It's been a long time since I've seen a western screech owl: six years, by my rough record-keeping. So I was delighted to recently witness one in my Phoenix backyard after only a few days back in town following my long summer stay in Prescott. The last time I wrote about this small owl species, I had just seen one roosting during the day at the Desert Botanical Garden. It was the second time I had seen one there, and the third time ever. The first was actually in an adjacent community to mine in Phoenix, when I watched an owl over the course of several days as it basked in a winter's early morning light from a perch in the hollow of a saguaro cactus. Over the next six years, I occasionally heard the western screech owl's bouncing-ball hoots during winter nights in the desert. However I was much more apt to hear the deep calls of a great horned owl, which I was also more likely to see on my sunrise runs. Last week for the first time since the spring, I had turne
I'm an Arizonan that enjoys the outdoors through traveling, hiking, mountain biking, snorkeling, photography and just looking out my window.