What's Your Nature?
Become a Nature Up North explorer to share your encounters with wild things and wild places in New York's North Country. Post your wildlife sightings, landscape shots, photos from your outings, and even your organization's events!
owl
Tree Stand Surprise
After my father-in-law discovered two eggs in our tree stand, we kept an eye on them. One egg was lost to an unknown cause. Upon checking today there it was...all cute and chirping. What was hard to believe is that the owl laid the eggs in a tree stand on the floor with no nest. The baby was born on the floor. There are so many rodents that have been brought up there for food..even a flying squirrel. Amazing and beautiful.
Saw-whet owl banding
Students in my Vertebrate Natural History class and I had a great visit last night with Mark Manske, owner of Adirondack Raptors, helping him net and band saw-whet owls. Mark has both state and federal permits, plus years of experience in the safe, proper ways to work with raptors. On this project, he runs a saw-whet owl banding station, working to band the owls during their fall migration. These are the smallest owls in the northeast, weighing in at about 90 grams (=3 fat mice). They prey on deer mice and are preyed upon by larger owls, among other things.
Much Needed Rest
This beautiful owl was visiting almost daily, which offered an excellent opportunity to photograph it while it rested.
Snowy on a tin roof
I was heading towards Watertown on 37 and spotted this Snowy Owl perched on the tin roof of an abandoned home in Hammond.
Snowy Owl a long ways from home!
Enchanting encounter while driving to Tibbetts Point in Cape Vincent, New York.
Owl 1, Rabbit 0
Looks like an owl took down a rabbit in our yard last night. Note the wing prints in the snow. The rabbit is now headless, and there is a pile of guts strewn about in the snow. I've been hearing barred and great horned owls in the neighborhood for the last few weeks...
Heartbeats and Wings
Snowy Owls are one of my personal favorite birds to find and observe and if lucky enough, to capture in a photo. Most of my shots are of these owls from a great distance or flying away from me. This is the closest I have ever been to the bird. It actually flew over my head and I barely had time to grab my camera and find him in my lens. My heart was pounding. I was beyond thrilled and felt so incredibly happy, as if I was privy to some great and wonderous part of nature.
Snowy Owl
We had a visitor this morning at the basketball court by the 7th grade wing at JM McKenny Middle School.