Exactly one week after I saw my first Great Horned Owl in the Weaselhead Flats, another Great Horned Owl appeared in my backyard. As I was preparing dinner and the evening light was just starting to fade, I looked out the window and saw a large, tree-bark coloured, barrel-shaped bird casually perched on an exposed tree branch. Cool! J and I headed outside and J made gentle hooting sounds to coax the owl to turn its head. When its eyes appeared, I took some photos. It stayed for about two hours. In the fading light, I saw the vague brown silhouette of the owl preening. It mostly stayed still, though 3 and then 5 magpies settled in the tree and squawked at it occasionally.
Oh my how wonderful!! What a gift! I hope it likes your tree well enough to not only hunt from, but to spend the day sleeping as well! What a treat!!!
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I love owl treats! But I don’t think it would like sleeping in my backyard. I imagine it likes a larger cluster of trees. My backyard only has five trees.
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SQUEEE! It is beautiful! I’m so excited that you got to see it (and just as excited that you took photos so we could see it, too)!
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Yeah, it was pretty cool to be able to get so close to it. And no branches in the way! And it was fun to share the happening with J. I often bird by myself. And glad you felt some of the excitement too!!!
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Those feathers are amazing! (K)
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Great Horned Owl feathers make me think of tree bark. They give me the impression of being animal tree spirits.
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definitely spiritual.
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amazing!!!
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Eeeeeee :-)!
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Cool!
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Totally :-)!!!
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Fantastic photo, love how it is looking at you. What a wonderful experience, thank you for sharing, I hope you have many more.
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:-D. I like that it is looking right at me while it has its back to me. Wish I could swivel my head like that when I ride my bike.
I’ve always lived in a city with a lot of pavement and just accepted it. Today, I thought it was kind of strange. All this pavement has had quite an impact on how often humans see animals and what animals they see.
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How beautiful, such a wonderful animal. N.
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🙂
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Whoa! That is so neat that it just turned up in your backyard! It’s so fluffy too. I wanna pet it.
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I’m pretty impressed that its feathers can handle summers and winters in Calgary. I am curious about what the feathers feel like :-).
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Wow that’a big owl. It looks like a carpet. So glad you spotted it.
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It was very nice of the owl to pose for me :-).
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wonderful bird, you were lucky
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Yes :-)!
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Oh my gosh, such beauty. It gives me goosebumps to think you were in the presence of the gorgeous creature.
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:-).
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Exciting encounter! You got a good shot of him/her despite the fading light. Such lovely feathers, perfect for blending in with trees.
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Glad it didn’t decide to visit a bit later :-).
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