Cobirders, Around 6:30 this evening, as I was getting dinner prepared, several times I thought I saw the flash of a wing out over the back patio. But, at 6:30, all I could see against the pitch black of night was kitchen reflections. I assumed my brain was playing tricks on me, since I'd watched a sharpie hanging out near a juniper next to the patio and occasionally swooping low over the grass at dusk an hour or so earlier. By the 3rd time I saw a "wing flash," I stepped over to the sink, leaned over to look through the window and came face to face with a very small owl. He was perched about 3 feet away from me on the window sill. He flew after about 5 seconds, so I got just a brief look. My quick impressions were of a small owl 8 inches or less with a small round whitish facial disk with brown streaking and a white "X" through the eye area and no ear tufts visible. He seemed more brown than gray, but hard to tell in the dark. I have little experience with owls. It looked very similar to photos of Northern Saw-whet, but could have been W. Screech??? Not sure what would be likely here in suburbia in December. A fun and very close encounter!
Becky Campbell Arapahoe Cty just so of CCSP -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
