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Project Noah Nature School
Strix nebulosa
This is a series of shots from my time with this Owl. The last shot as it leapt into flight is quite blurry due to the low light levels forcing me to use slow shutter speeds but I felt it conveyed an important part of the story so I included it in the set.
This Owl was actively hunting along the side of HWY 16 just west of Houston BC Canada. This area of the valley is a mix of open hayfields and grazing pastures interspersed with small pockets of mixed forests of Aspen and Spruce over gently rolling terrain adjacent to the Telkwa Mountain Range.
The Owl was tilting it's head to listen to activity in the grass below her/her perch on the post and didn't seem bothered by my presence. After rushing several mediocre shots I decided to go back to my car to get my tripod to assist me in the fading light of the evening. When I got back to the owl she was still perched on the same post and she didn't seem to be bothered by my activity of setting up my tripod. After getting my camera and tripod in place I made several images of the her before she silently flew off to another perch along the highway. The most endearing part of my interaction with her was the way she would swing her head around to look at me every time my shutter went off as if to say "do you mind I'm trying to hear mice". Once I knew I had a good shot I just stood and enjoyed watching her hunt in the fading light.
Hi Trevor. Love your spotting! It would make a great addition to the mission Breeding Birds of BC. Please join that mission and add this spotting to it and any other spottings that you have of birds that breed in BC! Much appreciated!
http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/9990...
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!
I don't see them as often as I would like! I think the last one I saw was about two years ago.
Those eyes are so incredibly piercing! I would love to see one in the wild!
It popped up right as I signed in haha. These are my top owl in NA for me to find now, they are so pretty! Have you seen many? Thanks Hema :)
I realized as soon as I posted it that I had typed the wrong name LOL. I rushed back to to change it hoping no one had noticed yet but ......you had! Good catch.
So much cooler than a barred owl, and such a great photo! Don't forget to add the scientific name so your spotting can be removed from the unidentified list :) Thanks!
Spotted on Mar 25, 2015
Submitted on Mar 26, 2015
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