A Quiet Morning of Owl Watching

Wildlife
Illustration of a great horned owl perched beneath a moon over the Moon Canyon hillside

A handful of us met at the trailhead before sunrise last Tuesday, coffee in hand, hoping to catch the resident great horned owls before they turned in for the day. We weren't disappointed.

Perched in the old eucalyptus above the second switchback, a pair called back and forth for a good ten minutes — low, resonant hoots that carried clear across the canyon in the still morning air. A juvenile, likely last spring's fledgling, watched from a lower branch nearby.

If you'd like to join the next early walk, keep an eye on our Instagram — we post owl-watch mornings a few days out, usually timed around the new moon when the sky's darkest and the calls carry farthest.