Powerful Owl in suburban Brisbane this morning. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Brilliant! After 1.5 hours of stamping around in the Brisbane sauna today, deciding there were no owls, trying to take a short cut back to the car ... that looks like a great nest hollow ... that tree looks nice for roosting ... that looks like scat! ... (looks up) f**k me there's a Powerful Owlet!

A very calm roo that was having its dinner as I was looking for owls.

Owl Detecting is not for the fainthearted.

Since there was a question about how we find Powerful Owls, here's something @lucyparkerpaul.bsky.social and I wrote on Owl Detecting for Wildlife Australia magazine a couple of years ago. #wildoz

Two young Boobook Owlets seen while looking for Powerful Owls yesterday. They were low in a tree right next to a path next to a row of houses, a crazy location given there was a lovely creek with lots of secluded trees right behind them. Owlets often make poor roost choices. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

There is still time to register for the Open Ecoacoustics & Powerful Owl projects webinar in a bit over an hour. @lucyparkerpaul.bsky.social and I will be in the chat channel to answer all your Powerful Owl and project questions. www.eventbrite.com.au/e/open-ecoac...

Female(?) Powerful Owl in a Brisbane conservation area this morning. This was a new and unexpected roost for the POwl, so it was good to get new information on this pair that we know quite well. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

A beautiful documentary on tracking down and monitoring a family of Masked Owls in SW Western Australian that @cnzdenek.bsky.social drew my attention to. I recognise so much in it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=maeB...

Male Powerful Owl in suburban Brisbane this morning. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Some quick Powerful Owl sketch experiments. Every drawing is practice for the next.

Powerful Owlet at dusk. A couple of months ago, a poorly adult POwl was found about 2-3 km away, & there was concern it might be this one's parent. Fortunately, last night one adult was about 30m away, another about 350m away, & this ones sibling was trilling and flying around with it after sunset.

At bird banding there was a Boobook near our measuring table. It was almost aggressive in how uninterested in us it was. It had a floofy Owlet with it so perhaps it had been rushing around all night to feed it and was very tired. Getting up at 3am I could empathise, though the dawn light was lovely.

We think this Powerful Owlet may be female as its face mask feathers extend beyond the edge of its face, and there was a paper a few years back that said female juveniles could be distinguished from males this way.

Powerful Owlet in a Brisbane park this morning. This is either the Owlet or its sibling that I rescued off the road when it 1st came out of the hollow in August. It looks to be well, and its chevon patterning has now fully grown in, though it still has floof around its face. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Powerful Owl in a Brisbane conservation area this morning. Two hours of walking and then I found it back at the start about 100m from the car, but it was worth it. I feel much better now I've got my big lens back. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

I think my big lens may be fixed as they've just sent me a large invoice. Phew, I don't feel right without my camera. So hopefully new photos soon. Until then, a Powerful Owlet staring intently at some leaves, from the archives. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Another of the Tawny Frogmouth family #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Tawny Frogmouth family

Powerful Owl pair catching up at sunset today in a suburban Brisbane park. We'd been concerned how they might have done in the furious storm yesterday, but they were fine. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

A new Powerful Owlet! And we also found a beautiful tree hollow about 100m away on the same creek, so we probably have the nest hollow as well. A good morning of owl detecting. [big lens still busted, hopefully it'll be fixed and I can take less terrible photos soon]

The Possum that likes to live dangerously is still nesting its hollow close to where the Powerful Owls roost. Maybe it's a good tactic in that they always fly off somewhere else at dusk?

Powerful Owlet siblings. @lucyparkerpaul.bsky.social discovered these in a car park when walking her dog! She really is the jammiest owl detective. One day maybe I'll get around to making that book on #carparkbirding.

A powerful Owlet stretching its magnificent wings. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

A male Powerful Owl from the archives (we've been finding new POwls across Brisbane this last week or two, but my big lens is still busted ☹️ hopefully next week ...) #brisbane #birds #wildoz

The latest @ologies.bsky.social is Owls! It's brilliant (as are all Ologies). It's with the awesome Rocky Guitiérrez, who was PhD supervisor of @jonathanslaght.com (Owls of the Eastern Ice book!) who we got to meet & show owls to when he came to Brisbane a few years ago. pca.st/episode/573b...

