Birdiful II

Thursday March 25 2010

Today I was able to ditch the dogs, and I snuck up Bates Creek from the house.

I knew where I should find a long-eared owl or two (last May, I found several, including a baby), so I slowly and as quietly as possible approached the spot in the creek where the brush is thickest and where I know they hang out.

I looked, and looked, stopped and studied the brush and tree branches every few yards, but didn't see one. You won't see a long-eared owl unless you flush one, or unless you are really, really good. They are so camouflaged and look so like the tree or brush they are sitting in, and since they won't move or blink, your eyes simply won't comprehend one.

I walked very slowly upstream along the bank - no owls. I was sure there had to be owls in here. I slowly walked back downstream along the bank, and still saw nothing. Just as I was about to give up, I noticed a pile of whitewash under some brush. Ah ha - an owl had obviously been sitting there for a time. I kept looking at the brush - and realized I'd been staring at the long-eared owl the whole time! Quite unbelievable. (Looks obvious in the photo, but it wasn't!)

He didn't move, didn't blink, just stared at me. I was quite sure there had to be more owls around there, and very possibly one on a nest, but I could not see an obvious nest (there was a possibility, but I was pretty sure nothing was on it) and didn't want to disturb him or them any more.

I continued on upstream, and not 30 yards further I spotted a small nest in the crook of a snag and - also camouflaged so well I would not have made it out if the wind hadn't been blowing its ears - sitting on it, a great horned owl!




The other thing that gave it away was the partner great horned owl that flushed out of the tree next to it. He flew upstream and immediately came right back with two Ravens chasing it! One Raven landed close and was knocking (vocally) at the owl; the owl was snapping his beak at the Raven, which they do when they are threatened.


I left them all alone to have their row, and continued upstream another quarter mile to two more empty nests. Was one of these a Raven nest? I'd seen a Raven flying in this direction last week with sticks in its feet.


Under one of the nests I found some fairly fresh whitewash and a broken pellet. I think the nest was unoccupied at the moment. Maybe Ravens nest a bit later in the spring, or, maybe this Raven pair (or another) are just toying with nest-building but decided to stay childless another year.

Getting tired of the bird posts yet? Hope not, because while I'm done with Bates Creek, I'm not done with the area yet!

Birdiful!

Wednesday March 24 2010

Birdwise, it's been a stunning couple of days!

If you work your way up Bates Creek Road and study the leafless (for now) cottonwood and locust trees on the creek (and you know where to look), you will first see a great horned owl on a nest.


Next, 3/4 mile upstream: remember the golden eagle nest on Bates Creek? I hadn't seen the eagles in two weeks. Nothing near the nest, no eagles on their favorite pointed peak on the rim, no eagles anywhere. I thought they were gone. Monday something made me look at the nest again, and look closer - there was a bird sitting in the nest! I couldn't quite tell what it was through my binoculars, but blowing up the pictures - looks like a golden eagle! (Tuesday, I saw two eagles flying, and nothing on the nest. There was a tractor plowing the field right below the nest...)

A half-mile upstream from the eagle nest is another nest; Monday two Ravens were on it. Tuesday two magpies were on it.

Another quarter mile upstream: occupied red-tailed hawk nest.


Another half mile upstream: occupied great horned owl nest.




1 1/2 miles further upstream, occupied red tailed hawk nest.


All of this in a 3 1/2-mile stretch.

Any riparian canyon you come across in this desert country, especially one thick with cottonwoods, you're likely to find something in a nest.

On Rabbit Creek (on the way to Stormy's dental appointment): 2 immature golden eagles were flying above the creek; a red tailed hawk stood on a nest, and a quarter-mile up from there, in a deep wash where we once flushed a half-dozen long eared owls, I found one on a nest.



I'm astounded by all the nesting birds on our creek. Last year I noticed only 2 occupied nests (red tails). Did I just not notice the others? Was I too busy, gone, or just oblivious? Shame.

This year I know exactly where they all are. I still have at least 2 possible golden eagle territories to check out. I suspect I will find nesting long-eared owls and Ravens up Bates Creek from the house; and possibly nesting red tailed hawks a half mile up Pickett Creek from the house, and nesting long-eared owls further up in the Narrows. If I really do some sleuthing, I'm sure I can find a screech owl nest or two (they prefer tree cavities in snags), because I hear them at night on the creek.

But I'm waiting till I can ditch the noisy boisterous dogs before I snoop. No chance on sneaking up on birds with 4 dogs thrashing through brush, and I don't want to overly stress the birds at a critical time on their nests.

It's going to be a bountiful, birdiful spring and summer!

Treasure From Above

Friday February 12 2010

No, it's not poop on the porch railing, but a pellet! A gift from some owl last night. He wasn't even perching on the roof, because that's overhanging - he perched on the railing!

You can see little rodent bones in the pellet. If I took it apart I could probably put a whole mouse (or two mice) skeleton together.




I hear screech owls here every night. Occasionally I'll hear a great horned owl. Just a quarter mile up Bates Creek, at least two long-eared owls are hanging out - same place I've seen a day-roost of them (they prefer thick vines to roost in - and you will not see them unless they fly), same place I spotted a baby last year.

The long-eared owls and great horned owls will take up and lay eggs in an abandoned nest in the cottonwood trees. The birds aren't sitting on nests yet, but now's the time to view and make a note of the nests, because they'll be hard to see once the leaves are out. (And buds are already starting on some of the trees!!)

Screech owls will use a cavity in a snag. Plenty of snags around here also, but it's hard to spot the screech owls in the twilight or dark.

Did you spot the long-eared owl in the top photo? Here are some hints.




And I do realize that I am probably one of only a few people who get excited about owl pellets...