bonus owls

We almost didn't go owling at all at Esquinas when rain started falling during dinner on the night we were going to go back out.  We half-joked with Vernon "so, 4am tomorrow?"  He actually half-thought about it and when the group showed more than half interest I think he would have done it.  Fortunately the rain stopped as we finished eating and we headed back out.

The first stop was at a field where he played the somewhat eerie call of a Common Potoo.  After 5-10 minutes he beckoned us off the bus.  Two potoos were flying out over the field.  Apparently one of their favorite foods is bat.  His light caught one alit on a post.  The pic is a montage with just the eyeshine on the left and the bird (at 1/13th of a second) on the right.

 Quite possibly the worst pic I've ever posted.

Next a Tropical Screech-owl that Vernon picked up while we were driving by flashing his searchlight at all the wires.  This one was just finishing a katydid.

Striped Owl is partial to oil palms.  I was hoping to get closer to this bird as they're fairly striking, it flew before we got very close though.

Finally a Black-and-White Owl

Lathe spotted it sitting next to a street light.

I'm not sure if the CR owls are more tolerant of lights or are more prone to perch on wires or if we just don't see them since we're not looking here, but next time I'm owling and not driving I may try shining a light along the wires.