Seen in Past Week: Gulls, Owls and Bonus Birds

Immature herring gull on ice shouts at his friends, Duck Hollow, 28 Jan 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

3 February 2025

In the past week I’ve been lucky to see gulls on ice, an owl on the nest, and three Bonus Birds.

Tiny icebergs were floating down the Monongahela River when Charity Kheshgi and I visited Duck Hollow on 28 January.

Ring-billed gulls on ice at Duck Hollow, 28 Jan 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

Ring-billed gulls outnumbered every other species. A few immature herring gulls made a ruckus in the middle of the river. And a Bonus Bird: A peregrine falcon flew over. I wonder who it is!

Peregrine falcon flyover, Duck Hollow, 28 Jan 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

On 1 February I visited Schenley golf course to take a photo of my shadow and decided to drive down Circuit Road on the way home. The sun was so bright that it illuminated the great horned owl’s nest under the Panther Hollow Bridge. From the road I digiscoped a photo of the female and cropped it for a closer look.

Digiscoped photo of nesting great horned owl at Schenley, 1 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Heavily cropped digiscoped photo of nesting great horned owl, 1 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Yesterday I went back with Charity Kheshgi to see the owls. The captions on her video and photos tell the story.

video of great horned owl on nest, Schenley, 2 Feb 2025, by Charity Kheshgi

We were able to see both the male on the left and the female on the nest from a trail on the same level as the nest (the “Lower Trail”).

Great horned owl pair male roosting (left), female on nest, 2 Feb 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

Below the bridge we couldn’t see the nest but the male was visible, roosting in the shadows.

Great horned owl male roosting near his mate, 2 Feb 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

And later, two Bonus Birds: A golden-crowned kinglet who flashed his crown, yellow and red …

Golden-crowned kinglet, Schenley Park, 2 Feb 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

… and a brown creeper

Brown creeper, Schenley Park, 2 Feb 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

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