Owls

Barn Owl - Delta, BC Barn Owls are at the northern end of their range here in the Greater Vancouver area. A good deal of these birds are now having trouble finding homes as barns are torn down for safety reasons or eventually fall down. There are groups of people who have started putting up Barns on a stick with the first ones literally looking like a barn on a stick. The nest boxes now are
Barn Owl - Delta, BC
Snowy Owl - Melissa's Playground, BC Those feet double as snow shoes when this female bird is in the breeding range north of the artic circle. The talons doubles a back scratcher, but are mainly used for grabbing food on the fly. This bird decided to spend some of her time in one of the small towns on Victoria Island and hunt from the roof tops. The one particular thing we noticed was she started ducking down keeping her head on close to the roof when a couple of Bald Eagles made their way over her location. Michael W Klotz 2021 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Snowy Owl - Melissa's Playground, BC
Snowy Owl - Sidney, BC We were very happy to see this Snowy Owl when we showed up to the neighborhood where it was seen hunting the neighborhood from the roof tops. There are very few birds I like to photograph more than owls and this is one of the top 5 on my list. They are majestic and striking and can be very accepting of your presence or they may be very shy. Either way, it is important to make sure you give them space. This owl is a female, which can be identified by the amount black checking. Males tend to be very white with very little markings. Michael W Klotz 2021 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Snowy Owl - Sidney, BC
Great Horned Owl - Pitt Meadows, BC This owl was highly unimpressed. She had just been harassed by a pair of crows and then had to suffer the indignity of getting her photo taken immediately after. It was the crows that tipped us off that the bird was even there. Always nice to be able to see an owl during our treks out. I have mentioned before that our local birds here on the west
Great Horned Owl - Pitt Meadows, BC
Great-horned Owl - Delta, BC On a breezy day in the farmlands of Delta, a pair of Great-horned Owls were calling for their young to leave the safety of the nest. The first two owlets had made it out with one last chick left to go. These parents have been raising chicks here for at least 4 years from what I know and have been very successful with 3 fledglings at least a year. The
Great-horned Owl - Delta, BC
Barred Owl - South Surrey, BC A male Barred owl rests after a successful meeting with a female just 5 minutes before this picture. He was very content to pose for as many pictures as I wanted. Barred owls are not originally found here on the west coast but found their way here across the prairies as we built farms with trees that would let them roost for the night. There is are several biologists that believe that the spotted owl decline has a lot to do with this new resident. Michael W Klotz 2021 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Barred Owl - South Surrey, BC
Northern Pygmy-owl - Manning Park, BC We were lucky enough to catch a Northern Pygmy-owl hunting the slopes in Manning Park earlier this year. She was well up into a poplar scanning the edge for that mornings breakfast. It was snowing and sunny all at once and can see the flakes as the white lines. These are our smallest owls standing around 6 inches tall and range through-out the west coast from Alaska south into Central America. Michael W Klotz 2021 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Northern Pygmy-owl - Manning Park, BC
Barred Owl - Terra Nova Rural Park, BC A very alert Barred Owl was hunting just off the dyke in Terra Nova Rural Park in the early afternoon. His attention was drawn to the grass just below him, but he would occasionally spin his head to look directly behind him as well. The barred owl was originally only found on the eastern half of the continent but with the planting of trees on the prairies and the copious amount of rodents also following the settlers, Barred owls are now found on the west coast of North America. They believe it may be one of the reasons for the decline in Spotted Owls. Michael W Klotz 2020 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Barred Owl - Terra Nova Rural Park, BC
Short-eared Owl - Boundary Bay, BC On a very cold and blustery day I was fortunate enough to get a short-eared owl perched close to the dyke at Boundary Bay. He was looking for rodents in the tall grass and would hover above them and plunge down with his feet extended to grab the unsuspecting prey. The wind was blowing in from the water and was giving the owl a bit of a bad hair day. Michael W Klotz 2020 - www.TheBirdBlogger.comPicture
Short-eared Owl - Boundary Bay, BC
Barred Owl - Surrey, BC During the Pitt Meadows Christmas Bird Count, we ran into this silent hunter. He flew threw a cedar grove not giving us a chance to see him well, but around the corner, he was up on a perch while he watched two squirrels. Both squirrels had this birds number as they were chirping out an alarm the entire time. The owl was patient while he waited for things to calm down. More patients than us, so we carried on with the count. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Barred Owl - Surrey, BC
Burrowing Owl - Tsawwassen, BC One of my best finds and couldn't tell anyone at the time. This fantastic little owl was along the Tswwassen Ferry Jetty a couple weeks back. I have traveled back several times and could not relocate him. I have also sent along the band numbers to the correct authorities and it turns out this male was born in the wild and has had numerous chicks since, in the interior of British Columbia. I would recommend looking into the Burrowing Owl Society of BC and maybe putting a donation towards keeping these fantastic owls from disappearing for good......... again. My apologies to the rest of the birders that would have like to have seen this guy. He was just too close to traffic and I didn't want to be the reason he didn't make it back next spring. Michael Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Burrowing Owl - Tsawwassen, BC