Kinda Secret
It’s no secret that birders tend to keep the location of owls they find a secret. Why owls? Owls are nocturnal hunters, usually scanning for prey during the night then they rest during the daytime, finding a convenient perch and stay there. Unless they are disturbed. So when birders discover owls roosting, they don’t share the location with (too many) people for fear that the more people that go to see the owls, the more likely the owls will be disturbed and they will find someplace else to roost.
Recently a friend let it be known he knew the location of some Long-eared Owls. Karen and I have been out searching for these elusive owls several times in various locations and never saw any so we begged him to take us there. The birder admonished us keep the location a secret (perhaps just like he was sworn to secrecy) and to keep his identify secret (so others would’t bug him for the location).
We met on a cold (23º) sunny morning and hiked about 45 minutes without seeing an owl. Our secret benefactor said with authority, “There are owls here,” and within 3 minutes he spotted them. Although he could see the Long-eared Owls clearly it took me a good 3 minutes before I saw one, which was sitting out in plain sight. It was so well camouflaged I looked past it several times – in fact the longer I looked the more owls I saw! In fact there were four owls all sitting within 15 feet of each other. We cautiously approached to get some pictures of them, but not close enough to disturb these beautiful birds. After taking our pics we retreated away from the area and gave fist bumps to each other for good looks at a Lifer. Enjoy some of the pics of the Long-eared Owls below.
Can you see two owls in this first picture? I didn’t and almost didn’t get one of them in the frame because I was unaware it was even there at the time.
As I was checking out the Latest Pics section I noticed that Sgeiger86 posted some pics of what appear to be the same owls. Take a look at this great pic:
Here’s another of Sgeiger86’s pics of the Long-eared Owls. How many can you see in this one frame?
Stay Safe. Go Birding. Take Pics. Share Here. Repeat.
Mike
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