Reader Suzanne Abbott sent us these beautiful photographs of an owl in Inwood, "This morning as I raised my window shade I was greeted by a Long-Eared Owl across the way. He has been there all day and I have spoken to the Park Rangers who said that these owls are very rare in New York and very skittish so it is unusual to see them up close like this."
She added, "The second photo is the owl reacting to seeing me for the first time, but now he is just hanging out on the A/C sleeping. The rangers say he should fly away once it gets dark." According to Owl Pages, "The Long-eared Owl was first described in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778). Other Names for Long-eared Owls are American Long-eared Owl, Brush Owl, Cat Owl, Pussy Owl, Lesser Horned Owl, Ceder Owl and Coulee Owl." Cat Owl! Whatever he's called, he's a very handsome owl.
