Blackwater NWR January Birds – Part 2
Here’s the second part of the other birds I captured at the refuge last month (January), not in the waterfowl series. Think land birds!
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Phoebe
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-tailed Hawk
Northern Harrier
Short-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl at sunset
The Short-eared Owls draw a lot of birders and bird photographers to Shorters Wharf at the refuge in hopes of seeing them, even luckier if you can capture decent photos. I’ve been several times and finally got my first photos of them at the refuge, yay! They stayed at a distance so my photos of them are heavily cropped but I am happy!
Bay Photos by Donna 
Great sightings and shots, Donna, esp. the short-eared owl. Hope all are managing in this bitter cold. Looking forward to the return here of the sparrows, I miss their cheerful songs. 🙂
Thank you, Eliza! I will be sure to send the sparrows back soon, they are such a delight for me right now!
Oh! So glad you got some shots of the owl!
Me too, thanks, Kathy!
Great shots of a great selection of birds
Thank you, Brian!
Love the little phoebe and all the sparrows! They posed so nicely for you. 🙂 Great captures of that beautiful, elusive Short-eared Owl.
Thank you, Barbara! You’ll not believe how excited I got with the surprise phoebe!! We had a little moment of photo ops that thrilled me to no end. And oh the owl, how special too! It was a magical day at the refuge for sure.
Happiness birds. Each photograph a joy to look at. The sparrow with the feathers ruffled on its head is adorable.
Thank you, Sandy, little birds do exude happiness and fill our heart with joy! They are little gifts from Above. ❤️
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Fabulous feathered friends
Thank you, Sheree!
Lovely photos of the owl…delightful.
Thank you, Suzanne! I spent a couple hours looking for the owls, it finally paid off, and I went home happy!
Beautifully sharp photos, Donna! I do look forward to the return of the phoebes 😊
Thank you, Belinda! 😊
Quite a fruitful visit to this reserve Donna. The owl was certainly a lovely bonus. Our House Sparrow is introduced, otherwise our finches are our true seed eating sparrow=like birds which mainly inhabit the dry hot arid grasslands of the west.
Thank you, Ashley! This refuge is a true gem for us!
The owl pictures came out very well but I like the red tailed hawk picture best. It is really concentrating.
I watched the Red-tailed Hawk for several minutes, he was hunting the marsh below and there had to be something catching his eye. I left him to his task!
You’ve had good luck with different owls this year Donna! What a nice variety to greet you there.
Thank you, Linda! For most of my 14 years birding, it’s not been until recent years that I’ve been able to see and photograph owls. My bird club went “Owling” this past Friday night and saw the Short-eared Owl just yards away on a pole. I couldn’t go, and darn!! LOL
That’s too bad you missed that event Donna, but I hope you make up for it this year.
I will! My bird club’s next owl prowl is two weeks, Feb 25, I am going to that one for sure. My bird club is quite active, right now they’re doing 1-3 trip/meet-ups a week. I miss a lot of them, but I go to as many as I can!
I hope you return with lots of owl photos Donna. That’s a lot of trips. Our local Detroit Audubon only meets weekly and that is mostly in the Summer.
The short-eared owl was my fav
Thank you! I went home quite happy after seeing the Short-eared Owl, with fingers crossed I’d gotten a shot or two.
All fantastic images, especially the feature photo. 👏
Thank you, Pepper!
Nice job on the Short-Eared. We had to really work to find them on the Gulf this year – as you say, they were a ways off hunting the fields. Still better than not getting them like last year ha.
Thank you! Someone recently had one right alongside the road on a pole, the perfect shot. Normally, they are ways off like I found too.
The Song Sparrow its crown all spiked up make me laugh. It’s so cute! The Short Eared OWL!!! What a sighting and your images are fantastic!! That would be a lifer for me.
Thank you, Deborah, I had two great days visiting and finding birds. Seeing the Short-Eared late the one day had me smiling all the way home! I had them as a lifer but not for the refuge, so I was very happy for that!
I would have been happy too! 😊
What a joy to see all your January birds, Donna. Lovely to see the sparrows, songbirds, and hawks. But when we got to the short-eared owls I heard myself whisper, “Oh wow.” The owl was a treat to behold and I thank you so much for sharing all your lovely avian photos.
Thank you, Jet! Blackwater NWR is a fabulous refuge year-round (if you can handle the summer insects too ha!). There is always something to see, many times a surprise. The birds know their safety here!
I saw my first Great Horned Owl there many years ago. Beautiful place.
Awesome!
I’m delighted to se the photos of the Eastern Phoebe! I saw this bird out my kitchen window on top the wooden fence and I didn’t know what it was for sure. I made a mental note of the details and tried to look it up, unsuccessfully. Now that I see your fabulous photos I know for sure it was an Eastern Phoebe. This bird is uncommon where I live. My neighbor had mentioned the unfamiliar call a bird was making as she mimicked it. She couldn’t see it anywhere, but looked all over because she had not heard it before. What fun to know!
Oh my! THAT owl is great!! I love that it got such a thrill and that you were able to take such wonderful photos of it in flight!
So happy to help with your IDing, I’ve done the same thing on seeing someone else’s that makes me think twice and research. I truly hit my brakes for the phoebe, lol! There were just a few marshy bushes along the wildlife drive that were surrounded by water. I was so excited to see it and that it allowed me to keep photographing it from my car window. The owl sighting was the icing on the cake at dusk driving home!
Oh lovely. You got a couple of great shots of the owl in flight. Doesn’t matter that they kept their distance later
Thank you, IJ, it was exciting to see the owl in flight. I kept shooting, hoping I’d get something worthwhile, but still just so happy to enjoy the experience.