Friday, February 11, 2011

Another Amazing Bird

There was a flutter of movement out back that caught my eye. It was an owl getting comfortable in one of the trees. Grabbing my camera, slowly & quietly, I was able to get a couple of pictures. From this one it would appear that he knew I was there and was not concerned. Was he trying to see if I would make a good breakfast?
 
This is a Barred Owl. Named for the bars running along his chest. He is one of two owls with brown eyes, the barn owl is the other.
His tail feathers are amazing, how do all those spots get lined up so precisely?
 
He finally settled on this position, hopefully sheltered from the cold and wind. This was the morning that it was still below zero at 8am. An hour later he was still there, now with some company.

A group of smaller birds were sitting on nearby branches seemingly looking at him. Then came the blue jays. There were two of them loudly calling out what seemed like warnings. Do Barred Owls eat other birds as well as mice?
It was a great treat to finally see the owl that has made us smile with its "who-cooks-for-you, who-cooks-for-you-all" hooting.
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1 comment:

  1. This was such fun-great pics! Felt like I was back in HP's world. I think he was bringing a message.

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