Rickubis Bird Page #8: Owls and Falcons (without Caracaras)!
This page was born 04/17/2015.  Rickubis designed it.  (such as it is.) Last update:  04/17/2023
Images and contents on this page copyright ©2002-2023 Richard M. Dashnau

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Welcome to Brazos Bend State Park. That's me on the trail. One of the most popular reasons for people to visit BBSP is to see the birds. Although *I* started going to the park mainly for the alligators, one
cannot be there for long without learning to enjoy the birds. Over the years, I've captured a few pictures and video clips of them, and here they are. I've collected all my shots of Owls and Falcons onto
this page.

On 04/02/2023 At BBSP, I only had an hour and a half to spend on the trail in the morning. I was treated to a few choruses of alligators bellowing. And
just East of the Spillway Bridge, I noticed a bird at the top of a tree off to the South.  Through binoculars, it looked like it might be an Osprey (I thought I recognized a
black mask on its face),  but I wasn't sure, so I took some pictures. Once I got a better look, I discovered that I had been watching a Peregrine Falcon!
   

It wasn't doing very much-just looked around-but I took many pictures showing the Falcon at various angles to help with identification. Unfortunately, I had to leave before
 it took off, so did't get any pictures of that.  Still...Peregrine Falcon!

    

    

05/06/2021  I went back to Russ Pitman Park to try to see a female Eastern Screech in one of the nest boxes there. I was lucky!  She was in the box, with her head
filling the hole.   Her mate, the male, was in the same tree as before.  So, here they are.
   
         Female Eastern Screech in the box.                      
   
       Male Eastern Screech a tree near the box.

04/20/2021  I've noticed that there are no lizards in my neighborhood. I have been looking for them since we had that hard freeze event.  I expected to see them at least
with the return of the warmer Spring weather.  But...I haven't seen ANY.  Many of the plants in my neighborhood were killed by the cold. Walls that had been covered by
creepers and ivy are bare now.  I believe that if the cold reached in deeply enough to kill all that cover, then the lizards hiding in it have also died.  Some of the entries
on my lizard page show many images of anoles (mostly Brown Anoles) that I saw here.  Now, I don't see any while I'm walking my dog, or at any other time.  
Today, I went to Russ Pitman Park to see if I could find any Anoles there (I've seen Anoles there before, and pictures of those also appear on 
my lizard page .)  Russ Pitman park
is a very small (4 acres) park in Bellaire, Texas. 

 I was happy to find the lizards, but there were other things going on there, too.  While talking to other visitors there, I discovered that
there were at least two nesting pairs of Eastern Screech Owls (Otus asio) in the park, too!  If not for some of those visitors, I might
not have seen any, but they pointed out this one, which they said was a male, and which was guarding its mate that was inside the
nearby nesting box.  Here he is, sleeping and hiding in plain sight--about 8 feet up.
  

03/15/2020  This day was the last day for me to visit Brazos Bend State Park for a while. With the warnings about the coming pandemic, and travel and social distancing protocols
being put into effect, I had decided not to go to the park.  Over the weeks that followed,  protocols put into effect by the BBSP, and  the state took the decision out of my hands anyway.

So...
BABY OWLS AGAIN!! Back to the Owls and their nest a week later. The owlets have grown a lot!  One of the parents was visible in another tree. It's possible that the other one was around,
but no one saw it. I spent some time in the morning near them, and then a couple hours in the afternoon. Here are some pictures from the afternoon. The parent (don't know which one) rested in
a nearby tree (1)


       
                                   01                                                              03                                                          04                                                              05
The owlets didn't seem be distressed by the visitors coming by to look at them. The owlets were on a branch about 20 feet off the ground.  Sometimes, however, something or someone seemed to
catch one or both of the owlets' attention, and then they'd turn those huge eyes towards it.  (03 - 09). Finally, first one owlet lay down...and then the other did, and they
went to sleep. (10)  I have a short video (4:30 ) that I put together from short clips that I shot during this time between 1 pm and 3 pm.

