very slow, but we are always happy to explore and find new barns and anything else that we find interesting and/or beautiful. Most of the sky was one huge mass of rather spectacular clouds that just went on and on forever. Not the best light when it came to photography, but it looked beautiful.

I'm posting my "daily three" around 2:00 am on 21 February 2015, as I'm not sure if I'll go for a day of birding today. Depends partly on the weather (snow is forecast) and whether I end up sleeping right through two alarm clocks that play very loud music for an hour, and my kitchen timer, lol! Thought this photo of the tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl might amuse you. This ferocious little hunter has been quite a celebrity in our city for many weeks. I have many much more photogenic photos of this owl, looking much like a round ball perched on a branch. I just managed to catch it during a good stretch of legs and wing. The legs are usually out of sight, tucked under the body feathers with just the talons showing. "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

This was the only even remotely usable photo I took yesterday, 21 February 2015, when I went on the annual Snowy Owl Prowl, east of the city. It was cold and windy and the owls were so far away. I always enjoy this trip, that covers backroads that I don't drive myself. The weather forecast had been for snow and so the first thing I had to do was clear the snow off my car. The meeting place is across the city, a drive that I really don't like one bit and only do for this annual outing. I swear every traffic light was red, making me wonder if I would get there in time. When I arrived, right on time, I parked in the usual area of the mall that we use each year. For some reason, everyone had gathered in a different spot, out of my sight, and I only saw them when a long convoy of cars slowly appeared and I was told to join the line. Thankfully, a friend flagged me down, and I was able to get a ride for the day, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to go - including because I was almost out of gas after my long drive with my daughter two days earlier. I will add the report for the day, by our leader, Terry Korolyk. (Hope you don't mind, Terry). He always does such an excellent job of finding the owls and recording every find - for most of the drive, I had no idea where we were. "Today's Nature Calgary Snowy Owl Prowl brought out 30 eager Snowy Owl seekers. This missed by only 3 the 33 who came out for the "Prowl" 2 years ago. Snowy Owls are still out there in good numbers. We headed east on Country Hills Boulevard at 9:42 A.M. as it took extra minutes to have people sign the Waiver form as 9: 30 A.M. is the usual start time. There was a fair bit of snow out there with the overnight snowfall. We found our first bird at 10:21 A.M. on Country Hills Boulevard just west of Highway 9; a 1st. year bird. This turned out to be the best bird we had a chance to look at all day being not too far off the road. We continued eastward on Highway 564 turning north on Range Road 253; then westward on to Twp. Road 262 where we found our 2nd. bird; another 1st. year bird on the first southward-bound Range Road. We pushed on eastward on Twp.Rd. 262 finding our 3rd. bird, yet another 1st. year bird along the fence row just south of the Range Road 261 junction. From there, we turned northward on to Twp. Rd. 261, then proceeding through the Irricana Sloughs, we emerged southward on Range Road 255; turning eastward at Twp. Rd. 262. We then turned south on the Range Road going south past the Doppler Radar Station where our 4th. bird of the morning, yet another 1st. bird, was perched on a telephone pole. We then took a break in Strathmore, after which we drove more roads northwest of Strathmore. We then went south to Cheadle; then north of Highway 1 again, then, made our way westward finding our final Snowy Owl of the day; yet another 1st. year bird on the north side of Twp. Rd. 250 just west of the Lyalta turnoff. Normal birds found out there during Winters are still scarce this year. We found only flocks of 2 and 22 Horned Larks and 2 Gray Partridge, but, an additional plus was 3 Great Horned Owls, 2 of which were sitting close together in trees at a farmyard along the roadside. In all, it seemed that people thoroughly enjoyed seeing the birds they saw and were practically overjoyed at their looks at them. A young student from Western Australia researched finding Snowy Owls on the internet, and came across Nature Calgary's Snowy Owl Prowl as a recommendation, and attended the trip today. Terry Korolyk."

