Backyard Nature: An owl stands its ground in Rock Creek Park, and an uncommon backyard sighting

by Marlene Berlin

The people you meet on Rock Creek Park trails are generally friendly. The same can’t always be said about the wildlife.

I took a hike in Rock Creek Park on a sunny but cool day in late April. As I headed back toward home, I saw this common short-eared owl. It was blocking my path. And it did not look very friendly.

This short-eared owl was not happy to see me.

It lifted its wings and clicked its beak. Everything about its behavior said “stay away.” I heeded the warning.

I wondered why it stood its ground instead of flying away. It could have been protecting a nest. But it certainly saw me as a threat. According to Cornell University’s Ornithology Lab, adults and young of the species “snap their bills when threatened.”

A few days later, a bird I had never seen before made itself at home in bushes outside my kitchen window.

I first saw a flash of yellow and thought it might be a goldfinch, but they do not flit around in my bushes – they go straight to the feeder. This one did not. When I caught another glance, I saw a yellow throat with black eyes, and mostly light brown feathers on its wings.

If it had been still, it would have been well camouflaged.

I sent the video off to a friend who knows a lot about birds. Steven Mink told me it’s a common yellowthroat, and that they do tend to stay out of sight.

“They are quite secretive, and I mostly see them about this time of spring when the vegetation has yet to fully leaf out,” Mink said. “The song is a bit like an upside down Carolina wren’s main ‘tea-kettle-tea-kettle-tea’ song.”