        
                                   06                                                              08                                                           09                                                                10

03/08/2020  BABY OWLS!! Great Horned Owls have nested in Brazos Bend State Park again. They may nest in the park every year, but people may not always find where the nest is. There have
been a few years that I heard about a nest, but didn't go investigate. But, this morning, I decided to go visit. I didn't stay long because many othere people were there with cameras, and I didn't want
to add to the crowd. So, here a some pictures. I have no idea how old the owlets are, but I'm sure
at least some of the birders do.  One of the parents was resting in one tree (01,02), while the nest with owlets was in another.


       
                                   01                                                              02                                                          03                                                              04
The relatively tiny owlet looked out over the edge of its nest; and the nest was camouflaged by a veneer of Resurrection Ferns.  I walked around the tree and was able to see another
owlet peeking over the other side. (03 - 08)

        
                                   05                                                              06                                                           07                                                                08

04/16/2017    Easter Sunday is usually busy at Brazos Bend State Park. So, I usually bring my bicycle to allow me to cover more of the trails. Today I rode about 16 miles,
repeating loops over the Elm Lake, Spillway, Pilant Slough, Live Oak, and 40 Acre Lake trails. I was riding West on the Spillway Trail when a couple of park visitors called my
attention to a Barred Owl in a tree above the trail. There was an adult in one tree, and there was a juvenile owl in another tree. I stopped and watched for a while. The visitors
told me that the adult had had a crawfish and they thought it would try to feed the young owl. I didn't see the crawfish, and just got one picture of the adult. The young owl
hopped from branch to branch, and then took a short, risky flight to another tree (I caught this with video). The adult flew off, and the young owl-apparently exhausted-laid
forward and rested on the branch.

   

I returned about an hour later, and the young owl was still where I'd left it. But,tt stood up, and began grooming itself, then stood still. I rode on, and didn't see it again. This video shows the
owl's short flight, and then grooming itself an hour later. It appears to be removing the fluffy downy coverning to uncover the feathers underneath. According to the Audubon website
(http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/barred-owl ) young Barred Owls take their first flight at about 6 weeks old. 

   
   

March 29, 2015-- The Great Horned Owl had been in the nest (which it had taken from a family of Hawks) for some weeks, but the Owlet was first seen March 7th. Today I got my *best* view
of the 3-week-old baby. What a fuzzy critter! It almost looks like a little-beaked bird is peeking out of a white, furry sack. I've heard some people refer to the chick as an "owlet".  Why isn't this 
pronounced "ow-LAY"--to rhyme with chalet, fillet, or valet? Maybe some day it will be. According to the Audubon Field Guide website (http://www.audubon.org/field-guide), young Great Horned
owls may learn to fly at 9-10 weeks old.
As cute as the young one seems to be, the adult Owl showed it's predatory nature. I'd heard that it had carried prey up to the nesting site, but I didn't think it would still have it by the time I got back.
But, when I arrived, the Owl was still working at its catch. I quickly shot some pictures and a short video clip before the Owl finished. I decided to hurry and set up my tripod and spotting scope to
share the sight with the park visitors who were nearby--so I didn't get much video. The images here are still photos, and a few frame grabs from the very shaky video.  Still, even the short bit I 
caught was a interesting.  There have been some observations by some of the folks with big lenses regarding either parasites (mites?) and/or redness on the eyelids. I could even see it on a 
few frames of the video clip. Has anyone made a determination on this condition? The adult didn't seem to be impaired during the brief time that I watched it.
Here's a clip that I made from the original video. I've slowed it down about 7 times.  Click the link to see it--Owl 03292015.wmv 

       
            BABY OWL--OR OWLET                    PULLING THE MEAT OFF THE BONE           GRABBING ANOTHER BEAKFUL                       WIDE-EYED LOOK
The Common Gallinule, or Moorhen, or Gallinula chloropus--according to my Sibley Guide to Birds 1st Edition--has "long greenish legs" and long, bare toes. The Purple Gallinule, Porphyrio 
martinica, (which probably aren't here yet) have similar toes, but "bright yellow" legs. And the American Coot, Fulica americana,  has lobed toes. Since the feathers appear to be black, and the
legs green with long toes, I think the carcass was a Moorhen. I've attached a picture of each of these three for comparison with the feathers and the cropped close view of the foot.
       
