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Northern Pygmy Owl

We finally found him!!  _\ l /_  That's me doing a cartwheel. If only I still could.

Our first glance was when we saw a little bird in hot pursuit of a Magpie.  Either that or they were both just zooming in the same direction. The Magpies were having a long, loud discussion and I think he was tired of their insolence.  I got out of the car to see if I could tell for sure what the little bird was (could it be? really, truly a Pygmy Owl?), then my husband pointed over to the telephone pole.  And there HE was. Such a wonderful little bundle of pure cute.  Much smaller in person than I imagined. Wow. I just stared through my binoculars completely forgetting that my job was to get a photo. As he zoomed down into a thicket of oaks, I remembered that I had a perfectly good camera hanging around my neck.  So there you have it.  Not even a bad photo. This was a life bird for both my husband and I. We're still high from the experience. We'll have to go back for the photo. 

The area in which we found him was exactly the same place Kristin posted the first time, which is on the road to East Canyon Reservoir, mm 3-5, right where the olive green surveyor tape is tied to the brush. I think it was about 2 p.m. 

During this excitement we heard another bird making a bit of a fuss but it didn't really register at first since we were so focused on the owl. We finally came to our senses and found the source.  A gorgeous Canyon Wren. The sun was to the west of him making his white throat shine like a beacon.  He had been making that buzzy call  but switched over to the beautiful decelerating laughing song that sounds as if they run out of breath at the end. That song is on my "Top Ten" list. He sang to us for about 5 minutes. He was directly across the street / east of the owl. 

Thanks so much to everyone for great directions and for all the posts to keep us up to date on this beautiful owl's whereabouts.  We didn't hear the owl making any call whatsoever. Darn. That's on my "Top Ten" list, too.


What a wonderful Friday the 13th.  

Nicky Davis
nicky-davis@earthlink.net
www.wildutah.us
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