The Eastern Screech Owl or Eastern Screech-Owl is a small owl that is relatively common in Eastern North America, from Mexico to Canada.
Similar species: Owls
By Thibaud Aronson
All rights reserved
Uploaded Oct 1, 2018. Captured Sep 30, 2018 17:09 in Glen Ave, Watertown, MA 02472, USA.
comments (6)
I'm in town for the weekend visiting family, and whenever I visit, I happen to stay very near this cemetery, which is one of the best birding spots in the Boston urban area. I was out there yesterday, and ran into a lady who told me that a screech-owl had been seen regularly in the park and gave me directions to its tree. When I turned up a couple of birders were there, and we all waited for about half an hour, to no avail.
I returned today at 4 PM to try my luck again. A few birders drove by but didn't stick around. I was determined to stay until 6, when the cemetery closed, but painfully aware that the owl most likely wouldn't come out until 7 or so, around sunset.
The shadows in the cavity kept playing tricks on me, so I raised my binoculars every other minute, thinking I'd seen something move. Then at some point a jay came by and cawed at the entrance of the the hole for a while, so I thought "Well that did it. The owl surely won't come out now..."
And yet, just around 5, I suddenly saw a grey disk poking out... There she was! She came out onto the rim of the hole, blinking her eyes a few times, and then she just sat there, perfectly relaxed, occasionally turning her head, her attention caught by chipmunks and squirrels running around. She stared at me a few times when I got closer to the tree to get better photos, but overall she was very content to sit out. I had her to myself for a good twenty five minutes before a couple of photographers turned up, and I took my cue to leave.
This is really turning out to be a good year for me and owls in the US :) Posted 6 years ago