January 11, 2026: Northern Saw-whet Owl in Jefferson County
This morning I got to take part in a special opportunity to search for Northern Saw-whet Owls through my birding club, Denver Field Ornithologists.
The outing entailed getting up at 3:30AM to make it to an RTD Park-n-Ride near our owling grounds to meet up with the group and carpool to the sites. At our first stop, we were fortunate to hear an owl responding to our calls almost immediately, and for a decent amount of time before we moved on.
At the next four stops, we had no such luck. But it was a beautiful, still night in the foothills illuminated by a waxing crescent moon, with more stars visible than are typically to be seen not 5 miles away from where we were located, in town. We even paused to admire Antares making itself just visible to our southeast.