Screech owls, both the Eastern and Western species (which are very closely related), are quite common owls but very rarely seen in the wild due to their very effective camouflage, nocturnal habits, love of tree cavities, diminutive size, and disinclination/inability to hoot loudly to announce their location like some species I could name (Great horned owls). So although I’ve handled a lot of screech owls that have gone through rehab, I never even formed a goal- like my ongoing goal of photographing burrowing owls – of photographing a non-captive one because I assumed it was basically impossible. Like more impossible than photographing a bobcat – more on the lines of photographing a mountain lion. But I have acquired an extremely kind and helpful owl guru who alerted me to the presence of a Western screech owl that was posing for birders and photographers in Lafayette, so last weekend I found him (and my owl guru)! I was absolutely delighted and charmed by this little owl and felt very fortunate to be able to get so close to and photograph him. Also, I’ve now officially lost count of the number of owls I’ve seen in the wild – I have been REALLY lucky with owls since moving to California!
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