I Got It!

[dihoekstra]

Found my owl...it's a Barred Owl. Back in the park today with my daughter and she spotted it sitting right out in the open! This man was walking about 30 yards ahead of us and walked right past it (within 10 feet) but never saw it because he was looking down. Anyway, it let us get a picture, then flew into the woods. I guess it became elusive because we stopped on the trail. We were a good distance away, so I've cropped the picture. It was fantastic! There were several other species we saw that we can't identify. The only frustration of the day...

Thanks for letting me share my victory!

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/186/385967392_55e68f8207.jpg

[Maestro]

That is so cool! I really want to get some owl shots but I have only seen one in my area in the 8 years I have lived here. :(

[Vern]

That is really neat to get a photo of the Owl. I don't see that many although I tried on a Great Horned Owl a couple of days ago. It was just too early in the morning for decent photography.

Congratulations on getting the photo!

[dihoekstra]

Yeah, lucky for me, he was doing things the field guide says are rare...he was out early afternoon, sitting at the edge of the woods, and not up near the trunk, fairly low in the tree, and he was facing us, so he stood out like a sore thumb. I do hope to see him again on occasion. He has been in the same general area each time I've gotten a glimpse of him. Don't know where he roosts or nests, though. I try to stay on trails or sidewalks, so I'm limited by what I can see. I still don't know birding protocol (if there is any) like wandering around off of the trails.

Lei, were you trying to get a picture of the great horned owl near the Dart line in Garland? I think you were the one that had noticed the nest. These are great creatures. I really like the owls.

[lei]

Lei, were you trying to get a picture of the great horned owl near the Dart line in Garland? I think you were the one that had noticed the nest. These are great creatures. I really like the owls.

Not yet. But I haven't gone there to check out either. Last year they were seen in April.

Which park did you find the barred owl? Big congrats.:D

[dihoekstra]

Breckenridge Park in far northeast Richardson. I've briefly spotted him several times and heard him other times. He is always in the same general area. If anyone wants to go check it out, let me know and I'll give more specific directions.

[Sandy]

Hi - Lei. I remember your great Great Horned Owl (GHO) photos from last year. I checked out the nesting site last Sunday at sunset and no sign of adults or babies but it is still a little early. Last year, the babies were quite large when we saw one of the parents get mobbed by crows. He or she was hiding in a nearby tree that was fully leafed-out. The nesting tree and "mobbing" tree are all totally devoid of leaves right now. If anyone is interested to check out this previous GHO nesting site it is just a little northeast of the intersection of Forest Lane and Shiloh Road in Garland. I park at the Garland Recycling parking lot (on Sunday I believe it's closed) across the street from a big plant called ABS Blast or something like that which the owl nest is just north of. There were two parked trains on the railroad tracks between the plant and the owl nest when I went last Sunday. The DART train line is a just north of the nest from which the original sighting was made. It's too early to speculate but I hope the train activity hasn't disturbed the owls - I don't remember seeing the freight trains last year.

I did a little GHO research just to check on some dates and facts. According to Sibley in The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior:

Incubation is 35 days
Fledgling period can last up to 3 months
During incubation and brooding, the male delivers food to the nestAccording to Warren Pulich in The Birds of North Central Texas, nesting dates range from January 29 to one banded in the nest on July 20. The peak of banding young in nest is from early April to early May.

Hope we get to enjoy this particular GHO pair again this year.