I was out at Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area near Harpster, Ohio this morning. The wildlife area covers several hundred acres and is broken up by perfect north-south and east-west crisscrossing roads. Because there is so much area to cover, I tend map out a zigzag route and drive through the whole wildlife area before getting out to explore on foot.

I saw several deer, dozens of hawks (not the greatest at identifying them so won’t even try), songbirds and woodpeckers here and there, and two bald eagles from the car. I was searching for short-eared owls but didn’t have any luck. They are usually more prevalent in the evening so I wasn’t too disappointed. Then I got out of the car and bushwhacked through the snow, long grasses, and brush to a couple of evergreen stands that often hold long-eared owls and saw-whet owls. I didn’t have any luck at the first stand of pines so I moved onto the next. No luck there either.

As I was leaving, a small birding group from Columbus was heading into the grove. I learned long ago that there is a significant benefit to having extra sets of eyes when searching the dense tops of evergreens so I turned around and followed them back through the stand. I’m glad I did. One of the group had only gone a few yards when she spotted a small saw-whet owl in the middle of one of the branches. Suh-wheeet! My first wild saw-whet owl. And it even stayed put long enough for me to get a few photos as you can see below.