Owls, birds of prey and such………..

Howdy all,

First let me preface this by saying every summer when the crops in the fields are getting high enough to furnish cover for the small animals that these birds (owls & hawks ) we see them in town here, where we have lots of small stuff like squirrels and rabbits for them to prey on.Happens every year at this time.
Last night, about dusk we observed a family of small brown owls ( six ) out in the front, some in the flowers, some checking out a big hollow stump that has a tub of posies to cover the open spot.
Very interesting little creatures, about the size of a dove only blocky build as owls are, they are not terrible wild, but keep an eye on us.
They are acrobatic fliers with their short wide wings as I watched them for a while.
As small as these are, I wonder if they might eat insects as well as mice. I am always amazed how these birds can exist with all the intense farming methods, chemicals, etc.

I will try an get a picture of them.

Thanks for reading,

Iowa Roger

They are pretty cool birds for sure!

Just last week I stepped outside in the morning right in time to see some sort of hawk grab a mourning dove off my front lawn. It was quickly followed away by 3 screaming blue jays.

This is in the TC suburbs just a few miles from downtown Mpls. Pretty cool to see!

I look forward to the pictures. I love owls.

We had a bunch of those little owls in my neighborhood a kid. Pretty cool birds.

Deer hunting several years ago sitting in the stand about half hour before sunup I heard this lil tick of a branch right behind me, turned my head and there was an owl no more than 6′ from me. It turned its head completely around to check me out, paused for a few seconds then flew away. Only thing you heard in the dead silent woods was that lil tick of the branch, amazing creatures for sure.

Watch Your Pets Closely

Sounds like Eastern Screech Owls to me. Very cool birds. I used to have one that I could call in with a dying rabbit call on occasion. It would come sit on my roof waiting for a meal. They have a quite distinctive vocalization.

It is pretty trippy how dead silent they are when they fly.