When I called in at Fish Creek Park to see if anyone had managed to find one of the tiny, popcan-sized owls, I found a number of photographers already there. Though the owl was perched high in a tree when I got there, it eventually made its way to a better place. This was a smaller tree right in front of us, where it sat and watched for a Meadow Vole. Sure enough, we saw it dive down to the ground maybe 6' away from our feet, and then fly up into a close deciduous tree in front of us. It sat for quite a long while, clutching its prey, and we wondered if the reason it wasn't eating was that it needed to cough up a pellet before it had room for more food. Sure enough, up came a pellet and the owl started to feed on the Vole's brains.. "Northern Pygmy Owls are 'sit and wait' predators, that hunt mainly by vision, diving down onto prey on the ground and driving the talons into the prey's throat. They will also attack birds in shrubs, crashing into the hapless victims. Most prey is carried off in the feet to feeding sites. Birds are usually plucked before being consumed. They often eat only the brains of birds and the soft abdomen of insects. One of these little owls can carry prey weighing up to 3 times its own weight. The Northern Pygmy Owl feeds on a wide range of small prey including small mammals, birds, and reptiles and amphibians. Voles make up the bulk of their diet, with birds comprising most of the rest (mainly songbirds, but as large as a California Quail). Other small mammals include shrews, mice, chipmunks, bats, moles, young rabbits, and weasels. Insects may be very important when they are most abundant. Other prey taken are toads, frogs and small lizards and snakes. During winter, surplus prey is cached in a cavity, often in large quantities. Summer caches are usually much smaller. Pellets are very small, averaging about 3cm long. They are formed only occasionally as these owls don't consume large amounts of fur, feathers, or bone. The pellets tend to fall apart shortly after ejection." From OwlPages. www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Glaucidium&species=ca... "An owl pellet is a clod of fur or feathers and bone—the indigestible remains of the animals an owl has eaten. Because it swallows small prey whole and is able to digest only the fleshy parts, the owl regurgitates the remaining solid material as a compact pellet or casting. Where owls feed on insects, each regurgitated pellet contains the indigestible parts of the exoskeletons of numerous individual insects. Although birds of many species regurgitate pellets, pellets from large owl species are especially suited for study because they are big enough to be examined without a microscope, and they contain the entire skeletons of small animals the owl has eaten. (Pellets of other raptors, such as eagles and hawks, are less useful since these birds tear much of the flesh from their victims, and do not swallow bones.) Because owl pellets accumulate in predictable locations, they are readily available for collection and examination. Pellets last a long time in dry climates and in the protection of barns or other buildings. If they are soaked in warm water, carefully dissected, and examined under magnification, the identity of prey they contain can often be determined from the bones, teeth, and other remains. The remains hidden inside a pellet usually represent the entire skeleton of every animal the owl has eaten during a night of foraging. There are almost always remains of two or more animals in each pellet.” wdfw.wa.gov/living/owls.html

Saturday, 24 January 2015, was a great day for seeing the tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl in Fish Creek Park. For once, I was up really early so that I could go on a birding walk, which was being held at the same location. Other than the usual Black-capped Chickadee. Nuthatches and Downy Woodpeckers, the two main species that we saw were the Pileated Woodpecker (a male and a female together) and a very distant Cooper's Hawk. When we were at the furthest spot, we got news that the Northern Pygmy-owl had appeared. Needless to say, we joined the photographers who were all lined up with their enormous camera lenses pointed upwards. About three (!) hours after getting back to where the owl was and seeing it on several different branches that were not particularly easy to photograph, it suddenly flew down to the mass and tangle of bushes right where all the photographers were now standing. A few people knelt or lay down in the cold, melting snow so that they could get a better view through the thin branches. There was no way I could do that, so my view was not as good. All my photos, except maybe two or three, were no good at all and need to be deleted : ( However, as far as actually seeing the owl at such close quarters was concerned, it was a great chance. It was amazing to see this tiny bird of prey up close, and it was really good to see how at ease it seemed. Can't remember if it had just caught a Meadow Vole before I took these photos or whether it caught one and then flew up into the thin, forked branch seen in this photo, where it posed beautifully along with its catch and then began to eat the Vole's brains. Still haven't looked properly at the photos I took of this last pose, so I'm hoping this is one of the better ones. After about four hours of standing around, it was time to go home, especially as I had originally arrived at the park for the 3-hour bird walk seven hours earlier! Some people do this all the time and I don't know how they are able to do so. It requires so much patience, and I'd never be able to do it if it weren't for friends to chat with while waiting and waiting. Two hours, maybe three, is my maximum - and it's definitely not good for the back and knees!

