Unknown Owl sighting in downtown Windsor

by Robert
(Windsor, Ontario, Canada)

Mystery Owl

My wife and I decided on an impromptu walk last night, just before dusk. On the return trip, walking down Victoria Avenue between Tecumseh and Giles Streets, I heard what I thought was an Owl call and we stopped to look around. We heard the call again, with one or possibly two answers coming in from not too far away. Then I spotted the Owl in a tangle of branches up in a bare tree.

It wasn't big - though I think it was maybe twice the size of a pigeon - it could have been bigger given the distance. The call sounds a lot like the Eastern Screech Owl's "trill", but I couldn't upload the video here.

Unfortunately with the dark, I'm not sure what it was we saw and heard. The photo is inconclusive but the video does catch the vocalizations. After a while, the owl flew across the road, swooping by us by less than 5 meters. A few minutes later, he/she flew back in front of us as we were moving on. I shot some video and a few photos on my iPhone.

This was really exciting, as my wife's father has an Owl obsession but has never seen one. We've seen what I think was a great grey owl, while walking in the Devonwood Conservation area in Windsor (it flew high over the canopy and it was enormous). No photo of that one, unfortunately.

I'd love to know what you think we saw! I've heard this call before and told my wife it was an Owl. I was so happy to finally see one.

Thanks, Robert

Thanks for sending us your report and picture. I'm not an Owl expert but perhaps one of our readers may be able to identify it by your description.

Also, if you have a video, write your email in the "Comments" area (don't worry, it doesn't go out on the website until I approve it, but I just want to write back so you'll have my personal email so you can send me the video, and I may be able to add it to this page.