Although it doesn’t really seem like Winter…my First sighting of the season is a Northern Hawk Owl.
Interesting…would have expected to find a Snowy before a Hawk Owl.

From Spring through Fall they are in the Boreal Forest…come Winter can be found in more open areas and even have spent the Winter within the City.

Hawk Owls have both excellent sight and hearing and tend to hunt in the daytime…with their main food source being voles. Most commonly seen perched on tree tops which provides a good vantage point to hunt from.

They are cavity nesters…using woodpecker holes or tree hollows and old broken tree trunks.
Like other owls the female being larger than the male…they range between 14 to 16 inches in size.
Other than size they look very much alike…with no color difference.

Great seeing this Hawk Owl…unfortunately the location is less than ideal.
I don’t believe the owl would consider moving to another area even if I asked him/her nicely…I’ll take what Mother Nature provides.

Cheers !
Dennis

Hawk Owls are non-migraters and easily found during the Winter months perched on a tree top…around this time of year they will begin to move back into the Boreal Forest.
There they will find a partner and the courting and mating process will begin. Like all owls they do not build their nest…using cavities or may also use hollow tops of broken trees to nest in.

This Hawk Owl’s feeble attempt trying to hide from the Paparazzi…nice try but it didn’t work this time.

It was kind of the Northern Hawk Owl to reserve a limb close to the roadway for his noon lunch.
Just as I arrived this owl took flight that seemed like he was on a mission…turned out he was.
The owl returned from a great distance (length of a football field to give you some idea) with a vole/mouse and proudly displayed its lunch…must say that spotting a vole at that distance is pretty impressive.

Cheers !
Dennis