Yesterday, 24 February 2015, I called in again at Fish Creek Park to see if anyone had been able to find the tiny (less than 6" in length) Northern Pygmy-owl(s). I was in luck and, although the light was bad, the little owls put on quite a performance. This included a few things that I had missed on other days, such as perched on a fence post and both owls very briefly sitting on a branch, side by side (got a couple of really bad shots from behind, but I will post one sometime, just for the record). There were long periods of waiting in between the various bits of activity, so one needs a huge amount of patience : ) This photo was taken shortly before I left the park, after watching and waiting and hoping that this little female would eventually fly down and catch a Meadow Vole. Instead, she simply flew over to a fence post, which in itself was a real treat. I love the background colour from patches of dead leaves still hanging on the bushes. "Northern Pygmy Owls are 'sit and wait' predators, that hunt mainly by vision, diving down onto prey on the ground and driving the talons into the prey's throat. They will also attack birds in shrubs, crashing into the hapless victims. Most prey is carried off in the feet to feeding sites. Birds are usually plucked before being consumed. They often eat only the brains of birds and the soft abdomen of insects. One of these little owls can carry prey weighing up to 3 times its own weight. The Northern Pygmy Owl feeds on a wide range of small prey including small mammals, birds, and reptiles and amphibians. Voles make up the bulk of their diet, with birds comprising most of the rest (mainly songbirds, but as large as a California Quail). Other small mammals include shrews, mice, chipmunks, bats, moles, young rabbits, and weasels. Insects may be very important when they are most abundant. Other prey taken are toads, frogs and small lizards and snakes. During winter, surplus prey is cached in a cavity, often in large quantities. Summer caches are usually much smaller. Pellets are very small, averaging about 3cm long. They are formed only occasionally as these owls don't consume large amounts of fur, feathers, or bone. The pellets tend to fall apart shortly after ejection." From OwlPages. www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Glaucidium&species=ca... It's a snowy day today, 25 February 2015, with a temperature of -8C (windchill -13C). The freshly falling snow will be hiding the layer of ice that remains on the paths and other places, so be careful everyone! Link to this photo posted on Flickr: flic.kr/p/r5phrB

Two days ago, 24 February 2015, I called in again at Fish Creek Park to see if anyone had been able to find the tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl(s). I was in luck and, although the light was bad, the little owls put on quite a performance. This included a few things that I had missed on other days, such as a perched on a fence post (photo posted yesterday) and both owls very briefly sitting on a branch for just a few seconds, side by side. Unfortunately, I was standing the "wrong" side of the tree, so only saw them from behind. Luckily, the female did turn her head for just a moment. There is quite an obvious difference in colour with this pair, with the male (on the right) being a more rusty colour, and he's smaller than the female. You can see the two black "false" eyes on the back of his head. A poor quality image, taken in bad light, but I was happy to get any at all. There were long periods of waiting in between the various bits of activity, so one needs a huge amount of patience : ) This fence post photo I posted yesterday was taken shortly before I left the park, after watching and waiting and hoping that this little female would eventually fly down and catch a Meadow Vole. Instead, she simply flew over to a fence post, which in itself was a real treat. I loved the background colour from patches of dead leaves still hanging on the bushes. "Northern Pygmy Owls are 'sit and wait' predators, that hunt mainly by vision, diving down onto prey on the ground and driving the talons into the prey's throat. They will also attack birds in shrubs, crashing into the hapless victims. Most prey is carried off in the feet to feeding sites. Birds are usually plucked before being consumed. They often eat only the brains of birds and the soft abdomen of insects. One of these little owls can carry prey weighing up to 3 times its own weight. The Northern Pygmy Owl feeds on a wide range of small prey including small mammals, birds, and reptiles and amphibians. Voles make up the bulk of their diet, with birds comprising most of the rest (mainly songbirds, but as large as a California Quail). Other small mammals include shrews, mice, chipmunks, bats, moles, young rabbits, and weasels. Insects may be very important when they are most abundant. Other prey taken are toads, frogs and small lizards and snakes. During winter, surplus prey is cached in a cavity, often in large quantities. Summer caches are usually much smaller. Pellets are very small, averaging about 3cm long. They are formed only occasionally as these owls don't consume large amounts of fur, feathers, or bone. The pellets tend to fall apart shortly after ejection." From OwlPages. www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Glaucidium&species=ca... Posting really late today, after lunchtime. To put it mildly, I really need to try and change my sleep pattern so that I'm getting to bed hours earlier and not waking up so late in the day!

