I had a fantastic experience today seeing a daytime roosting area that a nearby friend told me about several days ago. He has large hilltop fields that are reclaimed strip mine areas, and he's been seeing owls this winter in large numbers, up to 9 at a time. In some rock piles at the field edges where construction is happening, the owls have been roosting in groups, especially on windy days. He had sent me a picture of 6 of them roosting together.
Today we went up in the early afternoon, in bright daylight, and it was absolutely freezing and pretty breezy. Much to my delight, they were indeed roosting in rocks and a large brush pile, easily visible right out in the afternoon sun ! It was just a magical experience to see these birds, with their golden eyes staring back at me. We never left the car and were able to see from the drive, where we were able to get some great photos. They never moved and seemed relatively tolerant, and there's construction going on not far away but it has apparently not bothered them at all.
Of course I knew they roosted on the ground, and in groups in winter, but I hadn't realized they would use rock piles. But on reading up in Birds of North America, I do see they use gravel pits, quarries and rock piles for roosting areas so I have learned something new. They must use the one site regularly as there was a large collection of pellets in front of the one roosting owl.
