The more recently arrived Great Horned Owl of Central Park, gave bird watchers great view today. It was in a location it had used a few days ago, which proves an unobstructed view of the bird. Those of us crazy enough to watch this owl in the bitterly cold weather had a great time.
While we were watching the owl, an Adult Bald Eagle flew overhead. If the reservoir freezes, we might get to see it land on the ice over the next few days.
Central Park has had a Northern Saw-whet Owl roosting only about ten feet off the ground in a tree, with the exception of one day since Sunday. It has attracted large crowds and has been a sensation on social media. I have avoided the owl for the most part. On Thursday, I got up early to see if I could see it at sunrise, but it had choose a different roost and could not be found.
Today, I went to see if I could get photographs of the owl covered in snow. While I did get some wonderful pictures, it didn’t not get off the owl covered in snow given the gale force winds! I almost got blown over twice, but the little owl hung on tight and was fine.
There were only a few folks watching the owl while I was there. The observers kept their distance, were quiet and enjoyed great looks at the Saw-whet. It was nice to see everyone being so respectful. None of us had to worry about waking the owl up however, as it was wide awake dealing with the wind!
On Tuesday, the newly arrived Central Park Great Horned Owl was easy to watch in great light. It was nice to watch the fly out, but we quickly lost track of the owl as it went north.
A Northern Saw-whet Owl was seen in Central Park today, along with a Barred Owl and two Great Horned Owls, so our fall bounty of owls continues. The question on everyone’s mind is whether this is the same Saw-whet or have we been seeing multiple birds migrate through the park? The general feeling about the five sightings over the last few weeks, is that we might have only one or two unique Saw-whets.
Project Snowstorm, which tracks Snowy Owls coming south for the winter with GPS collars, shares news that this year will most likely not have an abundance of owls heading our way this year. In this post, The First News From the North they quote a report of very low lemming populations in 2022, leading to a major drop in Snowy Owl nesting activity this past summer.
Last year, Snowy Owls had already been spotted in large numbers up and down the East Coast. Comparing last year’s sightings to this year’s using eBird’s Species Range Maps, confirms the change. The blue markers are from last year and the red markers are from this year. By this time last year, there were already numerous sightings in Massachusetts and Connecticut, but none this year. So, it looks like we’re going to have a quiet winter for Snowy Owls.
Tonight, after failing to find our established Central Park Great Horned Owl, I followed the newcomer. It was a nice evening of stretches, a pellet and then some short flights before flying off to the east. I was able to follow the owl for about 20 minutes and to five perches, which is the best I’ve been able to do so far.
