Northern saw-whet owl

[pontiac1940]

In the past many weeks I have walked many miles looking for a saw-whet. Three of us struck out today as one had been reported in an area that I have bush-whack many times. Today, we were successful. Our hunt was aided by a fresh snow fall and we were able to follow the tracks of the person who reported it. Shhhhh ... That person does not know that I recently set up a trail camera in the area and a few days ago he walked past the camera, so that was a huge help in narrowing down the search. Turns out I have walked within 20 m of this small owl several times in the past 3+ weeks. They not much larger than a Coke can. 



How about those eyelashes?  

[Lillias]

Beautiful photos Clive. Just look at those eyes, I wonder if he/she would consider sharing those eyelashes as I could be doing with some.

[jackscrap]

Just love seeing your bird images, and hearing about your stealth techniques....
Such a beautiful creature, and those eyes are so bewitching.

[cats4jan]

That bottom one is my favorite. I love the way the branches add detail and softness to the left side of the photo - like he's trying to hide, but not successfully.  

[hmca]

Fabulous pictures, Clive. The bottom one is precious.

Feb 21, 2023 5:05:58 GMT pontiac1940 said:

the tracks of the person who reported it. Shhhhh ... That person does not know that I recently set up a trail camera in the area

Makes me wonder....do people not share locations where the birds/animals have been seen? I have a friend who is a birder.....she would get a notification on her phone where a particular bird had been spotted.

[pontiac1940]

Thanks for your comments. Yes, they are cute and precious. Lillias the eyelashes are special, eh?

Feb 21, 2023 17:21:57 GMT hmca said:

Makes me wonder....do people not share locations where the birds/animals have been seen?

Good question Helen. The answer is simple: yes and no.  
It depends on the type and how sensitive they are EXCEPT for small owls. Birders are secretive about these little owls despite the population being high and that the birds really don't care if you get too close. Saw-whets will open their eyes and stare you you for a while, but mainly these nocturnal birds just like to sleep in daytime. The first one I saw in Oct 2021, was 1 meter off a trail and I took photos with my cell phone from that distance. (Had to back up with my long lens.) 

A good example of the other side are pileated woodpeckers. These large woodpeckers are also not concerned about being watched and people readily reveal general locations. Same with downy and hairy woodpeckers and many other types if birds. Yet, people are secretive about these little owls. 
  

[hmca]

Interesting.....perhaps because they are so small and maybe not easy to spot people are less willing to share their location....wanting to keep the treasure to themselves?

[PeteB]

Great shots.

Helen
Cornell University has an extensive website devoted to ornithology. You can search info about birds, their locations, reported sightings, etc. It is impressive. Here is a link to Clive's owl and also a link to Cornell's website (home page).

ebird.org/species/nswowl

ebird.org/home

[pontiac1940]

Feb 21, 2023 17:54:34 GMT PeteB said:

Cornell University has an extensive website devoted to ornithology.

Thanks Pete. Yes Cornell's "All About Birds" is excellent. They have an app called Merlin which is amazing. The app is freestanding (not requiring an internet connection) and contains a huge database of images. You upload a photo to Merlin and it will offer IDs and is quite accurate .. about 90% or so. But its sound app is so neat and deadly accurate. If you are walking and hear a bird you can open Merlin and turn on the "sounds" feature. It listens to the birds and then lists the birds it can hear in real time. Very cool and very accurate. 

Fun stuff. 
EDIT: For correcting Grade-4-level spelling errors. 

[pontiac1940]

Feb 21, 2023 17:41:56 GMT hmca said:

perhaps because they are so small and maybe not easy to spot people are less willing to share their location....wanting to keep the treasure to themselves?

Precisely. They are not easy to spot and people are quite protective of their finds. Like secret wild mushroom patches.  

[pontiac1940]

Regarding size, look at this photo of a volunteer bird-bander holding a saw-whet. Tiny as a Coke can.   

[cats4jan]

Cornell is my go-to site, also.  It's a great place to post a photo for identification

[hmca]

Thanks, Pete. I remember Janice mentioning the Cornell site but I never took the time to check it out. Just looked and the saw-whet owl had a sighting from Sandy Hook, where I often go for photos.

[VickiD]

Wonderful photos, Clive! All this discussion is great for learning...not that there are many surprises near where I live. I may have to get the app for a trip down to Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. Since it's in the fly zone for migrating birds, I'm sure there will be some interesting ones, including the snow geese we're hoping to see!

BUT those little owls are just darling.

[pontiac1940]

Feb 22, 2023 5:58:56 GMT VickiD said:

Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. Since it's in the fly zone for migrating birds, I'm sure there will be some interesting ones, including the snow geese we're hoping to see!

Vicki
The snow goose migration is amazing to see. Good luck!!
There are two stopover lakes 40 minutes from our house that can be great. We got shortchanged last November as we went from nice weather (that held the snow geese farther north) to a record-setting cold that froze over our southern lakes in a matter of 2 days and all of he snow geese just flew past on their way south.
They will be back here in just 4 weeks. It is wonderful see see tens of thousands of snow geese. Here are some snow goose links here on PSEM
photoshopelementsandmore.com/thread/7750/snow-geese-past-week
photoshopelementsandmore.com/thread/6755/snow-geese
photoshopelementsandmore.com/thread/6319/snow-geese-arrived

Clive