March 8, 2014
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Barred Owl
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This morning I had my first close encounter with a Barred Owl. It spent all morning resting on a broken branch of one of the red pines in our front yard. I took a number of photos of it through the window because I assumed (incorrectly) that it would fly away if I went out. An hour or so later, my husband and I ventured out and found we could get quite close to it, if we didn't make much noise. It seemed to be resting there, taking small glances once in a while at the chickadees, woodpeckers and blue jays flitting around the peanut feeder, then closing its eyes again. I took many more photos there, including this one.
Later on we thought it had flown away, only to find it was completely hidden by its background. The second shot kind of shows you the idea. The open eyes are really the only giveaway, from a little further back.
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doing a little grooming, you can see how long
the feathers are here |
Links:
a great owl website
more information on Wikipedia
...by the way, we haven't seen our resident red squirrel today.......maybe he's hiding....
They are the strangest looking bird, yet so cool looking. You can tell not a lot scares them if it didn't fly away when you were out though.
ReplyDeleteCher Sunray Gardens
Wow! I've never seen one of these birds. How beautiful he is - and you got some great pictures!
ReplyDeleteWhat a magnificent creature! I love the first image especially with the owl napping in the dappled sunlight. He or she really does blend in well to the surroundings. No wonder the squirrel is thinking twice about venturing out.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting, Diane. Your pictures are amazing! P. x
ReplyDeleteYou should submit a couple of your photos to that barred owl website. How exciting to see, and capture and in photos!
ReplyDeleteHey Diane, those owl pictures are superb! What an experience that must have been. I also love the placement of your picture of Hudson--he seems to be 'eying' the owl!
ReplyDeleteGreat website.
Carol
Very cool! I have never gotten such a good look at a wild owl, barred or not. We do have them in this area, though.
ReplyDeleteYour owl photos are beautiful. I love the colouring of the feathers. I can almost feel the softness of the bird and the roughness of the tree bark.
ReplyDeleteKaren