With this cold weather and strong northerly winds I think our potential for sightings of northern owls increases slightly this week.

As with any birding, you should be familiar with a target species before you go out in the field.  Field guides do a passable job of description of marks and photos/paintings.  But they often minimize the info. so the book fits easily into a pack or pocket.

I have found one of the best sources for photos, calls and descriptions of owls is www.Owlpages.com.  Not only will it cover any species we may see here, it covers owls of the world for those of you that travel frequently.

a few species you should familiarize yourself with in order to provide credible reports:

Great gray: http://www.owlpages.com/species/strix/nebulosa/Default.htm

- compare to -

Barred: http://www.owlpages.com/species/strix/varia/Default.htm

-or-

Boreal: http://www.owlpages.com/species/aegolius/funereus/Default.htm

- compare to -

Saw-whet: http://www.owlpages.com/species/Aegolius-acadicus/northern_saw-whet_owl.html

Study the pictures, note the differences of these species, and burn those search images into your brains.  Now get out and freeze!


--
J. Steven Huy
Middletown, MD, USA