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.
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.
This Eastern Screech Owl, gray morph was a fun one to find today. I’m still in search for more Northern Saw-whet Owls this winter which is what lead me to find this owl today. As I’m walking around some large pines with no branches on the lower 6 feet of the tree I hear Black-capped Chickadees making a heck of a ruckus above. I look up into the tree I’m under and see nothing but a couple of Chickadees moving around. I moved on to a couple more of the large pines and saw nothing. Then I thought, I better double check that tree where all the action was. Looking up again into the tree, I see a Gray Squirrel running around. That’s sorta odd? Walking away from the tree I look back about 25 feet, a screech owl is watching me, enjoying some sun. It was a cold morning with temps at 20 degrees mid-morning, some wind at times but full sun that did bring in some warmth out of the wind. Image was taken on February 11, 2025.
Eastern Screech Owl, gray morph…
Cell phone pic – just enjoying the sun…
The owl is so tiny on this photo, but it is there, cell phone pic…
While birding I came across an Eastern Screech Owl, red morph high in a tree cavity. It was a partly cloudy morning with mild temps around 45 degrees with low winds. Image was taken on December 7, 2024.
High up in the tree cavity the Screech Owl sits…
Eastern Screech Owl, red morph catching some sun in Milwaukee County. It was a beautiful day with low winds and sunny skies, but temps only around 37 degrees for a high. It was cold! Image was taken on April 24, 2024.
While birding I came across an Eastern Screech Owl, red morph high in a tree cavity. The sun was just touching it’s face, making a nice setting for a photo. It was a sunny morning with mild temps around 40 degrees with low winds. Image was taken on February 9, 2024.
While out doing some everyday birding I stumbled across a red morph Eastern Screech-Owl. What a surprise to be walking slowly through some woods and to look up and see this bird up in a tree right in front of you but only the back of it at first. Backing off and circling around to the front of this bird at a distance it gave a couple of hard to get quick photos before leaving the area quietly. Nice to see a Screech Owl out a tree cavity for a change. This owl would have been so easy to miss but I just happened to look up at the right time. First sighting this fall-winter of a screech-owl for me. This bird has not been reported that I know of. A cloudy day with low winds. Images were taken on November 16, 2022.
When I first saw this owl up in the tree…
