Favoritos de tuckylozano

I am absolutely flabbergasted. Pics tba. Calls towards the end

Description 6/12/24:
I had the privilege of finding and watching this hawk owl for about five hours at my campsite while doing field work in Chelan county, Washington. In truth, it felt more like the owl found me, suddenly appearing while I was reading a book by my tent. I only looked around because I heard a chipmunk going crazy. Throughout the entire afternoon and evening, the owl was always within sight of my campsite. I got to spend time observing it up close when it approached on its own, as well as appreciate it from a distance. It was surreal to be making dinner and turn around to see the owl just 50m away! We both seemed to enjoy the sunset, which proved to be quite good thanks to a mix of clouds and smoke from the nearby Pioneer Fire. The owl watched the sunset from the top of a tall Doug-Fir, and was still perched up there at around 9:15 when I finally had to call it a night. I saw it briefly the next day while surveying, but did not see it on the 12th (although I only looked for about 10 minutes). Truly an unforgettable experience, and I had absolutely no idea a hawk owl was even in the realm of possibility in Washington in the summer. I am in the general area for a while, so I plan on periodically checking to see if it is still around.