An update on the Hawk Owl

It’s been over a week since a Northern Hawk Owl was spotted hanging out across a busy street from a shopping mall in Moscow, Idaho, but the bird is still here and reliably seen in the same locations. I’ve now seen the bird four times and may continue to watch and observe it until it is no longer a novelty. Of course, that might be all winter, and the owl might actually leave town before seeing it is no longer exciting.

Today’s viewing was special. The sun came out and temperatures finally rose above freezing, making it bearable to actually spend more than fifteen minutes chasing the bird. Simon, a friend and coworker of mine, came out with me and brought some telephoto lenses to help us get some better photos of the owl. Unlike the images in the last post, these are not cropped.

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