Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: 24 January 2017

My spirits were lifted on 24 January 2017, with this sighting of a beautiful Barred Owl. I've barely been out looking for Snowy Owls and Short-eared Owls (or anything!) this winter and have only seen a few, very distant birds - at least until the 25 January 2017, when I was lucky enough to see 11 Snowy Owls (all but one, distant) outside the city, with a friend who is brilliant at spotting things. I've also missed a recent Long-eared Owl, a Northern Saw-whet Owl and a Northern Pygmy-owl. The EXIF data for this photo, by the way, is Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm, so it just looks closer than it actually was. Always feels strange looking at an owl with dark eyes, not yellow, but they are so beautiful. This was only the second 100% wild Barred Owl I’d ever seen. I did see one in Fish Creek Park, and also I had seen a family of them near Edmonton, when we went to see ones that had been banded. They were wild birds, but I still hoped to one day see a completely wild one (no nesting box). The owl in this photo was beautiful – crummy light, but I was so happy to see this owl. We very rarely see this species within the city, so it was a real treat. Took a long walk before seeing it, and it took me a few days to recover from it - but it was so worth it. I haven't been back since, unlike a lot of people, who went back day after day and spent a lot of time with it. I guess the bird hasn't been totally stressed, or perhaps it would have moved on. "The Barred Owl’s hooting call, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” is a classic sound of old forests and treed swamps. But this attractive owl, with soulful brown eyes and brown-and-white-striped plumage, can also pass completely unnoticed as it flies noiselessly through the dense canopy or snoozes on a tree limb. Originally a bird of the east, during the twentieth century it spread through the Pacific Northwest and southward into California." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barred_owl

My spirits were lifted on 24 January 2017, with this sighting of a beautiful Barred Owl. I've barely been out looking for Snowy Owls and Short-eared Owls this winter and have only seen a few, very distant birds - at least until the 25 January 2017, when I was lucky enough to see 11 Snowy Owls (all but one, distant) outside the city, with a friend who is brilliant at spotting things. I've also missed a recent Long-eared Owl, a Northern Saw-whet Owl and a Northern Pygmy-owl. The EXIF data for this photo, by the way, is Focal Length (35mm format) - 864 mm, so it just looks closer than it actually was. Always feels strange looking at an owl with dark eyes, not yellow, but they are beautiful. This was only the second 100% wild Barred Owl I’d ever seen. I had seen a family of them near Edmonton, when we went to see ones that had been banded. They were wild birds, but I still hoped to one day see a completely wild one (no nesting box). The owl in this photo was beautiful – crummy light, but I was so happy to see this owl. We very rarely see this species within the city, so it was a real treat. Took a long walk before seeing it, and it took me a few days to recover from it - but it was so worth it. I haven't been back since, unlike a lot of people, who go back day after day and spend a lot of time with it. I guess the bird hasn't been totally stressed, or perhaps it would have moved on. "The Barred Owl’s hooting call, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” is a classic sound of old forests and treed swamps. But this attractive owl, with soulful brown eyes and brown-and-white-striped plumage, can also pass completely unnoticed as it flies noiselessly through the dense canopy or snoozes on a tree limb. Originally a bird of the east, during the twentieth century it spread through the Pacific Northwest and southward into California." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barred_owl

My spirits were lifted on 24 January 2017, with this sighting of a beautiful Barred Owl. I've barely been out looking for Snowy Owls and Short-eared Owls this winter and have only seen a few, very distant birds - at least until the 25 January 2017, when I was lucky enough to see 11 Snowy Owls outside the city, with a friend who is brilliant at spotting things. I've also missed a recent Long-eared Owl and a Northern Saw-whet Owl. This was only the second 100% wild Barred Owl I’d ever seen. I had seen a family of them near Edmonton, when we went to see ones that had been banded. They were wild birds, but I still hoped to one day see a completely wild one (no nesting box). The owl in this photo was beautiful – crummy light, but I was so happy to see this owl. We very rarely see this species within the city, so it was a real treat. Took a long walk before seeing it, and it took me a few days to recover from it - but it was so worth it. "The Barred Owl’s hooting call, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” is a classic sound of old forests and treed swamps. But this attractive owl, with soulful brown eyes and brown-and-white-striped plumage, can also pass completely unnoticed as it flies noiselessly through the dense canopy or snoozes on a tree limb. Originally a bird of the east, during the twentieth century it spread through the Pacific Northwest and southward into California." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barred_owl

My spirits were lifted three days ago, with this sighting of a beautiful Barred Owl. I've barely been out looking for Snowy Owls and Short-eared Owls this winter and have only seen a few very distant birds - at least until the day before yesterday, 25 January 2017, when I was lucky enough to see 11 Snowy Owls outside the city. I've also missed a recent Long-eared Owl, a Northern Saw-whet Owl and a Northern Hawk Owl. This was only the second 100% wild Barred Owl I’d ever seen. I had seen a family of them near Edmonton, when we went to see ones that had been banded. They were wild birds, but I still hoped to one day see a completely wild one (no nesting box). Yesterday’s owl was beautiful – crummy light, but I was so happy to see this owl. We very rarely see this species of owl within the city, so it was a real treat. Took a long walk before seeing it, and I've been in agony ever since. "The Barred Owl’s hooting call, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” is a classic sound of old forests and treed swamps. But this attractive owl, with soulful brown eyes and brown-and-white-striped plumage, can also pass completely unnoticed as it flies noiselessly through the dense canopy or snoozes on a tree limb. Originally a bird of the east, during the twentieth century it spread through the Pacific Northwest and southward into California." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barred_owl

My spirits were lifted yesterday morning, with this sighting. I've barely been out looking for Snowy Owls and Short-eared Owls this winter and have only seen a few very distant birds. I've also missed a recent Long-eared Owl. This was only the second 100% wild Barred Owl I’d ever seen. I had seen a family of them near Edmonton, when we went to see ones that had been banded. They were wild birds, but I still hoped to one day see a completely wild one (no nesting box). Yesterday’s owl was beautiful – crummy light, but I was so happy to see this owl. I still have to go through my photos, but grabbed this one for now. We very rarely see this species of owl within the city, so it was a real treat. Took a long walk before seeing it, and I'm still in agony this morning. "The Barred Owl’s hooting call, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” is a classic sound of old forests and treed swamps. But this attractive owl, with soulful brown eyes and brown-and-white-striped plumage, can also pass completely unnoticed as it flies noiselessly through the dense canopy or snoozes on a tree limb. Originally a bird of the east, during the twentieth century it spread through the Pacific Northwest and southward into California." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barred_owl