Towheeblog

Albert Ryckman and I made a foray into the Cascades on Friday afternoon. He was hoping for his first view of a Great Gray Owl. We cruised past some possible locations for the owl though others were blocked by snow-packed roads. Ravens, flicker…no owls. Then today we left Running Y and headed back into the Cascades near Howard Prairie. Our first tantalizing glimpse came as we came alongside a pocket meadow. The owl was already lifting off from the ground and straining to rise quickly into the canopy of the surrounding forest. Unlike a snipe or hummingbird the long, flexible wings of the Great Gray Owl do not make acceleration or rapid ascent an easy thing. Laboring, the owl went into the trees, and we could not re-located it wherever it landed. A few miles away we did NOT find an owl hunting a likely meadow, but drove on and watched one fly from the roadside into the nearby trees. We got out of the car as soon as we could park it…and soon found the owl perched, and giving us “the stare”. Here are Albert’s images from his first GGO face-to-face.

April 22 I will be presenting a zoom program on the Great Gray Owl for KLS Wild. Click here for details.

On Thursday of the week, I will give that zoom presentation on GGOs for the Lindsay Museum in Walnut Creek. Click here for details.