This evening, I was walking up the street for a little night time stroll, when I heard a strange shriekish chirp come from the trees across the road. I shined my high powered flashlight up there, but didn't see anything. A few seconds later, I heard another chirp, and just as I looked up, our friend the owl was swooping down flying directly at me! I shined the light on him, and he did a 180 in the air and landed on a tree branch that hangs out across the road, where he shrieked at me again and watched me intently... I walked up the road right underneath him, and he turned around to watch my back as I headed up the road. Maybe my light woke up the Mrs. or something... he had his eyes glued to me continuously as I walked up and then back down the block.

So, let this be a lesson to you... Never piss off a bird with a 5' wingspan and talons sharp enough to shred you into meat strips.

Our friend the Barred Owl returned this hot afternoon, to hunt for his dinner. He prefers the small maple tree in the corner of the yard, so that's a convenient place to take some good pictures. Today was kind of challenging for pictures because of the hour of the day and the bright sun-dappled leaves in the background behind him. It's nice for me because he doesn't seem to mind when I walk up very near to him with my camera. Here are a couple more shots I snapped today. Enjoy!

Sometimes I feel like Marlin Perkins just sitting in the living room looking out the window. And since when does a 9" robin or a 10" blue jay take on a 20" tall owl? The owl sits calmly on the fence, surfing for mice, and the robins and jays attack him by dive bombing and pecking. Whats up with that? This bird could totally shred them, but he just ignores the harassment and continues sitting there looking for lunch. Finally, after he's had enough annoying by the smaller birds, and hasn't got a mouse, he gives up and retreats to another location. Robins and jays don't eat mice, so what do they care if he's sitting there anyway. And when I say mice, I mean lots of mice. We have lots of extras. Perhaps a good reason the owls like us I suppose. And we like them not only because they're cool birds, but also because they trim out the spares for us in the rodent department. So support your local owls, and take out a few robins and the odd jay for me if you get a chance.

A bit earlier today, the resident owl returned to his favorite perch, a small maple tree in my back yard.

I was able to get this shot with my Nikon D70 and a 200mm lens. I was actually able to get about 20 feet away from him for this shot. He's a little skittish, but doesn't seem to mind me approaching. Turned out to be a perfect exposure, in-focus, and I managed to hold the camera still (hand-held) for the 1/15 second exposure... This isn't cropped or retouched as the last one was, only down-res'd. Enjoy!

This fine Barred owl decided to make an appearance in the tree in the back yard today. He and his mate live in the woods behind our house.

We hear them almost every day, but occasionally we are treated to a sighting. One evening a couple of years ago, we watched the male and female both chasing a squirrel up and down the 140 foot tall trees. I have never seen a squirrel move THAT fast. Four seconds flat from the bottom of the tree to the top... and three to get back down again. The squirrel did manage to get away, but it was quite a show, with these two very large birds swooping and flapping around trying to grab him.

Better luck next time... hey - how about grabbing a few of the spare MICE we have hanging around the property...