It was soon too dark for daylight photography and not yet dark enough for other owls that were our goal, so we took a short break. Once it was fully dark, we drove north through the park into Colorado where we had previously photographed Northern Saw-whet owls. We stopped at a location we had pre-scouted as having likely habitat. It was a cold, clear night, and with the canyon walls to the north and south of us, there was little wind.

We began playing a recording and soon we heard a response. Unlike the Saw-whet in Carrizo Canyon the first night, this owl responded with the too-too-too call. It flew in and landed in a nearby thicket. We were able to spot the bird, but it wasn’t on the most open perch for good photography. However, he was content to sit right where he was while we thrashed around in the snow and brush trying to get a clear view of it. With some cropping, I was able to get a fairly unobstructed view of him.

We finally decided we had the best views we were going to get and decided to try another location. When we left, he was still sitting there, calling away in the night.