Saturday 24 January 2009

Barn owl visits us!


Last night, just as the Sun was thinking about going to bed, we noticed something circling and swooping the field next door to us.

We looked a bit closer and saw it was an Owl!

I have never seen an Owl in the wild before, so I was very excited, as were the rest of the family.

Unfortunately it isn't my Birthday yet, so I wasn't able to zoom in as much as I'd like to, but still, I managed to capture it sitting on one of the posts on our boundry.

Like the Woodpecker shot, I have provided a zoom pic so you can see a little bit more detail.

12 comments:

Jo Capper-Sandon said...

I hope he comes back...couldn't believe it when it stayed for half an hour circling the next field and stopping to eat mice.

Whats with the 'Sun going to bed' - you've been reading too many bed time stories again lol

Stiggy said...

Yes - if I had my zoom lens I would have got an even BETTER shot of it!

;)

You're just jealous of my fine experimental blogging!

:P

Math Campbell-Sturgess said...

Heh, I've never seen it but there's an owl living just up the back from the urban squalor that is our flat.
It particularly likes to inform us of its presence at about 4am.....

Then there's the foxes that are always running about the garden....

Carol Q said...

how lovely. i get really excited when we see one too - often on the way out to Pen's house as she's in the sticks (along with the occasional deer)

Unknown said...

How exciting - and it was still quite light by the look of it!

I have only seen barn owls here when I have been driving home along the lanes late at night. They swoop and it gives you quite a shock when your headlight pick the up.

I did have a Sparrow Hawk settle on my hedge in the middle of the day a couple of weeks ago.

I keep a sharp eye on it mind you, and I didn't want it to take a fancy to my little bantams.

You can't help but sit and marvel at the 'hunters' can you - they are magnificent.

So soon we are going to be treated to super super photography huh?

I hope we get some lessons on using some soft ware to produce the outstanding results I am expecting of you

Lottie

http://kooringa.com

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous birds are owls. Never actually seen one but heard them plenty of times. You lucky things!!

Will be no stopping you when you get your new piece of glass :)

Laurie in MN said...

I visited from Jo's blog. I finally got to see more of the new house, thank you. Having a son in a wheel chair, I like to see what other people have done to make the home more accessable.

Enjoy!

Don said...

Owls are about the coolest bird around. I wonder if he/she will help you with your mole problem?

Do you happen to know what kind it is? My guess is that it is a barn owl.

I am looking forward ot hearing of your battles with the underworld.

I think Jo is jealous of your poetic"ness" too!

I know I am jealous of her creativity and fame and glory...

Stiggy said...

Yes, this new place has an amazing amount of wildlife on or around it.

With the Owl, it's wingspan is quite large, but it does swoop majestically around the place - really amazing!

When I get my zoom lens (which will be soon) I should be able to capture a lot more things than I can now - although I'm not sure what I'll be able to teach anyone! LOL!

Nice to meet you Laurie, yes we have a good setup here now, means I don't have to worry about my back so much now, and Zak has a comfort level much higher than at our last home.

Hiya Don, yes although I'm not really jealous of Jo's fame - it WOULD be nice to get the amount of 'freebies' she gets from people!

The sort of help I can expect from her in the current campaign is comments like this morning when I pointed out the smallest of molehills this morning...

"..Oh how cute!"

What chance do I have!?

:D

Don said...

Owls are amazing. My class spends time at the local zoo and the curator brings in a huge Eagle Owl. This thing had a 5+ foot wing span and when it flapped its wings, we heard nothing. He brought in a little budgie and let it fly around and it sounded like a helicopter!

Do you have an allotment cat? They like to catch moles...

Ruth said...

So Don was telling me about this over coffee this morning, and I was sadly remembering that I have never seen an owl.

Good luck on getting a lens!

Buddhist in Training said...

Oh lucky you!! We often hear the owls here but don't often see them. They are beautiful aren't they