Thursday, May 21, 2009

Short Eared Owl

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This morning, at about awful o'clock, my dog decided that she needed to go out. When I brought her outside the sky was a beautiful red and pink with the rising sun. I figured that since I was up anyway I should take a drive and see if I could get some nice photos of the sunrise. Unfortunately, by the time I got outside of town it wasn't quite so dramatic so I turned around and headed home.




On the way back I saw this fella.




He was flying low looking for squirrels.




I pulled over and turned off my truck to see if he would land.




And he did, not too far away. He was a bold little fella.




I am not much of a birder, but I and pretty sure that he is Short Eared Owl, just like the one I saw last summer.




According to Wikapedia (which we all know is the infallible source of all truth and wisdom,)the Short Eared Owl is "a medium-sized owl averaging 34–43 cm (13 to 17 inches) in length and weighing 206–475 grams (11 to 13 ounces)."




"The Short-eared Owl occurs on all continents except Antarctica and Australia; thus it has one of the largest distributions of any bird."





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13 comments:

Trish said...

awww, he's cute!

and what time is awful o'thirty?

Cathy said...

Awful o'thirty? That would be half past awful o'clock.

Ms. ~K said...

You didn't get the sunrise, but you certainly were rewarded for rising early!
Beautiful owl!

Anonymous said...

Score! Awful o'clock, but you were rewarded with gorgeous blog fodder for the day!

CD

Becky said...

Awesome photo. He's a beauty.

Be sure to add this one to your nature calendar. ;)

pussreboots said...

Gorgeous. Here's another of your posts I'm bookmarking to share with my family. My son has been nuts about owls since he was 18 months old.

Anonymous said...

Great photos. Now be honest. Was he really that close or were you using your new,"Spy Satellite" telephoto lens? :-)
D.

Krystal said...

Isn't it wonderful to be living so close to the the awesome wildlife of Alaska??

That is why I LOVE it up here!

Anonymous said...

amazing!

LoveANewIdea said...

Nice job on the beautiful shots of the owl!

Anonymous said...

What a handsome fellow!
Gloria
Davenport FL

Anonymous said...

Great photos of a bold but photogenic short ear owl.Guest he wanted a break from the hunt.

Eve said...

Lovely photo!