I would agree, the owl did not seem to exhibit any problems flying or navigating this morning while hunting or moving from one spot to the next. On Saturday evening, I saw it capture some large rodent without any apparent difficulty. Additionally, Aaron Flohrs (DOW District Wildlife Manager) visited the owl on Saturday and said to me that the owl appears to be healthy. He said that he had heard rumors that some were feeding it and should not be, especially since it showed no problems hunting and moving about.
With respect to Roger's note on the owl and interest in the small children, I observed the same thing. It seemed more interested in them than the mom standing nearby. Maybe because of their higher pitched voices and they were more vocal and active than the adult? Finally, I arrived just at sunrise and found the owl on one the roofs it seems to frequently use to hunt from. It flew about 20 minutes later and then stayed for some time on another roof and then became very inactive. About 9:30 to 9:45 it perked up and eventually flew again to a yard and from what I was told caught something but dropped it and then flew up to the roof. I watched it make another two unsuccessful hunting attempts after that and then I left (about 10:30). Ron Green Scencic, Nature, and Wildlife Photography http://www.greensphotoimages.com -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Roger Clark Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 12:53 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [cobirds] Re: El Paso Snowy Owl Paul Hurtado wrote: > Hi folks, > > I've been eyeing the Snowy Owl discussion from afar, and having seen a > few healthy and not-so-healthy Snowy Owls in the north east the past > few years I've been > wondering why the El Paso bird is sticking around. > > From what I gather, such birds are frequently unhealthy (e.g. > suffering from infections picked up in their new southerly and > urbanized environs) and/or they tend to > be significantly underweight. I visited the snowy owl this morning, arriving at Sunrise. Ron Green, Barbara (didn't get last name) and I watched and photographed it for a couple of hours. We saw it fly twice, apparently hunting and grabbing prey. The bird looks well fed and is able to fly quite fast and does not look injured. He also ignores most actions by people, not considering them a threat. That includes people leaving their houses, birders arriving and leaving, and the constant drone of cars on the nearby highway. The snowy seems uninterested in adults but does seem to look towards small children with some curiosity. Overall the bird seems to be doing quite well and adapted to the local environment. Roger Clark Lakewood, CO
