A murder of crows -- a hideous racket -- led me to a tall pine in the woods where, after considerable effort and various attempted vantage points, I was finally able to see the object of their vituperation: a big raptor tucked high into the folds of the pine. At first, I could only make out a whitish undertail and a bulky gray-tawny belly, both with horizontal barring. Eventually it turned its head and looked down at me with its large ear tufts and staring yellow eyes.
"May I help you?"
"You've already helped me by turning your head and looking down at me, thank you. You're a Great Horned Owl"!
Crows really hate Great Horned Owls. They kept up their racket for at least two hours straight and, with a couple of pauses to catch their breath, they kept at it all morning and well into the afternoon. This huge Bubo owl is not uncommon north of here in the Pine Barrens but I have seen it only three times down here over the years. I would have certainly missed this one if it hadn't been for the murderous hatred of the crows.
Great Blue Heron, flushed out of the trees at the edge of the marsh, flew off with its usual great squawks.This morning's feeding flock -- well away from the owl -- consisted mainly of titmice and chickadees but there were a few other birds: Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, Eastern Phoebe, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, House and Carolina Wrens, American Redstart, Northern Waterthrush and many Catbirds, most of which must have been migrants.
Eric Salzman
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