Words On Birds 01-16-26

 

     This is owl season. The wintering snowy and short-eared owls are here and one merely needs to follow the crowd of photographers up and down Plum Island to locate one of these popular owls. Great horned owls are starting their hooting mating calls that help locate these large owls. Barred owls will soon be making their “who cooks for you” call and they can often be spotted in deciduous or mixed woods. Screech owls can be seen roosting in the holes of trees or nest boxes during the day, sunning themselves to absorb the sun’s warmth. Saw-whet owls may be found roosting quietly during the day, or heard tooting or screeching at night.

 

     The real fun of finding owls is not chasing a hoard of photographers up and down Plum Island. Discovering an owl on your own is far more rewarding. One of the easier methods is to follow the scolding calls of other birds. Scolding chickadees, titmice, and blue jays “raise a raucous” to alert other birds to an intruder or to drive the threat away. More often it is a hawk, but sometimes it is an owl. Such was the case a number of years ago when we encountered an owl while searching for other birds on Cape Ann.

 

     On a cold, breezy winter day a number of years ago, Margo and I were exploring the back roads of Gloucester, checking neighborhoods and thickets for songbirds. We were hoping to find an elusive yellow-breasted chat, an uncommon dickcissel, or wintering catbirds or hermit thrushes. As we drove up to one intersection, we could hear, and see, a number of blue jays making a raucous around some spruce trees at the corner. 

 

     I pulled over and we watched the blue jays as they were joined by titmice, chickadees and nuthatches, – all complaining about something. That often means that an owl, hawk or other threat is near. We got out of the car and started looking into the thick foliage of the trees. The birds seemed to be concentrating on the center blue spruce, which had particularly dense branches. It was hard to get an angle to try to see in near the trunk, while trying to stay on the road and not trespass onto private property.

 

     After about fifteen minutes of searching, the birds were dispersing and Margo was getting cold. She retreated to the warmth of the car, but I was convinced that there was an owl, either long-eared or saw-whet, hidden deep in the spruce. We had concentrated our search near the trunk but I decided to also try to see if anything was further out on the dense branches. I too was getting cold and decided to give up the search. 

 

     I still scoured the tree as I made my way back to the car. Then, something caught my eye. It was just a dark shape at first, but lifting my binoculars, I could see brown and white feathers. It was an owl! 

 

     I alerted Margo and she joined me again to try to get a glimpse of the bird. We could finally get an angle where we could see its eyes and face. It was a cute little saw-whet owl!

 

     Margo grabbed her camera and started trying to take pictures, but the auto-focus kept sharpening the surrounding branches and needles and not the bird. Finally she was able to capture the owl as it peaked through a small opening. Finding just the right spot to see enough of the owl was a challenge.

 

     A number of people walked by, some with a dog, some just out for a morning stroll. Many were curious as to what we were looking at. We tried to show those who were interested the owl, but it was hard getting them to look at the right spot and the right hole in the foliage and the right depth to see the cute object that was well hidden. I finally pulled out my scope and after much trial and error and adjustment, I was able to get the owl into view and in focus.

 

     Most everyone who walked by got great looks and seemed genuinely pleased – some even thrilled! The homeowner, whose property the owl chose as its hideaway, came out with his guests and they were fascinated by the bird’s presence. They were even excited to be “hosting” such a unique bird of their property.

 

     Once everyone had good looks at the bird, we decided to be on our way. We didn’t want to draw too much attention to the roosting bird (unlike the blue jays). We also didn’t post the sighting on the local list serve so as not to cause unwanted disturbance.

 

     Finding owls on your own can be fun. It is more rewarding than following mobs of photographers to locate them. Sharing them can be rewarding, but one always needs to keep their distance, spend little time with the owl, and move on.