Everyone loves to see owls. With every new birder that comes along on a walk, comes a request to see an owl. Last winter, attendance for bird walks was understandably getting sparse, it was cold! However, when I promised an owl, we had great attendance. Pelham Bay Park is probably the best place to see owls in the NYC area. Those of us who have been birding the park for a long while have an idea where the owls are usually found. When the leaves fall off the deciduous trees, owls will spend their days in conifers. As late as February 2009, five Long-eared Owls were present almost daily.
In past years, Snowy, Barred, Screech, Short -eared and Barn owls have been seen. See the complete list of Pelham Bay Species.
This Long-eared Owl was one of three owls way up high in an evergreen tree. The photo was taken in March at Hunter Island. Originally hidden, he jumped down out of a thicket to watch me.
This Northern Saw-whet Owl was present for several days last year near Bartow Mansion. I came back several days to see him. The tree he roosted in was eventually removed. I'm sure he will be back again in a nearby evergreen
These are Great Hornedowlets. There are three, but only two are visible in this photo. They fledged sometime in April. Powerful nor'eastern storms most likely caused them to seek alternate shelter. Great Horned Owls at this age can climb out of their nest.
That's me, holding a Northern Saw-whet Owl that was getting ready to be marked and banded in a study. It was safely returned to the tree a few minutes later.
In this photo, we can see the three owlets. The eye of the "runt" of the litter can be seen low down in the log. Since owlets do not hatch out at the same time, called asynchronous hatching, they are different sizes. It takes them 63-70 days to fly.
