An Unexpected Saw-whet

Last week, my brother and I went out in search of early migrants at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis. While we were disappointed in the lack of migrants and waterfowl, we did have a somewhat surprising find. After checking the reservoir and several other areas, we decided to take a walk around the Skating Pond. We were on a little side trail that splits two smaller ponds when I hit my camera lens on a branch. I stopped to take a look at the camera to make sure no damage was done and while doing that noticed some whitewash underneath a single, very small cedar tree. When I looked up the tree, I was only about 10 feet away from a little Northern Saw-whet Owl that was staring at me!

Although the owl had a few branches in front of it,
we still managed to get a few nice shots!

With all of the recent reports of people acting very irresponsible around owls, we debated whether or not to tell anyone about our sighting. In the end, we decided to just report the sighting as being at Eagle Creek Park and not list the specific location details. If people really wanted to know, we figured they would contact us. Several people inquired about the location, and now many local birders have seen the owl. (My wife was especially happy since it was a lifer for her and practically at her eye level - a rare occurrence.) This little guy has now been around for at least a week and a half since we first saw it. Everyone has been respectful and has minimized the disturbance by not staying for too long. While we have loved watching the saw-whet, we hope it will head back north soon to breed!