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A female Great Gray Owl takes flight in the hills of Mount Aukum as she watches her young nearby in the trees. The Great Gray Owl is one of the most majestic and rare birds in North America. Until recently, it's been found in California almost exclusively around Yosemite, in mountain meadows. Now that's changed -- three pairs are nesting, in of all places, outside Placerville, startling scientists and bird watchers. What's more, they are nesting not in untrammeled wilderness but on a logging company's land. Mount Aukum is a small foothills town south of Placerville, and north of Jackson is were the bird were found. July 7, 2011.

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Filename: birds 01.jpg
Copyright: Bryan Patrick
Image Size: 1544x1993 / 1.2MB; bp gray owl take off.jpg PUBDATE_2011_07_08_Final_SND News Desk_A1 birds bird wings birds flight
Contained in galleries: Birds, wildlife

A female Great Gray Owl takes flight in the hills of Mount Aukum as she watches her young nearby in the trees. The Great Gray Owl is one of the most majestic and rare birds in North America. Until recently, it's been found in California almost exclusively around Yosemite, in mountain meadows. Now that's changed -- three pairs are nesting, in of all places, outside Placerville, startling scientists and bird watchers. What's more, they are nesting not in untrammeled wilderness but on a logging company's land. Mount Aukum is a small foothills town south of Placerville, and north of Jackson is were the bird were found. July 7, 2011.