(*Photo of the Month)
OK, someone who is a better birder than I will
have to help me out here. Gail and I came across this little character while we
were hiking one of the Aguirre Springs trails on BLM land on the east side of
New Mexico’s Organ Mountains on Mother’s Day, the Pine Tree Loop to be exact.
About half way in, he came out of a thicket and perched himself on a tree not
ten yards away. Over about ten minutes we stood and watched, took some photos
as best we could in low light, then moved in to about five yards and took some
more before he had had about enough of us and departed.
As best we can tell it is either a Mexican or
Mojave Screech Owl, certainly a Western Screech of some kind, maybe seven
inches in height. It’s not a Burrowing or Pygmy, so that’s where we’ve had to
leave it.
The trail is a lovely one, about four and a
half miles in length with a thousand foot elevation gain. About a week after we
hiked it, the news came through that the President had just signed new legislation
designating the Organ Mountains - Desert Peaks National Monument; not sure if
it takes in the Aguirre Springs area (I’ve not yet been able to find a map of
the proposed monument anywhere), but wouldn’t be surprised if it did.
Jesus it was who said, “Consider the
birds of the air…” We’re doing our
best to obey him on that point.
Screech owls are interesting little critters,
very common but not often seen. Where we vacation in Michigan, Eastern Screech
are said to be the third most common owl behind Great Horned and Barred, both
of which we hear often and see occasionally, but we’ve not seen a Screech. Will
have to become more familiar with the call, so we may ‘see’ it that way. (A
naturalist’s rule: hearing is another way of seeing.) From what I can tell, one
of its calls sounds very much like what we have assumed to be tree frogs, so
maybe we have heard it without knowing.
Jesus it was who said, “Consider the birds of
the air…” We’re doing our best to obey him on that point.
~~ RGM, June 12, 2014
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