Shortly after sunrise this morning I found this pair of Great Horned Owls north of Tucson. They are obviously a pair, and the owls were sitting on opposite sides of the same tree. If I was back home, I would call the female’s coloration “Arctic Phase” (a recognized subspecies), but the desert is quite a long ways from the frozen north. Does anyone know if there is a “Desert Phase” Great Horned Owl?I assume the coloration helps the female owl blend in with the huge amount of grey perches and when she incubates and cares for the young owlets (not leaving the nest for 8+ weeks). Nesting has to be imminent.

Desert Phase Great Horned Owl … the female

Normal Color Great Horned Owl ... the male

Sometimes you just have to have a bath … with 1,000’s of your best friends. Such was the case when huge flocks of blackbirds returned to their favorite puddle. The blackbirds seemed to primarily bathe by species, and when it was the Yellow-Headed Blackbirds turn, they attacked this puddle with a vengeance! Amazingly about 30 minutes earlier there was not a single bird in sight near this puddle. Go figure?

I assume the huge flocks are because the northward migration should start real soon.

Yellow-Headed Blackbirds Taking a Bath! (see the movie … email subscribers)

This morning it was back to the Marana area where I saw this Burrowing Owl, or should I say it saw me (long lens being used) … see post #1 and post #2. However, the  real excitement of the day was finding and photographing a Barn Owl.

This Barn Owl image was taken about two hours ago but was actually one year in the making. Last year, through many, many hikes I found a Barn Owl nest very early in the incubation process (then back to Minnesota). This year I was lamenting the owls had not returned. After 6 days in the Tucson area, no barn owls. My luck changed this afternoon! Yippee! (sorry, I will not share the location of the Barn Owl family)

Barn Owl

Burrowing Owl (only have eyes for you)