Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Have I ever mentioned

how much I like the birthday present Hubband gave me? Probably not. He was really sweet and gave it to me early (like the end of October). With it I can take cute things like this
and this
 

and these
 


But seriously, I really love it because I can take pictures like this out my kitchen window even when he has taken his camera on vacation!

(I would strongly recommend you click on the picture to get a big view of it.)
That was taken at about 3:20 in the afternoon, and you may be able to tell how close to the house it is since I got some of the bird feeder that is on the deck into the picture.
It is a Barred Owl, and they average 16 to 25 inches in height when full grown, which this one is. This is one of the reasons Someone isn't allowed outside by herself. She is just now getting to be only slightly bigger than a squirrel. This, and the Red-tailed Hawk family that lives in the trees above our shed at the edge of the yard.
Barred Owl can sometimes be seen hunting before dark. This typically occurs during the nesting season or on dark and cloudy days. A Barred Owl will use a perch, from where it dives upon its prey - meadow voles are its main prey, followed by shrews and deer mice. Other mammals include rats, squirrels, young rabbits, bats, moles, opossums, mink, and weasels. Birds are taken occasionally, including woodpeckers, grouse, quail, jays, blackbirds, and pigeons.

Sometimes when I am filling the bird feeder Hubband refers to it as the Hawk feeder. He might need to start calling the owl feeder.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

cool picture!!!!

Jayhawk said...

Two questions. 1st, whose pillow is that? Why do I think the actual owner (?) of the pillow is not a feline? The canine (Sadie?) looks somwehat less than thrilled.

2nd, do you know if it is common to all breeds of own for males and females to have the same plumage and for the females to be larger? The link says that Barred Owls have that characteristic, and I happen to know that such is the case for Great Horned Owls.

Bubblesknits said...

I'm with Jayhawk...just how happy was Sadie having to share her pillow with the little scamp? LOL
Great pictures btw!

Barbara B. Solbrig said...

Well, it is supposed to belong to the dogs, but it has always been on a "First one to plop down this time" basis. Sadie and Kitty used to curl up together on it and that picture was from the first time Sadie had actually decided it was safe to get on it with Oribel. Sooner or later I think she will go ahead ad get closer.
As far as I know it is generally the case that females are larger than males in owls. It is also true for hawks and eagles, so it may be true for raptors in general. (But I wouldn't place any money on that.)

Anonymous said...

Miss Oribel sure looks smug in that pic.. that may be a general cat thing or perhaps particular to her. And Sadie looks resigned to her fate...