Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Big old western toad. I love these guys!

Western toad tadpoles

Spotted frog

Elk

I've been watching out for pygmy owles forever, so seeing this one was a real treat. It's about 7 inches tall.

Daniel helping me look for critters while I drive slowly

This killdeer was trying to scare me away from her baby

Here is the baby taking off down the road

This wandering garter was drinking the water trapped in this footprint

Baby chorus frog on a dime

Baby spadefoot on a quarter

Thanks!

Dan Eby

I'm not an expert birder but my best guess is that the owl is a Saw-whet Owl and not a Pigmy Owl.

But great photos all around!

Richard F. Hoyer (Corvallis, Oregon)

Richard,

Thanks! & you are correct on the owl ID. I checked out the pics of owls found in MT, & its for sure a saw whet owl. Man they are tiny! I'm no bird expert either (obviously,lol) I've just always wanted to see one of the tiny owls, I think I just assumed if its that damn tiny it has to be a pygmy. So Thanks for the help.

Dan

Dan:
Not certain where you live but I seen that the Pigmy Owl occurs as far east and a good part of western Montana. One of my son's is a professional birder conducting tours in North, Central, and South America for Wings Inc.

He commonly uses the Pigmy Owl call to bring in other birds as well as the owl itself. If you can find a source where you can listen to the call of a Pigmy Owl, if you can whistle, it is fairly easy to duplicate. The species can be called either during the day or at night.

Richard F. Hoyer

Dan,

Nice pics, as always. you are an inspiration for me, did you realize that? LOL
I didn't think you had that many amphibians in your part of the country, wow.
Congrats on the Pygmy Owl, they are cool birds!

Matthew

Thanks Man!

Yea, we have Columbian spotted frogs, Leopard frogs, chorus frogs, tailed frogs, pacific tree frogs, woodhouses toads, western toads, plains toads, spadefoot toads, tiger salamanders, & long toad salamanders here.

Dan