Just a little OT, but I'm sitting here listening to at least two and maybe three of these guys calling. Guess its time to start the courtships and such. Just makes me feel good all over!!!
I hear owls calling sometimes, when I go out in the morning to feed the chickens and let them out of their coop for the day, i usually go about 4:30. I don't worry about owl's preying on them, cause we have two utility lights in the chicken yard. I have heard them calling when we've had a snow the night before and it is earie and makes you feel nostalgic at the same time.This message has been edited. Last edited by: Barb in Mississippi,
Posts: 2909 | Location: Holly Springs, MS USA | Registered: Sep 19, 2002
Wow, that is waaaaay cool!!!! I have only seen owls in the zoo or on T.V. I definitely have never seen anything like that in NYC or NJ. I guess they don't like big cities..... I have seen hawks flying above in other parts of Joisey, but not here (so I don't think a hawk left that 'skwirl's tail' in my yard a few weeks ago).
Yes, a great horned owl. I took that picture a couple of years ago over at Ft. Pickens. Total luck that I looked up into the tree and there he was! Stayed long enough that we finished our trek and went back to the car for my camera. He finally got tired of the two of us taking pictures and took off.
You don't see owls out and about much during the day. They'll be roosting somewhere. And, unless they call you will never hear them flying.
Wavy, take a trip out to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Sanctuary near NYC. I've seen photos of wonderful birdlife out there. You might be surprised at what you see.This message has been edited. Last edited by: Florida Farm Girl,
We always hear them around dusk calling to each other. They're really neat to listen to. This is about the best shot I could get as the sun was setting.
Posts: 6846 | Location: Central Florida | Registered: Feb 12, 2005
Love Owls...my house is full of pics of them & replicas! Great shots ladies. I hear them & saw a great horned owl right in our green belt very close to home down by the creek. They are mostly out at night but this one was sitting out on a low branch by the water & we got very close...we were totally in awe! The size of it up close is astounding. I kept looking for it again but haven't seen it again. Its one of those spiritual moments!
When we first moved down here we were living in house way off the road back behind some fields but with a woodsy area right next to it too. We had a great horned that came every evening and sat on a fence post along the yard. He & I would hold conversations...I answered when he hooted. That lasted for a couple of months...guess he finally figured out I wasn't another owl. But he was a beauty and BIG! BIL has an owl that nests in an old tobacco barn on their property. There is a hole in the roof and I saw it take off one day. The wing span had to have been close to 6' across...don't know what kind it was but that thing is HUGE. BIL said it came down at him once when he went in that old barn...so he stays out of it now! Might have had some babies in that nest when he went in that time???
I don't like going to that barn after what BIL told me. They had an old stump of a big oak that had fallen into the field next to the barn...it was in the way so they were pulling it out with a tractor & chain...they uncovered a nest of rattle snakes, about 30 of them under that old stump!!! NOT anything I want to run into!This message has been edited. Last edited by: ga.karen,
"The soil is the source of life, creativity, culture and real independence." David Ben-Gurion
Karen, that was probably a barn owl. They are notorious for nesting in abandoned buildings. In holes in big trees, too, if they can find them. Beautiful birds.
Count me as an owl lover, too. I've never seen a great horned during daylight hours, but have seen one sitting on our utility pole after dark. And I agree, there is magic in hearing their courting and territorial calls. Not so nice is the sound made by their prey after it's been swooped up. On the one hand, it's kinda sad; on the other, it's just nature, and an owl's gotta eat.
If you're ever lucky enough to catch sight of a snowy owl like I have... Oh wow! Now, that's an experience I'll never forget.
Nettie, last year there was an irruption of snowy owls in the Pacific northwest and I am STILL kicking myself for not hopping on a plane to go see them. We have family that live less than 40 miles from where a bunch of them hung out for the winter. I've already told them that if they show up again this year (which isn't likely), that I'm coming!!!!!
Like Wavy, here in NYC, even the outer boroughs we don't have owls.. our nighttime sounds are screeching tires or boom boxes. We do haved a neighborhood hawk my neighbor has named Fluffy. He/she keeps the pigeon population somewhat under control. Would love to see/hear an owl in real life.. You are lucky.
Posts: 3129 | Location: Staten Island, NY , USA | Registered: Sep 24, 2002
oh my goodness...what an awesome owl shot. Count me as another owl lover. We hear them all the time. Unfortunately we've never seen one close to the house, and I keep wishing some barn owls would roost in our hay loft. Wouldn't that be cool. So far, nothing.
I've only seen owls in the wild a couple of times, and each time the camera was at the house.
Great pictures ladies. FFG, the barn owl and screech owl are common in our area. We hear them at night quite often here in the country. Years ago I was painting the outside of my back porch door late one evening. I had just about finished applying the top coat of white paint when a screech owl apparently didn't like the music I was listening too. It screeched...I jumped....the ladder went one way and I went the other...Paint went EVERYWHERE !!! Have you ever heard one screech? They are very, very loud and apparently this one was very, very close to the house I thought it was a person. They are beautiful birds!This message has been edited. Last edited by: Georgia Peach,
That's a great shot. I've never seen a "real" owl before. I swear I can them, but it could be something else. I've heard weird screeches, but assumed it may be a fisher cat, or something.
Its so funny, but when I went over to open the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, they had a download of OWL SOUNDS!!! For anybody interested, you can to to Cornell Lab of Ornothology and find lots of information.
I'm glad you guys are interested in this.
Also, you can use Whatbird.com to help identify some bird you've seen.
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Wow, that is waaaaay cool!!!! I have only seen owls in the zoo or on T.V. I definitely have never seen anything like that in NYC or NJ. I guess they don't like big cities..... 
