We got a surprize....Barn Owls...

[AlabamaJack]

While I was out at the ranch (read hunting lease) this weekend, one of my friends told me he wanted me to see something...we got in his jeep and took a ride down to his stand...I had the camera ready and "gently" shook the stand...look what came out....

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk136/AlabamaJack/042008a001-1.jpg

I could not have asked for a better view...the barn owl came out of the hunting blind straight at me and swooped down slightly to my left...he was looking straight at me and as I snapped the picture, he looked to his right to see where he was going...

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk136/AlabamaJack/042008a001.jpg

after he passed, I turned around and there he was making his gettaway....

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk136/AlabamaJack/042008a002.jpg

I don't know whether you can see how big this owl was but his wing span was close to 6 1/2 ' (2 meters)

[QuadShotz]

Wow, nice shot of a beautiful bird.

Sigh, makes me miss the country...all I see here is misc. small birds, pidgeons, crows and landgulls.

[talas]

got some down by us in wales,always a treat to hear and see the ghosts of the night.:)

[rainbowberry]

Owls are beautiful to stroke, really silky and soft.

[POTAWIE]

Nice pic. We got a pair of owls feeding on all the spring squirrels

[LUCKYDOG]

Thats really cool -- I've seen and heard them in the wild but its very very rare.... nice pics

[imaguitargod]

Wow, great shot!

[cheezydemon]

Was there a nest?

[AlabamaJack]

yes, 8 eggs, and another blind had two more owls with eight eggs too..

prolific it seems...there are a lot of rodents there for them to eat..

[DrHavanger]

Those are nice shots!

[DevilDuck]

I'll have to scan in the picture that was taken right outside my back yard two years ago. It seems that we have a pair of really rare owls (don't ask me what kind...) that nest in a tree here in the golf course. The year the picture was taken, a baby fell out of the nest. Now when I say baby... The body of this "baby" was easily as big as the torso of the animal control guy, and the feet were almost as big as his hands. The little owl was still too small to fly.

[AlabamaJack]

Dang DD thats a huge owl...has to be a great horned...isn't that the biggest in the continental US?

[DevilDuck]

Like I said, I have no idea what kind of owl it is. They should be back this year, I'll try to get a shot of them. Their nest is almost the size of a VW Bug.

However, when they are in the neighborhood, the "lost cat" posters are all over the place.

[DevilDuck]

Ok... I exaggerated on the size of the baby owl. It's been awhile since I've seen the pic. But, if you look at the animal control guy, he's looking up in the nest to make sure mommy and daddy aren't home!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/duckyz/babyowl.jpg

[dreamtheatervt]

Great pics AJ. I like owls and other large birds of prey, always the highlight of trips to the zoo, they just have a presense about them.

[AlabamaJack]

that IS a baby great horned....WOW....wonderful...look at the head above the eyes and you can already see tufts of feathers that make the ears...WOW again...beautiful...

http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/great_horned_owl

[DevilDuck]

I'm looking forward to their return this year. We're overrun with pigeons and mourning doves that crap all over the place.

[chilliman64]

great bird pics! we have a tawny frogmouth that hangs around our place from time to time.

[bentalphanerd]

I spotted this one in my Siam patch a few months ago

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/9139/birdwd0.jpg

[AlabamaJack]

Bent, that bird looks like he is hunting cut worms....do you know what kind it is?....kinda resembles a brown thresher we have here in the states...

[bentalphanerd]

Bent, that bird looks like he is hunting cut worms....do you know what kind it is?....kinda resembles a brown thresher we have here in the states...

quick google...(yeah i know slack, i was always going to find out what it was but...)

its a Goshawk of some kind. Bit hard to tell what flavor because it was really young (calling to mum for a feed) & not a very good hunter (theres lizards everywhere in that patch) It spent some time trying to pull a big red chilli off a plant then hopped into the next yard, got hassled by Indian Minors & took off.

Bit hard to tell in the pic but it's about 18 to 22" long

[AlabamaJack]

thats gonna be one big bird....very pretty markings....

[bentalphanerd]

Gotta be cool to have owls around. That thing DD posted looks like something out of star wars lol.
We're right next to a big creek & parkland here (swamp, then built over, flooded out & washed away in '74, now its a park with pipes under) Get all kinds of birdlife ducks, eagles, hawks, kingfishers, ibis, galahs, honeyeaters...everything but owls lol

got my birdbath set up under the native trees & can sit there & watch them all come through in the afternoon for a dip. Never get tired of that.

:cheers:

[GrumpyBear]

i have big round eyes and the kids used to call me owl-eyes so my mom bought me an owl stuffed animal so i wouldn't get a complex about it i guess, so i used to love owls but now they freak me out cuz everytime i see them at the fair or in a zoo they seriously stare me down. i'll be in a crowd of friends and they just follow me with their stare (and they apparently can't turn their eyes but can turn their heads really far around and it looks really creepy when they do that staring at you, trust me...)

[chuk hell]

Great pics there AJ.



There was a little Screech Owl that used to hang out in our back yard. He would hang around at night while I was running the smoker.

Here's a picture of it my wife snapped. The little guy seemed to have no fear of us or our dogs.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/20/68867155_0cb9909c1d.jpg

Owls are cool. They are considered symbolic of death in many cultures.

[chilehunter]

nice pictures you all posted :cool:

I like birds of prey, I've had hawks & owls zip right by me (within in 5 feet)or fly right towards me & turn when only finding out what I am. alot of these are while in the woods hunting.
had a barred owl perch about 10 feet in front of me (this was really cool because it stayed there for about 30 seconds)
walked upon a adult great horned owl in the woods once, thats was really cool too.
hawks are in full force right now, have red tail hawks nesting in the treeline of the property, had a redtail hawk turn tail (in flight) & chase another smaller bird in my backyard :hell: - this was cool to watch but that small bird got away somehow :(

have a year round breeding pair of bald eagles about 1 min from the house, plus other eagles that are around all year. saw a turkey vulture today while working.

this state has plenty of birds of prey (several kinds of owls & hawks) which is great so ya can see & watch them.

[Omri]

Haven't seen any barn owls in years. seem to have disappeared for some reason.