ML126675171

Age and sex

Unknown age, Unknown sex - 1

Observation details

Roosting in the spruce behind 801 Southgate. Alerted to its presence by the sounds of jays, chickadees, and juncos that were mobbing it. One pellet was found under the tree, which contained small rodent bones and fur. I was in the living room of my apartment when I heard the angry sounds of chickadees and titmice in a spruce near my porch. Soon a few Blue Jays joined in and I knew there had to be some sort of raptor hiding in the tree. I thought it was probably a Cooper’s or Sharp-shinned Hawk, but from my porch I couldn’t see the intruder from the angle I had, so thought perhaps the birds had discovered a roosting owl; probably a screech-owl. I walked outside to have a closer look, and as soon as I got up under the tree I could see the rufous and white streaking of a Northern Saw-whet Owl! I couldn’t believe it! Great Horned Owls nest nearby, and I figured screech-owls must be around, but I never thought a saw-whet would venture into the scattered spruces around my busy apartment complex. Right away I texted the SCRBA and emailed the local listserve to get the word out, and within minutes birders were arriving to see the owl for themselves. I set my scope up about 60 ft away from the tree, and throughout the day over 40 people were able to watch the owl peacefully roosting. It was a lifer for many people that stopped by and for some, it was there first wild owl ever! The little guy spent most of the day with its head tucked between it’s shoulders, fast asleep, but would occasionally open its eyes slightly to look around, or to monitor a dog being walked past.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS REBEL T2i

ISO

800

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Dimensions

3456 pixels x 2304 pixels

Original file size

2.58 MB