Monday, February 22, 2010

Long-eared owls

A week ago today I wanted to finish my Great Backyard Bird Count by finding some owls.  I found the Great Horned owls and then snowshoed another area just looking for something different.  As I walked into a grove of trees I noticed two eyes looking at me.


I did not recognized the owl and it got too dark for me to get a good look even though I flushed nine different owls.  Tuesday night and Friday evening I finally got some pictures and identified them as the Long-eared owls.  This was the first time that I was able to recognize them even though I have probably seen them before.  Here are two pictures of them flying around me.






After I counted 11 Long-eared owls and was leaving the grove of trees, I finally got a picture of one that clearly shows the long ears of this beautiful species.



A great way to close out another wild day in Idaho.

17 comments:

FAB said...

Whow. What a way to finish your GBBC and some cracking photos as well. FAB.

Cloudia said...

Owls are family gods here in Hawaii.


Nice post,

Aloha, Bill

Comfort Spiral

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Wow! That first picture reminds me of those Western paintings by that one artist (Doolittle, I think?) who used to have forest scenes with animals and birds hidden in them. Only your pictures are better because they are the real thing! Lovely to see the ears so well in the last picture too.

Dagmar said...

How long did you hide in the bushes Bill? Love these birds but why isn't it sleeping it's daytime right? Bye Dagmar

Monts said...

Hi Bill Those are fantastic Owl shots, and to find so many in one place. Gives me great pleasure to look at them, And to go on a Owl hunt like that must be a real Hoot.

Kcalpesh said...

Superb shots! Nicely captured flight of the bird....

ksdoolittle said...

Oh, Bill, WOW!! You were certainly in the right place at the right time. What a way to conclude GBBC! A long-eared Owl would be a lifer for me.

ShySongbird said...

Great shots Bill! What a treat to have an encounter like that, I don't even hear Owls very often any more.

Kilauea Poetry said...

Gee..just an excelent series! You must be thrilled! I love them in flight but also looking through the trees! Fantastic-

Mary Howell Cromer said...

What a great day you had Bill, 11 in one day...and the images are wonderful. I would give anything to see any kind of Owl right now.

Angie Moore said...

Wow - Fantastic shots. Well done Bill.

Frostbite and Sunburn said...

Super piccies again - I just LOVE owls - something mysterious, majestic and just so slightly snooty about them!

Carletta said...

I saw the owl and thought oh gosh I wish that were me watching that owl. Then I read you flushed out 11! Wow - what a terrific experience. Your 'wild day in Idaho' is starting to take on new meaning for me. :)
Terrific shots!

Thanks for your visit Bill.

troutbirder said...

Wow! Thats astonishing Bill. I've never even come close to seeing that many owls at once.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Bill: I love your neat owl, I wish I had one in the woods behind my house.

JRandSue said...

I agree with Monty,fantastic Images Bill.
Also thank you for your kind comments on our Blog.
John.

Johnny Nutcase said...

that's so great! 11 long-eareds! wow! and great photos too. We were supposed to have short eared owls here a few months ago but they never showed up. Oddly, 2 people reported 11 of them (finally) yesterday! yay!