Discovering Owls Can Be Fun
February 16, 2019
By Steve Grinley

     On a cold, breezy day a few weeks 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 saw-whet owl!