After the last post about the Millinium Park Barred Owl and the
Hammond Pond Redheads, I kept thinking about all of the barred owl
sightings that have been reported on massbird. With all the barred owls
showing up all over Boston, I was thinking that I should remind
everyone to keep their eyes and ears out for barred owls as there is a
good chance we might find some in Newton.
Typically our most common owls are the eastern screech and great horned
owls, while barred owls tend to like larger forested spaces and so are
less common in urban or suburban environments. (There are a total of 11 owl species
that can be found in MA, with 7 species that breed in the state).
in fact, the recent barred owl at Millenium is the first record for that
park, even though many great birders frequent that spot. Barred owls
still show up regularly in Newton with sightings at Nahanton park (check out Suzette's picture) and I might have caught a brief glimpse of the Cold Spring Park owl that was seen this spring.
This morning was a different story though. I
did not get enough sleep last night and one of my pre-sunrise walks
around the house resulted in my hearing the strangest sound through a
window. I only needed to hear the one utterance to nail down the "who cooks for you, who cooks for you all" distinctive song
of the barred owl. This was an exciting find, especially as an
accidental yard bird. When I am able to muster up the energy I may head
out to see if it isn't roosting nearby. This also now makes 4 owl species for me this year including great horned, eastern screech, snowy, and now the barred. And only the snowy owl from Duxbury was from outside Newton. I still have a ways to go if I want to find all the MA owls, and I hear that the long eared owl is notorious difficult to find. But its been a pretty good year considering I started it at Nahanton Park looking for owls.
P.S. As I was writing this post, a Cooper's hawk crash landed with a somersault over some bushes in the yard. I know birds are amazing fliers, but my amazement at their abilities is at its absolute peak when watching an accipiter in break-neck pursuit of some poor bird. Her prey escaped and they both headed off down the street before I could even grab binoculars.
I've been hearing an owl hooting with a "who who" in the aqueduct behind Endicott Street for several evenings now. It's very close to Plymouth road where the enterance to Cold Spring Park is. Could hear it over the TV with the windows all closed. Went outside and it continued to call. So,cool!
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