Owls 1

I was standing maybe six feet away from this beautiful Snowy Owl (female or juvenile) in the Canadian Wilds area of the Calgary Zoo. It was sitting near the edge of a bank about five feet high, near the edge of the path through the aviary. At first, a slight hiss came from that partly open beak - obviously a little warning to not invade its territory. Then the owl became used to my presence. I took a pile of photos with my new Panasonic FZ18 camera, too, but found that when I use flash with it, images come out darker than with my Canon S3 IS. Consequently, the eyes were barely yellow from the FZ18, which I didn't like, so I'm posting a photo from my Canon.

This is the female Snowy Owl at the Calgary Zoo; the mother of three owlets. This was #272 on 7th December 2006.

The Great Horned Owl is the provincial bird of Alberta and is common all year round. I have been lucky enough to see many, including two young ones. The feather detail really is quite attractive. They feed mainly at night but in winter they also hunt in the daytime.

I happened to walk through a wooded area where I had previously seen a pair of Great Horned Owls, when this youngster flew into a tree near me. Its parents stayed close by, and the baby seemed quite curious by my presence, giving me plenty of opportunity to photograph it. Such a spectacular bird - and those EYES!

Badly injured by a vehicle, Oberon accompanies a wildlife centre person on talks and educational visits. Those eyes remind me of the candy, Licorice Allsorts!

Watched as this baby Great Horned Owl practiced its flying down in the Weaselhead natural area. Both adults were perched in nearby trees. Just the cutest thing!

This most appealing little owl is an endangered species. In the four western provinces of Canada, it is illegal to kill or disturb burrowing owls or their nests. I have never seen one in the wild but took this photo of one of the Burrowing Owls at the Calgary Zoo.

This photo of the female Snowy Owl and one of her three babies was taken at the Calgary Zoo. I was surprised to see how dark the young ones are.

Quite a thrill to get to see this tiny Northern Pygmy Owl in the Sibbald Flats area, Kananaskis, Alberta. A good example of camouflage!