Powerful Owlet roosting with one of its parents in a Brisbane conservation area late this afternoon. The Owlet's sibling was about 30m away and after dark there was a lot of trilling and flying around. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Checked in this morning on the two Powerful Owlets whose Papa may be in care. It's been almost 3 weeks now, but they are looking well and cared for. (Big lens is still in for repair, but hopefully I'll be taking decent photos again by the middle of next week) #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Updated my business card since I'm here and and haven't been on the bird site for quite some time.

Powerful Owlets this morning in a Brisbane conservation park. Two weeks ago an adult was found suffering from poisoning (ban 2nd generation rodenticide!) about 1km away. We're not sure it's the papa of these two, but we're regularly checking in on them to see if they are OK and being fed (they are).

Finally, we managed to track down this Powerful Owl pair. There had been some random sightings in the area in crazy locations that couldn't possibly be regular roosts. But today we tracked them to a more reasonable tucked away area that is most likely their regular spot. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Big lens is still broken, but fortunately the Bush Stone-Curlews at the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens are so relaxed (except about crows flying over) you can use a portrait lens.

Male Powerful Owl quick brushpen sketch. Every drawing is practice for the next.

My big lens is broken, dammit. So here's one from a while back. The Owlet was obviously aware and agitated by the presence of the python. But my goodness, it took a long time to decide to fly away, at which point we began breathing again. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Last round of voting (for the Emu-wren 😉). Get in before Bird of the Year closes: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Being at #6 it looks like the Emu-wren should survive the cull tonight, but be sure and vote for Bird of the Year if you haven't already today, and make sure you vote tomorrow as it'll be down to the final 10. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I quite like my new fountain pen for quick sketching. This was a Powerful Owlet I helped rescue off a busy path a couple of years ago. A bit like Donna in David Tennant era Dr Who, it didn't think much of being rescued. Every drawing is practice for the next.

The Emu-wren has started the day quite well at #5. Like @hugepossum.bsky.social I'm hoping it can maintain its place in the top 5 today & tomorrow, it needs all the help it can get what with being threatened by space launches etc. Vote for Bird of the Year here: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

With the Powerful Owl now out, I'm going for the Southern Emu-wren. It needs protection from habitat destruction (I'm looking at you rocket launch site). It'd be great if it could survive the next couple of days of voting and finish in the top 5. Vote here: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Female Powerful Owl in a Brisbane conservation park. Two guys with 2 dogs walked right under her but didn't notice her and her partner on the same branch. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Bird Bums of Brisbane LXXII The Female Forest Kingfisher Gold Creek Reservoir Yesterday

The Powerful Owl is still hanging on there in the Bird of the Year voting, and should make the cut later tonight when the bottom 5 are removed, and the counts are reset to 0. Hopefully those currently voting for the Brush Turkey etc will move their support to POwls 🙂

An airplane went over, which seemed to rattle the Powerful Owl pair a bit. That's unusual as adult POwls mostly ignore them, and this pair being in quite a people-busy conservation area are very very chill. Owlets are always fascinated by planes. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Powerful Owl pair (female left) in a Brisbane conservation park this morning. Don't forget to put in your vote today for Powerful Owls for Bird of the Year: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

What's with the Tawny Frogmouth vote (see reply below) at @australia.theguardian.com ??? It's not even an Owl! The Powerful Owlets are concerned. Vote 1 Powerful Owl! Cast your vote here: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Got my Bird of the Year web scraping code running again ... it looks like the Powerful Owl should survive today's vote as it's 15th in the tally. Phew!

It's time to vote for Australia's best bird! Vote 1 Powerful Owl! [ @australia.theguardian.com seems to have chosen a particularly unflattering POwl picture, so here's a better one] www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Sleeping Powerful Owlet in a suburban Brisbane park at dusk yesterday. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Powerful Owlet being bothered by a Magpie-lark this morning. There were also Bluefaced Honeyeaters and Noisy Miners, but the Owlet wasn't really that bothered. #brisbane #birds #wildoz

Kookaburra in a Brisbane park this morning