I had a very interesting encounter yesterday. During a family event in Oroville, about 30 minutes from my house, I got the chance to sneak away for a little while. I headed out to Oroville Wildlife Area, state refuge. I got there around 6:00 and went looking for mammals. I saw but could not photograph two Striped Skunks, a Coyote, and a Muskrat. I did get some good photos of Desert Cottontails and Mule Deer. I saw many birds OSprey, Red Tailed HAwks, California Quail, Western Kingbirds, Ash Throated Flycatcher, Great Egrets, American Kestrel, mourning Doves, RWBB, Tree Swallows, Lesser Goldfinches and my first Hairy Woodpecker!
Now the Skunks and Coyotes were cool and I was heading out of the refuge a happy man when I noticed a shape in the grass, up on a small hill. I got super excited, it looked like the always elusive Bobcat. I stopped my truck and got the binoculars at him and was in for a shock. It was an Owl, sitting on the ground. My first Short Eared Owl. Now I will be posting pictures on Sunday and I will include one of the pictures but they were out of range for my camera, but it is there. The camera is a field tool to me so some of the photos I post are poor but like this one, represent a good sighting or great moment. I have now seen 4 species of Owl in the past 2 months. Hopefully I can find a few more!
