High Sierra Topix

At a campsite this past week near Puppet Lake near Humphreys Basin, we noticed a pair of big owls flying around over our campsite at night, almost like they were buzzing the campsite. A couple days prior, we noticed the same behavior at night at a campsite in Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park.

Anyone experience this before? Or can provide any insight on the species/behavior?

I've watched a couple of owls silently circle around me while I was star gazing on Monache Meadows. They were definitely fixated on the general area around me. At the time I wondered if they were hunting creatures that might of been moving away (or attracted) to the human presence. Very neat experience.

-Bill

I've been backpacking for nearly 60 years but I can't ever recall an owl flying close to me repeatedly until last week when I was camped at Crown Lake (western John Muir Wilderness). I think it was Wednesday night (8/13) and I heard the whirring of wings flying close by and saw an owl fly several feet away from me (ie not buzz-my-head-close) then land on a tree branch about 20 feet away and look at me. Several times it took off from the tree flew around me and then back to the tree before it flew off somewhere and didn't return. It was a medium sized owl and all I could see was the silhouette, so I can't tell what kind of owl it was. I don't think it was trying to scare me off or anything because if so it would have really buzzed me (ie flown closer to my head). I think it was just curious.

Seems to be the year of the owl. I have made four times as many owl sightings in the South Bay of Los Angeles, this summer, compared to normal years. I've seen this before. I've been on trips where I directed my headlamp out into the darkness surrounding my camp, amazed to see the ground literally alive with hundreds of vole and other little furry guys. The owls seemed to have taken note of this, too, and were bagging their limits. City side we have a local nature preserve that seems to have doubled its owl population over the last two years. Likewise for the rabbit and lizard populations. I noticed during my night walks in the neighborhood there is a significant increase in rat activity. And a bunch more owls. Perhaps all of this is the result of the 2013 storm year?

Ed

Here is an owl experience from 50 years ago-
viewtopic.php?p=106040&hilit=Kaweah+River+owl#p106040