21 December - 27 December 2021

Dear fellow flock of birders,

We’ve had a very special owl in the Arboretum for a little over a month now so I thought I would make this end of year 2021 a report all about Owls with the special owl at the end. Five of the eight owls described have been seen in the Arb at some time or another but not necessarily in the past week. Three of the owls described have been seen in Dane County but not necessarily in the Arb. All eight have photos included.

Let’s start with a couple owls that are seen and or heard fairly often in the Arb.

The Barred Owl, not to be confused with the Barn Owl, can be heard calling “who, who, who cooks for you” even during the day. We saw one on our bird walk 2 weeks ago perched in a tree on the west side of Icke Boardwalk. We were able to get open views of the owl. It can occasionally be seen perched in a juniper tree on Juniper Knoll. But often there are all sorts of branches that inhibit good views and photos of the owl. A photo of the Barred Owl is included.

The Great Horned Owl is another common owl in the Arb but seldom calls during the day. To hear its call requires an early morning walk before the sun comes up or a late afternoon walk just during or after sunset. I don’t know the mnemonic for this owl’s hoot but I’ve learned to recognize it easily. I’ve birded both early and late and usually hear the Great Horned Owl hooting. One mnemonic I remember from way back is “The Great Horned Owls lay their eggs on Valentine’s Day (2/24) and the eggs hatch on St. Patrick’s Day (3/17)." This is an approximation but indicates early nesting. I’ve included a photo taken by Margaret Rankin Riley of an Adult owl and two really cute Owlets (juvenile owls). 

In 2017 there was an Eastern Screech-Owl perched in a tree just inside the Mills Street entrance to the Arb. It perched inside a depression in the tree every day and many people got to see it. What is amazing about this owl was how difficult it was to see because of its feather coat that mimicked the bark on the tree. See the included photo.

In March of 2013 a very unusual owl arrived in Middleton, WI. It stopped at the Capital Brewery and stayed there for several days in its parking lot. Did it stop for a beer? Many people came to see it. It was a Great Gray Owl, a very large owl indeed. I’ve seen it up in northern Minnesota but never this far south. A photo of the owl is included. I wish another Great Gray would come down to Dane County so more people could see it.

In 2018 there was a Snowy Owl that landed on the ice of Lake Wingra. Levi Wood called me and told me that the owl was there so I rushed over to see it. There it was, wow! A group of men came to see the owl and it turned out they were there to rescue what they thought was an injured Snowy Owl. I told them that I thought the owl was fine and this was normal behavior for an owl raised on a treeless tundra way up north. They went on with the rescue anyway. One guy got dressed up in a wet suit. Other guys put a rope around him and gave him a kayak to drag out on the ice toward the Snowy. By the way this was March and the ice was getting thin. The wet suited guy pushed the kayak out on the ice and came within 10 feet of the Snowy when, all of sudden, the Snowy lifted off the ice and flew 50 feet east and landed on the ice once more. It looked perfectly healthy. I didn’t say anything but kind of wanted to.

This year the two Snowy Owls I’ve seen have both been perched at the top of light poles. One was on a median light pole on John Nolan Drive and the other was on a median light pole on Hwy Q just south of Waunakee. Why are they perched on light poles? Is someone putting up light poles in the tundra to light it up during those dark months? So then do the Snowy Owls become used to light poles? Wild idea! Anyway the included photo is of the Snowy Owl up by Waunakee.

The next two owls are named after the size of feather tufts that look like ears but have nothing to do with hearing. They are the Short-eared Owl and the Long-eared Owl. Both have been seen in Dane County but not that often. I would say the Short-eared is a bit more common than the Long-eared. The Short-eared has been seen along Bellbrook Road and in the Brooklyn Wildlife Area. A photo included is one that I took of the Short-eared on the ground in a field just north of Bellbrook Rd. The Long-eared Owl has been seen just north of the Airport Rd. The included photo is actually one that I took of the Long-eared Owl in Milwaukee. Note the size of the “ears” in both.

The last owl is the special one I mentioned at the beginning. It was first seen in the Arb on November 24, 2021. Those who saw it called me right away and told me to come over to the Arb right away to see it. I told the caller I and my wife were 200 miles away headed to a relative for Thanksgiving so could not come right away. I thought for sure it would be gone by the time I got home four days later. The owl was a Northern Saw-whet Owl that I had never seen before. Well I was wrong. It was still there four days later and I got to see the little guy perched in a pine tree. To get good photos I and others had to lie down on the ground and look up. The owl is so small and so cute! It was a special experience to see it. It’s about the size of a can of coke. Several of us have seen it off and on ever since. I thanked the Saw-whet for making an appearance for the Christmas Bird Count day, Dec. 18. Now I haven’t seen it for 5 days. I hope it is still around so many others can see it.  A photo of the Northern Saw-whet Owl is included.

I hope all of you can find and see the owls described above someday.

That’s the bird report for the past week.

I wish you all a Happy New Year and good birding in 2022,

Chuck