Critter Update

Daddy Owl silhouetted at dusk

Last night there was not much of a sunset, but daddy owl flew up on a tree well after sundown so we could see him in silhouette. He stayed on the tree until I was able to walk around where I could get him in profile in the afterglow. An Osprey flew overhead and then a beaver was out basking in the twilight on the east bank of the river.

Daddy Owl in profile at twilight

Osprey overhead

Beaver basking in the twilight

Beaver on the east bank grooming at twilight

Owl Season’s Underway

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A couple we often see in the bosque, told me they had just discovered the nesting place of a pair of owls last night. When I got to the nesting area a few minutes later, there were two owls to be seen — a larger owl in a cottonwood, and another, smaller owl, in an elm tree next to the cottonwood.  The larger female was out taking a break, I presumed.  She was hooting up a storm on her perch in the cottonwood. The smaller owl was perched on a limb, a silent sentry, very alert, guarding the area.   The sun had been down for fifteen minutes or so, forcing me to bump up my ISO to 3200 to get a somewhat sensible shutter speed. As I was photographing the owls, a chorus of coyotes started howling from the undergrowth all around where I was standing beneath the owls. The scene became surreal as I was standing in a small clearing, darkness falling all around, the owl hooting from above, and coyotes yipping and howling in surround sound.

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Hooting. I wonder if you pushed up on the tail feathers of a Great Horned Owl if it would hoot.
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She spies something in the distance.
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Ready. Set…
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¡Hasta la vista!

Hoot Owl at Dusk

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While walking back home in the dark from what turned out to be a 6.5 mile walk, I could hear the owls hooting at each other. As I looked around to see where the hoots were coming from, I saw what looked like a large cat at the tip top of a cottonwood, backlit by the afterglow of the sunset. The owl was too far away, and it was too dark, for me to get anything but silhouettes of it.

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