Bis repetita

Better angle this time. And you can see it's looking right at me.


Obligatory wide-angle shot.

NOW do you see the owl?

Honestly, that's the best angle I could get on it. The only angle, in fact. The only way I could see it was through the fork of that tree in front. I tell you, it's got kickass camouflage.

Find the owl

Remember how I saw two great horned owls making out on March 26? They've been around ever since, but I hadn't seen them again. Almost every evening when I turn the corner from Gaetz to Riverview on our evening walk, one owl will hoot once in the distance, but only once. Then they don't do it again the whole time I'm on Riverview. It's rather crazy-making. But on Saturday, one hooted just as I was walking past its position, so I was able to narrow it down to this:


See the owl?

Me neither.

See, there are three ways to find an owl: it's moving, it's calling, or it's being mobbed by other birds. Knowing you're looking at an owl is nice, but sometimes even if you know your eyes are looking right at the owl, your brain still can't make it out from its surroundings. They're that cryptic.

So let me show you in more detail:


See?

Me neither. But I, unlike you, was there in person and saw it move, so I know this:


That highlighted hump looks exactly like the tree bark, but it's actually part of an owl.

You can see it better in the one from this morning:


Crystal clear, innit?


See, you can totally see the side of its face. Besides, the tree didn't spontaneously grow a hump on its branch in two days, so it has to be an owl.

What's happening here is that the owls have a nest in that tree, which is just across the trail from where they had their young two years ago. It's actually way up the tree, which is partly why it's so hard to see or shoot them. And also defeats Sibley's theory that they nest on the ground, but that's ok. It must be hard watching owls in places that get lots of darkness. Also because it's brooding, it's lying down instead of standing upright like we normally see them. For greater clarity:


Yeah. I still can't see it either. Seriously, unless it moves, even All-Knowing-God Zoom can't find it.

That's one of the things I love about birdwatching. On the surface, all you need to do is see a bird, and you're a birdwatcher. But when you get into it, it's crazy how hard it can be.