Well, just as I was giving up on our little guys, Caroline finds one of them in a low bush by The Pool.  So, the season isn't over and we've found one of the them into August.  

This report ended up being the last sighting of the North Woods Owls in 2008.  A great year, which may never be repeated.  How lucky I feel to have witnessed a full breading cycle of an owl species.

I’ve had three days of bad luck finding our North Woods owls. No sight or sound of them on Saturday, Sunday and Monday evenings. Owl season may finally be over.

Tonight, we had the adult female in almost the same place we had seen her on Saturday.  She called a number of times before flying out, and we might have heard a reply but could not be sure.

When she flew out, she actually came down right over my head and I had to duck.  It was great to see her fly right at me.  I don’t think she was trying to hurt me. 

She seemed intent on getting a worm from near where I was.  The earthworm had been brought to the surface by the heavy rains earlier in the day.  She got it and ate it in on a low tree branch.

She continued to do some calling and moved towards the location of the nest cavity.  Then we lost her and went to investigate a report of two owls that had been seen earlier in the week, on a slope of the Great Hill.  We didn’t find them, but couldn’t help but wonder if they were the fledglings or possibly owls from earlier years.

Although we may have lost track of the fledgling Eastern Screech-Owls for the season, a few of us got to see the mother this weekend.  We’re still amazed that we’re keeping track of some of the family into July.  Last year we lost them in late May.  

Tonight, we found one owl high in a tree with the help of some robins.  While we watched it, we thought we heard another owl calling, so we may have had two in the area.

The owl we could see stretched and flew out quickly dropping from the tree tops to almost the ground in one quick flight.  We were able to find it sitting on a small branch of a sapling next the stream.  It was at eye level.

The owl then flew onto a mud flat on the edge of the stream.  It paused for quite a good amount of time.  It did not bathe, but it took a number of drinks of water.  Then if flew off to the south and we lost track of it.

The fledglings have gotten very mature, so I was unsure if we had seen a fledgling or an adult.  When I processed the photographs it was obvious from the band on the bird’s foot.  It was an adult.

As part of the publicity campaign for the Farrar, Straus and Giroux book, Central Park In the Dark, by Marie Winn, I had a photograph in The New York Times today in the second section of Friday’s Weekend Arts.  The story was by Anne Raver and was entitled, In Urban Wilderness, Tracking Hoots in the Night.  There was also a multimedia feature with a slide show and
audio, which include a few more of my photographs.

I’m a Director in the I.T. department of Macmillan that supports our publishers, including Farrar, Straus and Giroux. It has been great fun to experience the creative side of Macmillan, rather than just the technical
side these last few months supporting Marie’s book.

If you’re visiting my blog for the first time due to this article, welcome.  Over the last few years, I’ve learned that although we generally perceive nature to be rarer as we move from rural to suburban to urban environments, for the most part, it’s all still here in the city if you just look for it.  Our man made world, as hard as it might try is still a wild place, especially for birds.  This blog tries to document some of this diversity, specializing in urban raptors.

Marie’s book also got a wonderful review by Geoffrey Norman in the Wall Street Journal today.  The book is a fun, easy read and is available at a number of bookstores including:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Borders
or your local bookstore