Long Eared Owl II

I was hiking in the Galiuro Mountains of Southeastern Arizona looking for Coatimundi without much luck. However, as is often the case, I found something else that I was not expecting. And, not only that but some good looks and good photos. It was a Long Eared Owl. A nice treat indeed.

Long Eared Owl

Long Eared Owl

The Long Eared Owl is a beautiful owl that is a year round resident in Southern Arizona. Southern Arizona also gets some migrants from the southern Canadian Provinces.  It is widespread however, with populations in Europe, Asia and parts of Africa. It has very distinctive orange eyes and long ear tufts. The photo below was taken at Whitewater Draw in Southern Arizona. It was pretty well camouflaged and didn't move an inch in the hour and a half I was there. It was a challenge to find an angle that would give me a good photo. But as you can see, eventually I found one:

Muleshoe Ranch, Galiuro Mountains, Arizona

Muleshoe Ranch is in the Galiuro Mountains of Southeast Arizona and jointly owned by the Bureau of Land Management (US Guv), The Nature Conservancy, and a private co-operative. For the last ten years it has been one of my favorite places to visit. As the crow flies it is about 25 miles from us. However, because the Rincon and Catalina Mountain ranges, and the San Pedro River are between us and Muleshoe --- and, because I can't fly, it's a 90 mile trip by car. 2 hours door to door (30 miles of which is a dirt road).

Over the years, I have photographed the following at Muleshoe: coatimundi, bobcat, pronghorn, coyote, javelina, mule deer, white tail deer, black tail jackrabbit, antelope jackrabbit, hognose skunk, striped skunk,  gila monster, cooper's hawk, black tail hawk, zone tail hawk, gray hawk, and a too many butterflies and other birds to list. 

Yesterday I went again hoping to find coatimundi. Although I found lots of tracks of coatimundi I was unsuccessful in finding one. But, as often is the case, the wilderness did NOT let me down. It often presents something unexpected. While I would have loved to have seen a mountain lion, bighorn sheep, or black bear that are also in the Galiuros, I was VERY pleasantly surprise to find a Long Eared Owl. So, today it is the Long Eared Owl. Although found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, it is endangered in many areas. (It prefers dense woodland forests which are in decline). Here then is the best of my Long Eared Owl photos from yesterday:

Long Eared Owl

Owls of Whitewater Draw-Part Two

Typically, when the owls are nesting, the sandhill cranes are around in huge numbers; 25,000 is not unusual. With that many cranes making noise, visitors "flock" to see them (my apologies for the too obvious pun). Many of those visitors don't realize that barn owls and long eared owls are nesting a couple hundred yards away. The owls, rarely move around and make no sound at all during the day so are easily overlooked. Although the barn owls are more easily spotted if you are looking for them, the long eared owl is quite the opposite. While the barn owl likes branches nearer the top of the tree and further out from the tree trunk, the long eared owl likes to be close to the trunk. Even in winter when there are few leaves on the trees the coloration of the owl and of the tree make finding them difficult. I probably took 40 photos from every angle to get this one. You have to be quiet and careful not to disturb them as you move around. Christine was with me at the time. I tried to explain to her where to look. After five or more minutes she lit up like a Christmas Tree, obviously finding this quite beautiful owl staring at her (probably the entire time she was looking for it). Owls are one of my favorite birds to photograph. I think it is because they are typically still and stay in constant eye contact with you. Something about that feels like a relationship developing. And, of course, the photographs with those big eyes looking right at the observer recreate that feeling.