Called in briefly at the park this afternoon, Saturday, 28 February 2015. Yellow tape was put across the entrances to one of the more popular places that these owls like, so you can only get very distant views, if at all, from there now. This is to prevent people from getting closer to the owls and "disturbing" them - though anyone I've seen in the park (except for two people) has been respectful towards the owl. The conservation officers are particularly concerned with the people who get there early in the morning and stay all day, which I'm not interested in doing at all. Also the fact that even if some people leave, others seem to arrive and take their place. Hopefully, everyone will take notice of the closure and not ignore it! Last time I called in at a local park a couple of days ago, on 26 February 2015, I bumped into friends and we wandered for a while, hoping to see some wildlife and, in particular, the tiny, popcan -sized Northern Pygmy-owl(s). No sign of it/them and so we decided to leave. We couldn't believe our eyes when this little male (I believe) was spotted, perched high in a tree along the hill that leads out if the park. Half a dozen quick, distant shots and I was ready to leave. It was so cold even though it was only about -9C (windchill -12C)! Another three days and we are supposed to get temperatures just a few degrees above 0C again, which will feel so good. "Northern Pygmy Owls are 'sit and wait' predators, that hunt mainly by vision, diving down onto prey on the ground and driving the talons into the prey's throat. They will also attack birds in shrubs, crashing into the hapless victims. Most prey is carried off in the feet to feeding sites. Birds are usually plucked before being consumed. They often eat only the brains of birds and the soft abdomen of insects. One of these little owls can carry prey weighing up to 3 times its own weight. The Northern Pygmy Owl feeds on a wide range of small prey including small mammals, birds, and reptiles and amphibians. Voles make up the bulk of their diet, with birds comprising most of the rest (mainly songbirds, but as large as a California Quail). Other small mammals include shrews, mice, chipmunks, bats, moles, young rabbits, and weasels. Insects may be very important when they are most abundant. Other prey taken are toads, frogs and small lizards and snakes. During winter, surplus prey is cached in a cavity, often in large quantities. Summer caches are usually much smaller. Pellets are very small, averaging about 3cm long. They are formed only occasionally as these owls don't consume large amounts of fur, feathers, or bone. The pellets tend to fall apart shortly after ejection." From OwlPages. www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Glaucidium&species=ca...

On 14 January 2015, I called in at Fish Creek Park for some fresh air and, hopefully, find a friend or two. I was lucky with both. People had already found one of the little owls. Somehow, everyone seemed able to manoeuvre their tripods and enormous lenses each time the owl moved to a different branch or a new tree. I love my easy little point-and-shoot : ) Some of my photos were taken at Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm, so the owl looks closer than it really was. We were all treated to some good views, and it was fascinating to watch the owl get ready to fly down to the snow-covered ground when it saw some movement. It goes through some interesting body behaviour in the seconds before that rapid dive. I can't remember if it did actually dive down this time. I was impressed that all the photographers were very respectful of this tiny owl. Some of its time was spent perched extremely high in tall trees. Usually, it was just about within my camera reach and we were all lucky enough to see it perched in a variety of places, including some closer views. Any very close photos that are on my photostream, taken on various days, were taken when the owl unexpectedly flew right to where people were standing, seemingly without any stress. You would think that the owls would move away to a different area if they were bothered by the presence of people. Instead, they seem very tolerant, and continue to hunt, stash food (Meadow Voles) and even mate when people are present.