Photo of the Week: Short-eared Owl in Monroe County

Brown and buff-colored owl with short ear tufts and flat face on a round head perched on a fence post. The bird is looking to the left in profile.

Ask a birder about finding owls, and their advice will be to go out at dawn or dusk. Or the middle of the night to hear the owls calling.

But not if you’re looking for Short-eared Owls.

Which are one of the few owls active during the day and night, especially during breeding season.

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Photo of the Week: Least Bittern

A small black, brown, and white heron hunches over wet rocks along the shoreline as it hunts for fish. The bird has long yellow-green legs and bright yellow eye. In the background is the clear blue water of Lake Erie.

An unexpected find for this late in the year, the Least Bittern continues to delight southeast Michigan birders as it hunts for food along the Lake Erie shoreline.

I’ve seen Least Bitterns before, a small black and brown heron with long yellow legs and toes and what looks like white racing stripes on its body.

Continue reading Photo of the Week: Least Bittern