short-eared revisited

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Cades Cove off Hyatt Lane. Harrier and short-eared habitat

And a bit of old business: the short-eared owls that spent their winter in Cades Cove.

I didn't get to go see them so I asked my friend Laura Twilley to send me a report.

"It was a cold, cloudy, February 8th afternoon," emailed Laura.

"My husband Robert and I made the last minute decision to go see if we could find the owls.  We followed the directions found in various KNS articles, went to the second Cades Cove crossroad, parked and walked the road.  (Which, in and of itself, was a really nice walk.  We felt like the only people in the Cove.)

We didn't see anything for a long time and were about to give up, when Robert saw movement along the tree line. 

Like all other accounts, we saw them playing and flying about like moths.  It was fun to watch, but not close enough to photograph.

On our way back to the car, when we were given a show by a northern harrier, one of the owls decided it wanted to be seen up close and landed in a nearby tree.

Score!  But then...

And, that, was the day I got to see a short-eared owl.

Thanks, Laura!

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