Frigid but worth it!
I left the house Thursday morning for Silvio- temperature was 12 degrees and it was not going to hit 14 until 2 hours after sunrise. Thankfully - no wind! I arrived at Silvio well before sunrise and had decided that I better only make one loop because of the frigid temps. It was so incredibly cold that as I made my way to the first of the wooden walkways the wood was snapping and popping incredibly loudly with each step that I took. The popping sounds echoed throughout the woods - I certainly wasn’t going to sneak up on anyone anywhere near those wooden walkways. Other than me creating those sounds it was totally quiet, not a peep from anyone. Everything was coated with ice crystals - the grasses, the branches, absolutely everything.
I kept scanning high and low, left and right - no one was out to greet me. I was hoping that maybe the Screech would be sitting in his hole - empty. I kept on looking in all of the areas that I have seen the Barred owls - no luck. It always amazes me when it is this quiet - no sounds, no sightings, and yet I know that they are all there - hunkered down somewhere watching me looking for them.
As I came out of the area with the tall pines I started to see the first glimpses of the sun’s rays starting to shine through the trees on the other side of the field. I love being exactly in that spot when that happens - I always turn around and watch it light up those pine trees so beautifully. And of course I am always hoping that will be the time that I spot an owl sitting in one of those lit up trees. That has only happened once over the years for me… and this was not that morning.
I turned around slowly and picked up my gear and was walking very slowly as I was trying to see if I could spot a silhouette of an owl perched on any of the trees along the field’s edge. They love this spot at this time of day… the sun shines right into their eyes as they survey the field. I wasn’t having any luck until….. a Barred exploded from the ground about 3 feet away from me to my right!!!! I was so startled I honestly couldn’t believe I didn’t see it before I obviously flushed it! I quickly set down my tripod trying to catch it as it flew away from me - my guess was that it was going to head out through the trees in front of us and head out over the field - but, no! It landed about 18 feet in front of me! It landed in a snag that I have always thought would be a perfect nesting site for a Barred!!! A snag is a dead or dying tree that is still standing upright. Snags are critical for wildlife as they used them as nesting sites, to perch on and for shelter. I thought - I cannot believe this - this is incredible!
If it isn’t a current nest it sure seems to me like it was checking out the possibility… I think you will agree after seeing these next two shots.
Just as the sunlight was lighting up the side of his face - he decided to look right into my soul… these are moments that stay with me forever - what a gift. I am guessing this is a male - this Barred was a decent amount smaller than the one I shared with you from my previous recent Silvio outing on that windy, frigid day. Females are about 1/3 larger than males.
He was not bothered at all by my presence. I was quite cold by this point but was not going to give up this opportunity. I just kept telling myself - just think warm!
When he bowed his head like this I knew he was relaxed as it meant he was doing some preening of his feathers. I also knew that often they then do a quick head spin when they are finished getting their feathers just right. I have tried countless times with many birds to try and capture their head in a blur during the head spinning motion while getting the rest of their body tack sharp - the following are by far my best efforts ever of the head spin.
From head spinning to all done!
I didn’t react quickly enough to catch him explode off of his perch. But he only went about 10 feet further away… in one of the trees that I know that they like to hunt from.
It sat for quite some time surveying the field… meanwhile I have now made a fist with my left hand in my gloves to warm up my left hand. I couldn’t do that with my right hand and still be prepared for whatever is next…. I am so glad my right hand was ready to fire off the following shot. This shot captures the Barred coughing up a pellet. Owls cannot digest everything that they swallow - so the parts that cannot be digested go into a separate chamber in their stomachs and create what is known as a pellet. Once a day they will cough up that pellet - generally at or very near the same spot each day. I have seen pellets on the ground in this area. In the next shot you will see the pellet dropping in mid air below the branch he is sitting on.
After this shot he crouched down low and exploded off of the branch and was heading down into the field. I quickly (as quickly as I could - I had been standing in that spot for quite some time so I had to tell my feet - move!) picked up my gear and made it to the one spot I knew I might have a chance to try and spot him either in the field or in the tree line 90 degrees to my right. The sun was so intense and low across the field - it made for a magical scene but it was blinding my left eye it was so intense. I quickly scanned the field and ….. found him! This next shot is him sitting in that field!
This next series is the best I could do as everything happened so quickly and I just couldn’t quite react quickly enough. These are the moments I dream of….I hope that you enjoy…
I was blinded by the sun as he then swooped back up into a tree along the tree line…. but I found him again!
The last shot of the morning. It was a frigid outing but so amazing - it was sure worth it.
Thought I would end with sharing a selfie with you during one of the very recent frigid mornings… it has been cold! Thanks for coming along with me…