Surnia in Stollberg, Saxony

It has been a long time since my last post, but this is a truly hectic period in my life, which thankfully I will only experience once: writing up a Ph.D. dissertation. I'm finally beginning to make some headway, and the goal is to submit a finalized version before Summer. For this reason, I do not expect I will be able to write many (or any) postings until after this critical period. But in order to preserve my sanity, I have vowed to give myself at least half a day each week to birding. If I come across something worth writing about, or take photos worth sharing, I will continue to do so sporadically...such as right now! :)

Well, the day before yesterday my local birding pal (and scientist colleague) Ashwin and I headed down to Stollberg, a 48-minute tram ride southwest of Chemnitz (which is another 1 hr train southwest of Dresden), in order to finally see the bird that has been in the news (at least locally), and has been enjoyed by countless avid birders from all over Germany (and perhaps further afield) as well as proud, local closet-birders for over 2 months already! Now, please don't ask me to explain why I had not gone after this bird earlier...I'm just glad I finally got to see this amazing life bird!


Northern Hawk-Owl (Surnia ulula)
or Sperber-Eule (German - lit. "Sparrowhawk-Owl", aptly named for the accipiter-like tail)...

Most of the breast and belly show fine barring, but the uppermost portion of the breast is clean white

...both great names for this charismatic wanderer from the North, whose majestic presence exudes an aura of wonder and inspiration and fear. One cannot help but feel so privileged just to be in the presence of what may be the missing link between hawks and owls, whose gaze penetrates deep into your soul, causing you to feel a sudden chill, followed almost immediately with guilt for every sin you have ever committed hitherto: the "Judgement-Day Owl".

Okay, so maybe a few too many cliches, and some slightly over-the-top descriptions. But honestly, I for one rarely feel moved to the point where I feel like painting a picture with such poetic prose...so methinks this is indeed one such special bird!

He (or she) was just sitting from a perch on a naked deciduous treetop, within someone's backyard which bordered a nice vole-filled field, on the outskirts of the village just about 600 meters from the train station. When Ashwin and I arrived (around 14:00), he/she was doing little besides a good amount of head-spinning (at semi-violent speeds), and fluffing up the body feathers to trap more air for warmth (even though it was a relatively mild day, slightly above freezing with plenty of sun when we arrived). There were only two other birders with cameras present; one of them with a ridiculously large (800mm?!) lens.

After having the privileged opportunity to observe a few Snowy Owls (Bubo scandiacus) during my recent winter-holiday break at home in Cape May, New Jersey, the main difference that struck me with this Hawk-Owl (besides the obvious shape and plumage differences) was that the expression on the face was completely different. "Snowies" have a gentler and "cuter" look that makes you feel you want to reach out and give one a hug and take it home (though I would highly recommend refraining from doing so, as such an impression is readily betrayed once the owl reveals its sharp footwear!). On the other hand, the Hawk-Owl's expression is more of a stern grimace; clearly advertising that it means business, and beware he who would dare try contemplating a little cuddle!

Don't mess with me pal. (Photo courtesy of Ashwin Mohan)

The head is huge, but the face is compact. The eyes are clearly much paler yellow than those bright, golden globes on a Snowy. Plumage-wise, I noticed a few things while enjoying this bird. First the head pattern, as viewed from the side, is reminiscent of the dark facial stripes seen on American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) with one long facial-disk edging plus, further back, another short dark band, between the back of the head (nape) and white side patch behind the dark edging of facial-disk. This second band towards the back of the head aids in creating the "false-head" pattern on the back of the head. Another impression I had was that the gorgeous pattern of pale feather edging on the back of the head reminded me of the rows of overlapping replacement teeth one finds in a shark's jaw!

Is it just me, or doesn't the patterning on the rear side of the huge remind you of shark teeth?

Unfortunately we had to leave to catch the trains back to Dresden before we could see him take off in flight, but he did appear to be doing some pre-flight inspections of the wings; turning around and preening feathers. The roughly 90 minutes spent watching this bird did not feel like much time at all, and we surely could have spent the better part of a whole day observing this spectacular creature...so we will be back quite soon I'm sure. Now I will end with a series of several more photos for you to browse through. Good winter birding to all!

Squinting or resting?? Or just showing off it's cuteness to the cameras?!

Preening is part of preparing for one last meal before the sun lowers below the horizon.

Here the bird obligingly reveals his/her much darker wing coverts and flight feathers, compared with the much paler scapulars, which cover and hide most of the wings when the bird is resting.

Here one can see the long, accipiter-like tail. (Notice that even the long primary extension on this bird reaches less than halfway down the tail's length!)

Beware the Gods from the North! The grim face of death itself to an unwary field mouse!