We were strolling through New York’s Central Park at dusk, just after Thanksgiving, when we spotted this group of people below who appeared to be looking skyward at something through telescopes.
But when my husband approached them, he discovered they were peering through long camera lenses and binoculars at a Great Horned Owl way up high in a tree! (What an inopportune moment to be out without my camera!)
Several folks let us take a look through their equipment, though the Owl was very hard to see – and nearly impossible to photograph with my iPhone camera! My daughter highlighted it in my photo above ; -)
Apparently, the Great Horned Owl had been appearing in this same tree for the past week or two, and was known to take off every evening at about 5 pm.
More and more little groups of onlookers gathered to catch a glimpse of this majestic creature. To see a close-up video of what he would have looked like if only I had a powerful lens, be sure to click on this link at All About Birds.
Great Horned Owls, with a wing span of over 4 1/2 feet, are aggressive and powerful hunters, and fiercely protective parents. They are found throughout North America, but this sighting was a first for me!
Please check out the episodes at Bird Note to learn more about Great Horned Owls!
Owl photos for this post: Wikipedia and Audubon.org.
Birder's Journey 
This is sometimes just what it takes to get people interested in nature. It doesn’t get much more impressive than a Great Horned Owl.
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So true! We were very excited to catch at least a glimpse.
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Wow, the big owl was there for weeks!! Need a long lens for sure! 🙂
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The most exciting moment was when he flew off!! …right on schedule~
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Amazing!!
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Oh how very wonderful to see such a large and captivated audience for the great horned owl. It is this kind of human interest and enthusiasm that helps keep our feathered friends from dwindling into extinction. Thanks very much for this cool post, BJ.
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So true, Jet. It was really fun – and heartwarming – to see all these people out in this tiny corner of Central Park, just waiting for the Owl to take off!!~ Such a thrill.
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I’m always motivated to find the elusive owl anywhere I go. But now even more so to find these wonderful and most mysterious raptors. I am thrilled to have experienced it with you. A wonderfully creative and informative post. Thank you
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Hope we’re fortunate enough to see one again when it’s not quite so dark and when we have a good camera along 🙂
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That was a wonderful glimpse into the nature and these amazing Owls. I’ve heard these Owls sometimes nest in our park too, but haven’t been lucky to see any right there as yet 🙂
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We couldn’t get over how many groups of the Owl’s ‘fans’ were standing all around, craning their necks, watching, just waiting for the moment of take-off!
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It was huge!! Definitely had a sore neck afterwards! Worth the wait 🙂
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It sure was – such a powerful sight when he took off! I agree about the sore neck…..the advantage of having a long camera lens on a tripod.
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We have stumbled upon events like this when seeing a huddle of telescopes and cameras, to find a gift of seeing some rare species. It is such a thrill to see this as owls like our Tawny Frogmouths which I featured recently, are not easy to spot, even in the daytime as they are very recluse and remain completely still while sleeping. Thanks for sharing this. Yes, and another thing BJ is going without your camera, I don’t ask whether or not to take my camera as I have learnt to take it everywhere when I go walking, I have missed too much unexpected stuff like this. So I will take a small movie camera if I don’t take my big birding one. Our non birding, walking friends have now grown accustomed to my wife and I stopping and gazing at birds 🙂
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A Tawny Frogmouth is so unique, almost seems like a mythical creature. You were so lucky!! You’re so right about the camera AB…though the 100-400 lens gets heavy after awhile 😉
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