Dear Linda, I am sorry I was not clear, but it was a not a Night Hawk. It was an owl - I assumed it was a Great-horned Owl but could not get any field marks that could definitively eliminate Barred - other than the shear unlikeliness that it was a barred. I certainly wouldn't confuse a nighthawk with an owl - the parking lot lights allowed me to see.
1. This bird had rounded wings 2. This bird was hawking prey from a perch 3. This bird had pale under-wings - I would have clearly seen the wing-bar if it were a night hawk. After posting this I was even able to share the sighting with two other non-birding coworkers (at about 12:15am) and they could tell by the way the bird flew and it's short fat head that it was an owl. After seeing it a second time I was also quite convinced that it was in fact a Great-horned Owl. If anyone else is interested in trying to observe this behavior it was hunting in the cell tower next to the Pequot Lakes High School. Best, Andrew Birch Blackwater Lake - near Hackensack, MN -- MNLEP <http://groups.google.com/group/mnlep> - A list for Butterfly Enthusiasts in Minnesota -- Blackwater Birds <http://blackwaterbirder.blogspot.com/> - My personal birding / nature blog -- "Birding is something that we do for enjoyment; so if you enjoy it, you're a good birder. If you enjoy it a lot, you're a great birder." - Kenn Kaufman On Sat, Jun 4, 2011 at 7:44 AM, linda whyte <bi...@moosewoods.us> wrote: > Since you couldn't see it, could this bird have been a Nighthawk > instead? (You didn't mention its size at all, but I know nighthawks > have returned to the metro area, and I've seen them hunting that way > around light sources elsewhere.) > Linda > > On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 11:15 PM, Andrew Birch <andrewlbi...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > Tonight at 10:15pm while standing outside my workplace in Pequot Lakes a > > large owl caught my eye as it hurled it self off of the cell phone tower > in > > our parking lot, caught a prey item , and then returned to perch again on > > the cross bars of the cell tower. I was able to watch the owl hawking > prey > > four times. The owl was hunting in this way between the top and second > > highest flashing red lights. I would guess the height to be 75-150'. > While > > I had heard of owls hawking insects I have never seen the behavior > firsthand > > and I was not aware that they would use a cell tower especially at that > > height to aid in their hunting. > > > > I assume it was hawking large moths and other insects but for the dignity > of > > the owl I hope it was not hunting those disgusting June Beetles : ) > > > > As to the identification of the owl - I cannot say definitively. I was > > never able to see the bird through my binoculars and the distance was too > > great to see field marks with the naked eye as it perched . Oh yeah, and > it > > was dark - the owl was being lit only by the parking lot lights well > below > > it. > > > > Best work break ever! > > > > Andrew Birch > > Blackwater Lake - near Hackensack, MN > > -- > > MNLEP <http://groups.google.com/group/mnlep> - A list for Butterfly > > Enthusiasts in Minnesota > > -- > > Blackwater Birds <http://blackwaterbirder.blogspot.com/> - My personal > > birding / nature blog > > -- > > "Birding is something that we do for enjoyment; so if you enjoy it, > you're a > > good birder. If you enjoy it a lot, you're a great birder." - Kenn > Kaufman > > > > ---- > > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > > > ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
