Stopping at many birding locations today, the bird of the day was a Northern Saw-whet Owl. What actually caught my eye at this location was a Black-capped Chickadee fluttering around on the outside area of a pine tree. That can be a tip of a Northern Saw-whet Owls presence. I walked over to the tree and looked up, I was dumbfounded, like always when you see one of these owls. The owl was just looking at me sitting still as if to avoid notice which is what they do. It was a narrow opening in the branches to see the owl. Not sure what it is when I find one of these that amazes me so much, is it the tiny size, the cute face, just the fact of finding one? I took a shot of this beautiful bird and left. These owls look cute with their catlike face, but they are fierce fighters getting food by night, highly nocturnal. Being March already, I was thinking I would not see one of these owls in winter 2026, I lucked out. It was a partly cloudy day with mild temps around 45 degrees.
