I was checking the blogs this morning, and found a post by Mike about great horned owls in Ithaca. He had mentioned our visit with him at the lab yesterday too, so I read the post aloud to George, who was in the next room. After I read the part about the owl sighting, I was surprised he made no comment. He’s always wanting to spot an owl on our outings.
We went about our day, catching up with things around the house, making plans for the rest of the week. As we finished up our lunch, George asked if I was interested in a trip to Ithaca to see if we could spot the owl. It sounded great to me, as housework was getting old, and I was ready to be outside. I did a little homework by studying the pictures in Mike’s post, and familiarizing myself with cottonwood trees. I really don’t know trees, and I need to work on that.
We arrived in Stewart Park, and the only thing I was sure of, was what part of the park we wanted to be in. We had never explored the woodsy part before. Most often we are picnickers when we stop there.
The trail took us past many cottonwood trees, of that I was sure. Next I started looking for cavities large enough to house an owl family, relying on Mike’s photo as my guide. George lagged behind me, ever so patient, and looking upward. After about an hour, he called me back, and asked me to look up above at a clump on a tree. I saw this gnarly growth on the side of the tree, dismissed it, and started to walk away. He called me back, and asked me to look again. It was then that I saw what he was pointing at, and it had feathers! I could see them fluttering in the breeze.
We both kept looking through our binoculars, sure, then unsure. It didn’t move, so maybe we were imagining things. It was just a clump of feathers on the branch. As we debated, I saw the slightest movement, a turn of the head. The owl! My first great horned owl!
We backtracked on the trail to get a better photo op, and as George took the pictures, the owls eye’s opened and it seemed to look down and stare at us.
Other birders were appearing at that point, and we pointed out our sighting to them. They, in turn, took us to see where the cavity in the tree was, where the nest had been. I never would have found it.
It was a great ending to a challenging day. George’s patience and birding technique, not to mention his eagle eyes, again win the prize.
