two owls

I got a call from friends, Frank and Joan, who had just seen an owl perched in a tree in Guadalupe Oak Grove Park. A variety of birds had been mobbing the owl, which caught their attention. It was a Great Horned Owl, which stayed all day, and Lee was able to photograph.

The following week I discovered more birds noisily mobbing something in the same tree. I found an owl and thought this looks like a Long-eared Owl! It seemed unlikely another owl species would happen to roost in the same tree. I checked on the owl again late afternoon and fortunately ran into Charlie Rettner with his camera. I said "have I got a bird for you!!" He climbed up on the rocks and photographed the owl. The next day he sent me a photo, which I emailed to experts for identification. Les Chibana was the first to proclaim it was indeed a Long- eared Owl, the first of the season and rare to this area. Charlie gave us permission to use his photo on our web site. The Long-eared Owl photograph can be viewed on page 3 of our park photos along with our Great Horned Owl pictures.