Photos / Sounds

What

Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa)

Observer

omoquit

Date

April 2024

Photos / Sounds

What

Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis)

Observer

gcwarbler

Date

June 1974

Description

The culmination of my hiking and birding efforts in SoCal in June 1974 was the discovery of a nesting pair of Spotted Owls in Trabuco Canyon. A day after the initial discovery, I invited raptor bander Pete Bloom to accompany me back to the spot to attempt to band the birds. Pete was successful at capturing and banding both adults and the single fledgling. Here is some documentation of that effort, including a John Denver-ish image of me at the time with the fledgling and Pete Bloom holding one of the adults. I also include an image of the canyon as it looked that day where Pete set up the small trap to capture the owls.