Great Horned Owl / Bubo virginianus - a photo on Flickriver

            A few more odds and ends from my archives,  I am adding the description that I wrote under a different image taken on the same outing.  Will be without my car for another several weeks minimum (sigh!), so will be posting images from my archives for quite a while. 

"On 26 November 2016, friends and I were so very lucky.  On a walk in Fish Creek Park, we found not only an owl, but two owls, and different species - this Great Horned Owl and a teeny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl.  It had been almost two years since I last saw a Northern Pygmy-owl.  That one, also, had been seen in Fish Creek Park.  On 26 November, it was near the top of a very tall tree, so my photos were fully zoomed and cropped and posted just for the record.

The Great Horned Owl, however, was seen nice and low and out in the open.  The bird was large and fairly pale, so we think it was probably a female.  After taking a few photos through the trees, we continued our walk and I was able to get a few shots from a different angle, just before she closed her eyes and went to sleep.  

Then, the following day, 27 November 2016, I decided I would go back to the park and meet different friends and hope to be able to at least show them where we had seen the Great Horned Owl the previous day.  Amazingly, there she was, sitting in exactly the same place, out in the open.  We continued our walk, talking about seeing owls, when I suddenly stopped and grinned.  I had spotted a second owl (smaller and darker, so a male) so far away in the distance, through a mass of trees.  No idea how I saw it, as it was so well camouflaged.  After a long look, a couple of my friends still weren't able to find it, it was so well hidden.  A fully zoomed and cropped photo (posted yesterday) shows what a beautiful bird he was - lovely colour on his face.  

After our walk, some of us called in at Tim Horton's for coffee.  I always enjoy this, just as much as the walk itself.  Thanks, Janet, Bernie and Stephen for a rewarding afternoon!

We split into two groups, so not everyone saw everything on the list.  My group only saw one Northern Pygmy-owl, not two."

Taken on: November 26, 2016

Tags:

Calgary

Alberta

Fish Creek Park

Fish Creek Provincial Park

nature

wildlife

ornithology

avian

bird

birds

bird of prey

owl

Great Horned Owl

Bubo virginianus

adult

female

perched

tree

branch

coniferous

out in the open

front/side view

outdoor

fall

autumn

26 November 2016

Panasonic

Lumix

FZ200

FZ200#4

annkelliott

Anne Elliott

Sets appears in: • Owls 4 • Great Horned Owl more » • Fish Creek Park 5 • Birds of Alberta 11 « less

Groups appears in: • Owls • Panasonic FZ series more » • PHOTOGRAPHERS OF CANADA • NATUREPIX • Birds , Birds Birds • Beauty of Nature • *I Love Birds* • All things beautiful in Nature (no humans or man made objects) • Nature, wildlife, and the great outdoors • Wild Owls • Mad about Owls / Birds of prey • N A T U R E [no limits] • BIRDS ARE BEAUTIFUL. • Birdshare • CARBON FOOTPRINT [Nature Photography] (NO PETS!!) • Owls of North America • Birds of the world/ Oiseaux du monde • Panasonic Lumix Lovers • Panasonic LUMIX FZ28/FZ38/FZ40/FZ47/FZ100/FZ150/FZ200/FZ70 • Any kind of wildlife/nature • Panasonic FZ 200 - Successor to the FZ 150 • Wild Birds of Prey « less

Camera: Panasonic DMC-FZ200, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, 108mm, ISO 160 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Panasonic DMC-FZ200
Aperture:	f/2.8
Exposure Time:	0.008 sec (1/125)
Focal Length:	108mm
ISO:	160
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Elements 12.0 Windows
Show full info

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