Sunday, March 05, 2006

A Second Visit from a not-so-Shy Great Gray


This afternoon, as we drove up our driveway this big staring Owl welcomed us home. It was probably the same Great Gray Owl [Strix Nebulosa] that visited us last weekend. The owl was perched in the tallest Manitoba maple in our back yard. This tree died just this summer but it was for exactly this purpose that I did not take it down. It make a great perch for birds. Anyway, I thought that we would spook the bird as we busily exited the vehicle and entered the house, but instead, I was able to enter the house, return with a camera, take several pictures from up close - about 10 metres (30 ft.) away. We then unloaded the trunk and entered the house. All the while the owl remained unphased and instead attentively inspected all of our activities. Only about 15 minutes later after turning on the dryer – which caused air to blow out of the dryer vent – did the owl disappear. This is the best of the pictures I took.
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All winter, we we been broadcasting cracked corn on the snow at the front of our house for the wild turkeys and I suspect that this is likely also attracted field mice, which in turn is attracting this owl.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is a SPECTACULAR picture! What a wonderful post! -Pete

Woodlot_Manager said...

Thanks Pete.