Today’s highlight while out birding was coming across a Barred Owl perched in a tree in Milwaukee County. There was only one in the area as I looked around so a possibility is the female is in a nest hole nearby. It was a pleasant day with temps around 5o degrees with full sun and low winds. Image was taken on February 19, 2026.
The Barred Owl…
Looking for owls this time of year I came across this Great Horned Owl on a nest. It is early in the season for nesting Great Horned Owls so we have a ways to go until we see owlets. I took a photo from far away and left the area. It was a warmer day with temps around 50 degrees around noon. Behind us a cold month with highs only in the mid 20’s for the most part. Image was taken on February 13, 2026.
This morning one of my birding stops was going to see if the Snowy Owl was still present in Milwaukee County. It was and it has been hanging around at this location since at least January 11. Driving though I noticed a couple cars pulled over. I pulled over too and not too far off the road was the Snowy Owl. It appeared it had something on the ground by its talons. After a couple of minutes it flew into another area close by. It was in the process of eating a large vole it looked like. I never got out of my vehicle for any of these photos, just sitting in the drivers seat. It flew off and perched on a few light posts and it was a great show to watch. It was another cold morning with temps around 5 degrees with a light breeze with mixed clouds and sun. Images were taken on January 30, 2026.
Here is the morning snack… a vole…
It was a beautiful day for Eastern Screech Owls to be sitting out in the sun. Driving some of the roads in Waukesha County and looking up produced a stunning red morph perched pretty. It was up in a pine trees catching some of those sun rays for warmth on this bitter cold day with temps of 10 degrees. Image was taken on January 29, 2026.
It was a bright sunny morning to be out birding in Milwaukee County. I felt it was the perfect day for Eastern Screech Owls to be sitting out in the sun. Driving the roads in the county I came across a beautiful red morph perched in a pine tree. I took a photo of it as it sat perched in the sun. It was a very cold day with bright sun, low winds with temps around 10 degrees. Image was taken on January 29, 2026.
It was a nice surprise to see an Eastern Screech Owl sitting in a spruce tree today while out birding. It was a very cold morning with temps around 5 degrees with mostly cloudy skies and some good wind too. Image was taken on January 27, 2026.
Just trying to catch a little sun for warmth on this cold January morning…
The Snowy Owl has continued at the Milwaukee County location giving nice views. I have not been there for a few days and thought with some fresh snow on the ground I would check things out. It moved around a couple of times but ended up where it started from. All and all, fun to watch this owl but it was a very morning starting out at zero degrees with good winds out of the southwest warming up to about 15 degrees, and about 1″ of snow on the ground. Images were taken on January 20, 2026.
The beautiful Snowy Owl…
I think it was on to a vole or something as it was alert looking west but came up empty…
Cleaning the talons I would assume…
A beautiful Snowy Owl gave stunning views today in Milwaukee County. This young female sat and took it easy most of the time I was present other than a few times it took to the sky and went to a new location. It was a chilly day with a lot of wind at times, seemed a lot colder than the mid 40’s with sunny skies. Images were taken on January 13, 2026.
In flight at times…
Resting peacefully…
Doing some cleaning…
A very nice interview with article on Fox6 Milwaukee 1/15/2026
While birding I came across an Eastern Screech Owl, red morph in a tree cavity. It was watching me at a distance. It was cold day with a few clouds and a high of 34 degrees by noon, there was some wind up to 10 mph. Image was taken on January 8, 2026.
One of my birding stops today produced nice looks of a Eastern Screech Owl in a natural nest cavity in Milwaukee County. It is that time of the year where owls are seen sitting in the hole of a natural cavity enjoying some sun on a cold day. It was a cold day with temps around 18 degrees, some sun at times. Images were taken on January 4, 2026
The Eastern Screech Owl soaking up some sun…
One of my birding stops today gave nice views of a Long-eared Owls, in Wisconsin. I grabbed a couple of photos of one as most were hidden in the trees. There where 6 present. It was a cold day with temps around 18 degrees, some sun at times. Images were taken on January 4, 2026
The Long-eared Owl…
One of my birding stops today gave nice views of a Long-eared Owl, in Wisconsin. It was a cold day with temps around 20 degrees, small amounts of sun at times. Image was taken on December 8, 2025.
While birding I came across an Eastern Screech Owl, red morph high in a tree cavity. It was cold day with sunny skies and a high of 16 degrees by noon, there was some wind up to 10 mph. Image was taken on December 4, 2025.
As I was walking through a park in Waukesha County a Great Horned Owl landed near me. It looks like it is a young owl maybe past the owlet stage. Other species surrounded this owl in the tree, they were harassing it vocally. Usually you get some American Crows, but there were 2 Eastern Kingbirds, 4 American Goldfinches, American Crows and even American Robins where in the same tree towards the top where the owl was. The owl did not budge with all the racket. Eventually all the birds flew off and the owl was still there. It was a beautiful morning with full sun, mild temps and low winds. Image was taken on May 29, 2025.
The Great Horned Owl…
While out birding in Marquette County a Barred Owl flew up off the ground and perched in a tree just in front of me. I’m not sure what it was on to but I took a couple of quick photos and continued on. It was a cloudy day with pleasant temperature around 60 and east winds.
Out doing some general birding in Waukesha County and I stumbled across a Great Horned Owl nest. There were 2 owlets in the nest from what I could see. I did not see any adults around but I’m sure they were close by. Always fun to find a new nest especially when you don’t expect it. I took a shot and moved on to other areas. I’ll probably check back at this nest in a week or two. It was a pleasant morning with lows winds and temps around 45 degrees with some periods of sun. Image was taken on April 6, 2025.
I got a tip on a Great Horned Owl nest with maybe owlets on it. I did not pass up the opportunity. When I found the nest there were 3 owlets sitting so cute. I took a couple of quick photos and left the location. It was a nice day with mild temps around 50 degrees and partly cloudy skies with low winds. Image was taken on April 4, 2025.
A stop at a Great Horned Owl nest provided nice looks at an adult with one owlet visible and another hidden in the nest in Milwaukee County on March 29, 2025.
I came across a new Great Horned Owl nest in southeastern Wisconsin with 2 owlets in it. An adult was close by over seeing things when I was there. It was an overcast day with mild temps around 45 degrees and low winds. Image was taken on March 18, 2025.
I found 2 Northern Saw-whet Owls back in December 2024 and today I found them again. They were a few feet apart from each other but in different trees. Maybe they will be nesting in that area, that would be so cool! It was a beautiful day with full sun, a good breeze at times, with temps about 48 degrees. Images were taken on March 11, 2025.
The pair of Northern Saw-whet Owls…
