Finding The Great Horned Owls On Antelope Island

Everybody loves owls, right?

I sure do, especially the great horned owls that oftentimes frequent the large trees in my yard.

But owls in general are not always an easy bird to find for the novice bird watcher, mostly due to their nocturnal nature.

Great horned owls, for example, hunt during the night and roost high up in a tree during the day, barely moving at all for most of this time as they sleep and rest.

So how does one go about finding a great horned owl to view and photograph when these birds are so active at night but yet so still during the day?

Well, if you’re here in Utah I can say one place that is quite easy to find the great horned owl is Antelope Island State Park.

I was there today, in fact, and came across a pair of great horned owls in the large cottonwood trees near the Garr Ranch facilities on the southern tip of the island.

It’s not commonly known that a pair of great horned owls live year-round in the large trees near the ranch houses, including raising an owlet or two most years as well.

But I am here to tell you if you’ve got the itch to see a great horned owl, Antelope Island is a place I routinely see them.

Just east of the Garr Ranch houses is a large grove of tall trees and this is where a pair of great horned owls have been living for years on the island.

Winter is the best time to look for the owls as the trees are without their leafy camouflage, making the large brown owls quite easy to spot as they sit high above in the canopy.

Typically if you go during the normal operating hours for the ranch facilities, asking one of the park volunteers can help lead you in the right direction as they oftentimes keep track of the owl’s location most days to share with the interested public.

So if you are struggling to find the great horned owls on the island, don’t hesitate to ask one of the Antelope Island volunteers for a little guidance.

Many of the volunteers that I have met are indeed birders and are quite happy to help show you the owls when their exact location is known.

Antelope Island is a state park and the park entrance fee at the time of this writing is $15 per day per vehicle.

I always purchase the year-round park pass that not only lets you get into Antelope Island but all of the other state parks as well.

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