Bird of the Week – Boreal Owl
Mrs. WC is somewhat famously “the owl lady.” We have three educational owls living with us, which is why there are mice thawing in our refrigerator at this very minute. But this is a wild owl, a male Boreal Owl, photographed in Fairbanks a few years ago.
Male Boreal Owl, Fairbanks
WC was trying to photograph the female, who was on eggs in an owl box, waiting for her to stick her head out. Instead, this handsome little devil flew out. Great, WC thought to himself, you’ve put the female off of her eggs. But when WC looked back at the box, she was indeed sticking her head out. WC had caught the male making a food drop. He cooperated for a few shots before leaving to find another vole.
It’s been tough times for these little owls. They hunt by plunge-diving through the snow, catching voles they can hear through the snow pack. The mid-winter rains the last few winters have created a layer of concrete-like ice. The birds can’t punch through it to get to the prey.
For more bird photos, please visit Frozen Feather Images.
Owls- I can’t say for sure they are owls because I only see them in the headlights when we have to drive to some distant location. But they fly with ease in the darkness.
“Winter for a moment takes the mind; the snow
Falls past the arclight; icicles guard a wall;
The wind moans through a crack in the window;
A keen sparkle of frost is on the sill.
Only for a moment; as spring too might engage it,
With a single crocus in the loam, or a pair of birds;
Or summer with hot grass; or autumn with a yellow leaf.
Winter is there, outside, is here in me:
Drapes the planets with snow, deepens the ice on the moon,
Darkens the darkness that was already darkness.
The mind too has its snows, its slippery paths,
Walls bayonetted with ice, leaves ice-encased.
Here is the in-drawn room, to which you return
When the wind blows from Arcturus: here is the fire
At which you warm your hands and glaze your eyes;
The piano, on which you touch the cold treble;
Five notes like breaking icicles; and then silence.”
Who?
Hope the ice melts and the owls make it. Thanks as always, WC.