Northern Hawk Owl with woodland bokeh

I'M TAKING A BREAK!

I think this may be the last photo I post for perhaps a couple of weeks or so. Many of the photos I've recently been posting have been from my archives and I feel like I keep posting photos of the same few subjects - like this owl, lol! I've barely been out anywhere for many weeks and for quite a while, I've been finding it hard to keep motivated - which probably means that those of you who visit my photostream very often, are also feeling a little (or very!) bored : ) So, very unusual for me, I'm taking a short break, and will post when I have taken photos of different things that feed my heart and soul - and hopefully yours, too.

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On 29 January 2017, I left home hoping to see one species of owl and came home having seen a different species instead! There was no sign of the first kind of owl, despite quite a few other pairs of eyes that had been searching. I don't normally drive from one location to another one that is a long way away, but I did this day, and I am so glad I did.

When I reached my second destination, I slowed down, starting to check the trees and fence line. Then I spotted a car parked further up the road and found that there were a couple of photographers who had already found the owl.

In the short time I was there, this beautiful Northern Hawk Owl was busy hunting, flying from tree to tree and along the fence line. I saw the owl dive into the snow twice - not sure if it caught a Meadow Vole the first time or not, as I wasn't quick enough to get a photo, but I did see it with a Meadow Vole dangling from its beak the second time. Sorry for the little rodent, but glad that the owl had a tasty snack.

The last time I was lucky enough to see one of these gorgeous birds of prey was on 8 February 2016, NW of the city, just over a year ago. It was just the same thrill seeing the one in this photo!

"The type of prey the Hawk-Owl catches will determine its eating strategy. For mammalian prey the ritual is generally the same: the Northern Hawk-Owl will eviscerate its prey, eats the head first (especially for prey like the red squirrel, whose head is fairly large), and then—when tackling larger prey—it will eat the organs and cache the remains; with smaller prey, the owl will simply swallow the body whole."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Hawk-Owl

"The Northern Hawk Owl can detect prey by sight at a distance of up to 800 meters (half a mile). Though it is thought to detect prey primarily by sight, the Northern Hawk Owl can find and seize prey under 30 cm (1 foot) of snow." From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org