6th Time Lucky? Masked Owl at last

Max and I have tried quite a few times for Masked Owl, from Bruny Island in Tasmania to Castle Cove only 30 minutes from home. Each time, we dip. A bit of a bogey Masked Owls are. Unfortunately, these beautiful birds are difficult to find. Max and I were invited by Grant up to *censored* for another shot.

Max had been birding all day with Grant and Rob, and managed to dip on both his main targets (Regent HE and Beach Stone Curlew). At 5:30, we met up and headed to the owl site, which wasn't where you'd expect to find Masked Owls to say the least. Under these streetlights, we searched for an hour.

Playback wasn't working particularly well in the wind (at least it wasn't as bad as the time we went to Dharug National Park on a windy rainy night), but then, finally, we heard a trill. Tense minutes passed, and suddenly, the characteristic rasping of a Masked Owl began not 100 metres from where we were standing. We stalked closer, and lit up the trees, which didn't reveal anything. Max asked if someone could shine closer to the tree trunk, and there she was. A beautiful female Australian Masked Owl! After 2 minutes, all high-fives had been exchanged and all photos had been taken, so we left her in peace to get back to whatever she might have been doing!!! As we walked away, she had a conversation with an unseen male a few trees away. What a fantastic night!