First Owl of 2017!

On Saturday afternoon, Ryan called me about a Long-Eared Owl found in Shakespeare Garden. I rushed over there and found the owl (#62) in a yew tree. This species used to be a bit regular in winter, especially near Bow Bridge, but for some reason, they now appear semi-annually, with Shakespeare Garden being the new hotspot for them. On Monday, I finally added Red-Winged Blackbirds (#63) to my year list, with 3 males at the feeders. I expect my next year bird to be Eastern Phoebe, which usually starts to arrive around mid March. Last year, there was an early push around now due to May-like weather, and I added 3 in one day. This year, it happened towards the end of February, but no phoebes came. One just showed up in the park today, and I'm hoping that I find one soon.