owls
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Xmas with the Owls
The Snowy Owl invasion is astonishing. Fifteen were sighted in Brooklyn on the Christmas Bird Count on the 21st, an unprecedented number. We saw four this past Saturday. This particular bird was flushed by a couple walking across the grasslands, where they shouldn’t have been (but all the signs have disappeared). The flushing meant it…
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Saw Whet
Of all the many services provided here at Backyard & Beyond, bird identification tops the list. Want to know what kind of owl that is in your backyard? You could look it up, of course, like my friend Zina Saunders did when she saw an owl outside her window. This was in the air/light shaft…
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The Case of the Headless Mouse
It was as cold as a Titmouse on a bare oak branch that morning. The call came in from the Mammal Division. I’d fallen asleep in my suit, Kirkegaard propped against my noise. My tongue felt like it had been ground up for dog-food and probably smelled like that, too, but I shook off my…
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Owls Real and Artistic
Brooklyn’s owls aren’t just wheat-paste works, but this piece of art is certainly easier to see. On Hall St. in Clinton Hill. Anybody know the artist? An injured Saw-whet was found in Sea Gate last month and taken to the bird hospital. And this fledgling Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus), one of two known to…
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Owl Week: Golden
There are some 181 species of owls in the world. Nineteen breed in North America. The one above is one of the many symbolic or metaphysical types. You’ll find it atop the ornate entrance of the Brooklyn Public Library, Central Branch, Grand Army Plaza, along with the golden characters of some great American books. Glaukos,…
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Owl Week: Owling
The best way to see an owl is to follow the birders. Owl sightings, especially in the city, are rare, exotic, and spectacular. As such they attract crowds. This can be a problem, since during the day, which is of course when we see best, owls sleep. Crowds can keep the animal awake and stress…
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Owl Week: Great Horned
So far during Owl Week here at B&B, we’ve seen some of the smaller owls, which are rare for Brooklyn per se. But today we have the Great Horned owl, Bubo virginianus, which is big and bold and most definitely living here in Kings County. This picture is from two winters ago. Unfortunately, the nest…
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Owl Week: Saw-whet
The Northern Saw-whet owl, Aegolius acadicus, being owly in a conifer, the only trees that provide cover during the winter months. Nocturnal animals, owls sleep and rest during the day either in cavities or deep within the protective branches of trees. This photo was taken in the New York Botanical Garden two winters ago. The…
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Owl Week: Screech
A Eastern Screech owl, Otus asio. These photographs were taken at a raptor demonstation at the Queens Co. Farm Museum a couple of years ago. Such birds are partially rehabilitated rescuees who can’t be released back into the wild The Screech owl comes in three forms, or morphs: gray, brown, or red, as here. It’s…
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Remains of the night
Out Madaket way, a row of arbor vitae had been cut back recently because they were crowding the road. Underneath were dozens of bodies. Was it the work of a serial killer? No, some owls had been feeding. Pellets are what these regurgitated masses of prey vomited up by birds are called. A number of…
Backyard and Beyond 