We spent Thanksgiving with our son and his wife in the DFW Metroplex and took the opportunity to bird a local state park - Cedar Hill, on Saturday, Nov. 28th. It was a cool and sunny, but very windy day, so bird sightings were a bit sparse. However, we wandered into an historical farm area and did some looking in some old barns for signs of owls. Then we came across one which we couldn't get into, but there was an opening high in one gable end and through it I spotted a roosting owl. Not being sure of the species we took some photos and I posted a couple here in the ID forum.
Thanks to all the folks here who helped identify the little fellow as a red morph Eastern Screech-Owl (Otus asio). This is only the second time we've seen a Screech-Owl and this time we found it ourselves. The first time we were on an evening "Owl Prowl" at the Houston Audubon Society's sanctuary in Houston and they used a tape to call it in. Screech-Owls are about 8.5" in size and have 3 colour morphs: grey, brown and red.
I've put together several photos on a page on my website. Here's the URL: http://helensbirds.homestead.com/owl.html
Thanks to all the folks here who helped identify the little fellow as a red morph Eastern Screech-Owl (Otus asio). This is only the second time we've seen a Screech-Owl and this time we found it ourselves. The first time we were on an evening "Owl Prowl" at the Houston Audubon Society's sanctuary in Houston and they used a tape to call it in. Screech-Owls are about 8.5" in size and have 3 colour morphs: grey, brown and red.
I've put together several photos on a page on my website. Here's the URL: http://helensbirds.homestead.com/owl.html