            THE FOOT OF THE FOOD                  PURPLE GALLINULE                                                AMERICAN COOT                      COMMON GALLINULE (MOORHEN)
While all the excitement with the Owls and the visitors was occurring, one of the park visitors (a first-timer) asked me if I could hear a woodpecker working. I told him I had, and I had been 
looking around for it. The tapping seemed to be coming from a dead tree about 15 feet away, and I began searching more intently for the woodpecker. I slowly walked around the tree, and 
judging from what I heard, I should have been looking right AT the bird. So...the woodpecker was invisible....or..."It must be making a nest! The woodpecker must be *inside* the tree!", I told the
visitor. And, just a few minutes later, the bird was found--working at a hole in the tree. I shot a quick video of the woodpecker--this appears to be a Downy Woodpecker, before trying to show 
visitors *this* one as well. The attached four images of the woodpecker show it going into the hole.
       


03/27/2006---When I drove into BBSP, I'd just gone past the entrance, when I saw someone taking pictures at something at the tree line.  It was a young Great Horned Owl!! It was also on 
the ground, hiding among the plants. Even though it was young, it was quite large. While I watched, a single crow started trying to harass it. I moved back, but close enough to be able to 
shoot some video--but I wanted to see what the crow would do. The crow scolded the owl for a little while, then eventually flew away. I left also, thinking that one of the owl's parents would be
around anyway. I got to see the young owl's threat display--which is quite arresting.  Even though I saw this in 2006, I haven't posted this online until today (4/16/2015). Two images below 
show the young owl on the ground, and a short video of the owl under cover, with some crow harrasment, can be seen at these links   young owl and crow (mp4)  ;  
young owl and crow (wmv)
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-----                 BACK OFF--I'M BIG AND MEAN! ----                ------------- OWL KEEPING ITS EYES ON ME.-------

March 14, 2004  The image below (THE LEE OF THE STONE) shows an adult Great Horned Owl. A pair of these beautiful birds had nested in the park some weeks ago. I finally got over to 
see them Sunday, the 14th. I'm kicking myself for not getting over there sooner, because it was raining most of the day Sunday. I tried to take some pictures, but my lenses kept fogging up. 
But, I was able to salvage the shot below for the RICKUBISCAM. The caption I used for that picture, "the lee of the stone", is from the animated movie The Secret of NIMH, and is where the
"Great Owl" tells Mrs. Brisby (a mouse) to move her house.

Once again, I'm impressed by the diversity of animals one can see at Brazos Bend State Park. Here are two more pictures of the adult owl (see BEAUTIFUL, and STILL BEAUTIFUL, below).
  I was disappointed in my pictures, so I went back to the park Monday (March 15). I had already had the day off, since I was planning on filming alligator mating activity (but because of the rain,
I didn't try). The day was clearer, but the adult owl wasn't in a clear spot for me to catch her. I was able to catch a picture of one the the young owls, though, as it looked down at me from the tree
(see ARE YOU FOOD?, below). By the way, the two young owls had flown to the next tree, when the day before all three were in the same tree.

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            THE LEE OF THE STONE                                   BEAUTIFUL!                                        STILL BEAUTIFUL!                                    ARE YOU FOOD?


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        AMERICAN KESTREL
March 30, 2003  Above is a  picture of the American Kestrel that we have at the park. Isn't it beautiful? This is a captive bird, obtained from a rehabilitator only after the correct permits had been 
applied for and granted (and this is a state organization!).  This Kestrel's wing was severely damaged some time (years) ago by contact with a power line, rendering the Kestrel unable to fly ever 
again. This is the only reason that this fine animal can be legally kept at all.  So, DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!

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