I went to Tamarack Nature Center this afternoon to try to find a Ramsey County Harris's sparrow. No luck again. (Anyone know where I can find one in Ramsey County?) Nothing too exciting except for 75 bluebirds calling and feeding in the grassy field and swamp until I went on the boardwalk northeast of Tamarack Lake.
I heard bluejays furiously scolding something. I walked up slowly and looked in the dense thicket and finally found the jays. Then about two feet in front of the jays in the direction they were scolding, a long-eared owl. I watched the owl looking at me from about 20 feet away for 15 minutes. Tawny face with white vertical lines through eyes, very long ear tufts, long tail, crow size. The owl finally flew ten feet further into the thicket, then another ten feet, then out of sight. This is only my second long-eared owl and by far a better look than the first one. I was able to take a poor photo through the dense thicket. ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
