Eastern screech owl photo...10/10 I'm an owl fan too. Here where we live in (don't shoot me) Texas, we have barred, screech, and once in a while a Great Horned comes around to do clean up. I grew up in WI, snowy owls will forever be my fave.
I can't wait for us to get some owls living in that box. Then we can give them some fabulous couple name! You'll even take great photos of it with your fab new lens, so they shouldn't worry about being displayed in photos that get 0/5!
Nathaniel, you showed doggedXXX photographered determination. That said, would one or two of the first images warranted at least a 1? Yes of course the rating were for owl picture quality. About 40 ya I bought a calendar at a local nursery that specializes in native plants as well as garden plants, seasonals like Poinsettias, and more. The calendar contained dimensioned plans for a Barred Owl sublet. An avid woodworker at the time (still in possession of all 10 digits) I built two for separate locations in the trees on our two acre parcel. And I waited. And waited some more. No tenants. Back then I favored impatience but chose to leave them up.
Some months later, returning from work at dusk, movement near one of the boxes caught my attention. Of course you can be certain it was not barred owls. A pair of screech owls (I’ve read there are about 17 varieties) set up housekeeping and ultimately fledged about six owlets! Seeing the wee owlets lined up on a thin, dead limb was a joyful sight for me. Around that time in my life, I learned that powdered sulphur was good to deter “bugs” from the nest boxes. Just a pinch before placing super thin shavings from my wood shop in the bottom. “Bugs” = lice, fleas, and related harbingers of disease and wounds for adults and babies both! John Prine sang in “Angel From Montgomery,” The years just roll by like a broken down dam.
Best to live and enjoy each new day, let the past be the past, and hold hope for tomorrow.
I really enjoyed and appreciated this essay, Nathaniel. Owls are such fascinating birds and I do not know what it is about them, but they stop me in my tracks when I see one. I hope that Eastern-Screech Owl that you had last heard on December 16 of that year found a new mate.
I have been very fortunate to see Barred Owls and Eastern-Screech Owls this year onseveral occasions. We get the Snowy Owls here in Ottawa Canada in the early Winter until late Winter and I am looking forward to seeing them in a few weeks.
Thank you for reading Neil! They are fascinating. Something about their silence, I think. They can sit in silence, fly in silence...it gives them an air of mystery
So happy for you and your owl encounters and excited for the arrival of the Snowys!
Owls are never guaranteed for me. I do not stay up late or get up early. Took me 4 years to find a Great Gray even with people giving me their cherished locations. I did have a Great Horned hanging out by our camper storage unit, but alas it has abandoned me as well. Perhaps they stay elusive to maintain the awe we feel.
Lovely story. I live in suburbia and am usually napping or in bed long before any respectable owl starts hooting. Oddly, though, several years ago I encountered an owl sitting fearlessly on a tree in broad daylight, outside a federal building in DC. I felt a connection to this magnificent creature and it’s a memory that sticks with me.
Eastern screech owl photo...10/10 I'm an owl fan too. Here where we live in (don't shoot me) Texas, we have barred, screech, and once in a while a Great Horned comes around to do clean up. I grew up in WI, snowy owls will forever be my fave.
I love Texas! I saw an Elf Owl there in 1992 :)
I can't wait for us to get some owls living in that box. Then we can give them some fabulous couple name! You'll even take great photos of it with your fab new lens, so they shouldn't worry about being displayed in photos that get 0/5!
I can still achieve 0/5 you just watch
I'm rooting for 5/5. If we get a resident pair, you'll have no excuses!
I’ll do my best you have my word!
Nathaniel, you showed doggedXXX photographered determination. That said, would one or two of the first images warranted at least a 1? Yes of course the rating were for owl picture quality. About 40 ya I bought a calendar at a local nursery that specializes in native plants as well as garden plants, seasonals like Poinsettias, and more. The calendar contained dimensioned plans for a Barred Owl sublet. An avid woodworker at the time (still in possession of all 10 digits) I built two for separate locations in the trees on our two acre parcel. And I waited. And waited some more. No tenants. Back then I favored impatience but chose to leave them up.
Some months later, returning from work at dusk, movement near one of the boxes caught my attention. Of course you can be certain it was not barred owls. A pair of screech owls (I’ve read there are about 17 varieties) set up housekeeping and ultimately fledged about six owlets! Seeing the wee owlets lined up on a thin, dead limb was a joyful sight for me. Around that time in my life, I learned that powdered sulphur was good to deter “bugs” from the nest boxes. Just a pinch before placing super thin shavings from my wood shop in the bottom. “Bugs” = lice, fleas, and related harbingers of disease and wounds for adults and babies both! John Prine sang in “Angel From Montgomery,” The years just roll by like a broken down dam.
Best to live and enjoy each new day, let the past be the past, and hold hope for tomorrow.
5/5 on that last part Gary.
Honestly, I'm reevaluating my pics and thinking I should have given them negative ratings, but glad you think a couple merit a 1 :)
Thanks for the tip on the pest deterrent. Hadn't thought about that!
I really enjoyed and appreciated this essay, Nathaniel. Owls are such fascinating birds and I do not know what it is about them, but they stop me in my tracks when I see one. I hope that Eastern-Screech Owl that you had last heard on December 16 of that year found a new mate.
I have been very fortunate to see Barred Owls and Eastern-Screech Owls this year onseveral occasions. We get the Snowy Owls here in Ottawa Canada in the early Winter until late Winter and I am looking forward to seeing them in a few weeks.
Thank you for reading Neil! They are fascinating. Something about their silence, I think. They can sit in silence, fly in silence...it gives them an air of mystery
So happy for you and your owl encounters and excited for the arrival of the Snowys!
Owls are never guaranteed for me. I do not stay up late or get up early. Took me 4 years to find a Great Gray even with people giving me their cherished locations. I did have a Great Horned hanging out by our camper storage unit, but alas it has abandoned me as well. Perhaps they stay elusive to maintain the awe we feel.
You may be right about that last part. But elusive or not, I will see a Great Gray before I die. That's one L I'm not willing to take
Thanks for reading Candice!!!
Lovely story. I live in suburbia and am usually napping or in bed long before any respectable owl starts hooting. Oddly, though, several years ago I encountered an owl sitting fearlessly on a tree in broad daylight, outside a federal building in DC. I felt a connection to this magnificent creature and it’s a memory that sticks with me.