A visitor in my 'hood

791 Views 19 Replies 12 Participants Last post by Bubb, Jan 30, 2017

Bubb

Discussion Starter · Jan 28, 2017

3

Went for a a small grocery run and spotted this guy just down the road from me.
I turned around and went back to grab the camera,and he stuck around until I got back.
In fact he was still around when I came back from the store.
Maybe he'll hang around for a few days and I can try and get properly setup for some real good shots.

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Scotty

· #2 · Jan 28, 2017

Bubb said:
Went for a a small grocery run and spotted this guy just down the road from me.
I turned around and went back to grab the camera,and he stuck around until I got back.
In fact he was still around when I came back from the store.
Maybe he'll hang around for a few days and I can try and get properly setup for some real good shots.

That's awesome. be careful driving at night. These guys don't do well chasing small critters across the road in front of you. Headlights highlight moving prey, or perhaps moving shadows look like prey.

Beautiful birds

Budda

· #3 · Jan 28, 2017

Owls are pretty cool! We had one in the warehouse at work once, that was a fun couple of days.

capnjim

· #4 · Jan 28, 2017

Awesome! I think owls are one of the most beautiful creations in the history of our planet.
I had this little guy visit us last summer.

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Electraglide

· #5 · Jan 29, 2017

Here Kitty, kitty, kitty.

Reactions: 1

Steadfastly

· #6 · Jan 29, 2017

They are beautiful birds. Each type have such interesting design characteristics.

Krelf

· #7 · Jan 29, 2017

Wonderful! Looks like a Northern Hawk Owl.

Bubb

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jan 29, 2017

Krelf said:
Wonderful! Looks like a Northern Hawk Owl.

He's a Great Grey owl, huge... bigger than a Great Horned

Diablo

· #9 · Jan 29, 2017

Really lucky to see that.

Bubb

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jan 29, 2017

Diablo said:
Really lucky to see that.

Got that right , I'm still in awe.

cheezyridr

· #11 · Jan 29, 2017

Budda said:
Owls are pretty cool! We had one in the warehouse at work once, that was a fun couple of days.

one of the places i used to work, the place behind it had a plastic owl on the roof to keep the birds away. when new apprentices would come, i would say "holy shit!!! look at that owl on top of the building!!!" then see how long it took for them to notice it never moves

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Electraglide

· #12 · Jan 29, 2017

Great Greys and Snowy Owls used to stop in the bush behind where I lived in the Okanagan around this time of year. Shortly after they'd show up the missing kitty and missing small dog posters would go up. They'd stick around for a couple of weeks before moving on.

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amagras

· #13 · Jan 29, 2017

Funny how I never think about owls and now I'm hypnotized with the pictures, nice ones guys!

I think Miyazaki got the inspiration to draw some of his characters from owls

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Budda

· #14 · Jan 29, 2017

cheezyridr said:
one of the places i used to work, the place behind it had a plastic owl on the roof to keep the birds away. when new apprentices would come, i would say "holy shit!!! look at that owl on top of the building!!!" then see how long it took for them to notice it never moves

We sell owl decoys, why have I never thought of that. I can put one right by the "front desk" haha.

fretboard

· #15 · Jan 29, 2017

The owls are not what they seem...

Snout Darkness Organism Mouth Fiction

(yes, I am looking forward to the continuation of Twin Peaks later this spring)

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mhammer

· #16 · Jan 29, 2017

There are some animals one has never seen, and some one has never seen other than in a zoo or other form of captivity. The second type one is impressed with just because they're striking and gorgeous. But you're REALLY struck with them when you see them in the wild, in their natural habitat.

I had never before seen an owl outside of a zoo or bird sanctuary until this past holiday break. We were driving down highway 416 from Ottawa, and there was a HYEWGGG great horned owl sitting in a tree beside the highway. Given its size, you had the impression it was waiting for a Smartcar or little Fiat to come along; something it could grab in its talons and fly away with. I'm just sorry we couldn't stop and appreciate it in a little more detail and in a more leisurely way.

There's a big mother of a hawk that occasionally circles downtown Gatineau and Ottawa, between the War Museum and the government ghetto, likely looking rats, mice, or voles, dislodged from the various construction rojects in the area. When it shows up, it's hard to take your eyes off it. The wingspan has to be at least 4-5ft from tip to tip. Biggest damn thing in the sky in that area (except for the Snowbirds on Canada Day), and it just soars and soars and soars, barely moving its wings, except to maybe adjust direction a bit. Pity it's too damn far away to take a photo.

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Electraglide

· #17 · Jan 30, 2017

mhammer said:
There are some animals one has never seen, and some one has never seen other than in a zoo or other form of captivity. The second type one is impressed with just because they're striking and gorgeous. But you're REALLY struck with them when you see them in the wild, in their natural habitat.

I had never before seen an owl outside of a zoo or bird sanctuary until this past holiday break. We were driving down highway 416 from Ottawa, and there was a HYEWGGG great horned owl sitting in a tree beside the highway. Given its size, you had the impression it was waiting for a Smartcar or little Fiat to come along; something it could grab in its talons and fly away with. I'm just sorry we couldn't stop and appreciate it in a little more detail and in a more leisurely way.

There's a big mother of a hawk that occasionally circles downtown Gatineau and Ottawa, between the War Museum and the government ghetto, likely looking rats, mice, or voles, dislodged from the various construction rojects in the area. When it shows up, it's hard to take your eyes off it. The wingspan has to be at least 4-5ft from tip to tip. Biggest damn thing in the sky in that area (except for the Snowbirds on Canada Day), and it just soars and soars and soars, barely moving its wings, except to maybe adjust direction a bit. Pity it's too damn far away to take a photo.

Last year while going for a ride with the younger granddaughter we saw a hawk go into a dive so I stopped the bike and we were lucky enough to see it grab a gopher and fly off.

cheezyridr

· #18 · Jan 30, 2017

amagras said:
Funny how I never think about owls and now I'm hypnotized with the pictures, nice ones guys!

I think Miyazaki got the inspiration to draw some of his characters from owls

noh face is awesome like totoro, except, don't take the gold

Reactions: 1

mhammer

· #19 · Jan 30, 2017

Electraglide said:
Last year while going for a ride with the younger granddaughter we saw a hawk go into a dive so I stopped the bike and we were lucky enough to see it grab a gopher and fly off.

Years back, in Victoria, I was fortunate enough to see mother quail with her brood go into the "busted wing" scam that I'd heard about but never seen. To protect the young, the mother quail fakes an injury and lures the assumed predator away from the young (who in this case were huddled under a shrub. She'd hobble around and as I'd approach her, just to see what she'd do, she'd pick up the pace, away from the shrub, and then flail around like she was an easy catch, until I'd come closer and she would again try and draw me away from the younguns.

Marvelous piece of genetic engineering.

Bubb

Discussion Starter · #20 · Jan 30, 2017

mhammer said:
Years back, in Victoria, I was fortunate enough to see mother quail with her brood go into the "busted wing" scam that I'd heard about but never seen. To protect the young, the mother quail fakes an injury and lures the assumed predator away from the young (who in this case were huddled under a shrub. She'd hobble around and as I'd approach her, just to see what she'd do, she'd pick up the pace, away from the shrub, and then flail around like she was an easy catch, until I'd come closer and she would again try and draw me away from the younguns.

Marvelous piece of genetic engineering.

Walking in the bush behind my cottage a few years ago I scared up a partridge who went into this routine.
I stopped walking immediately and just stood there so I wouldn't step on the nest.
She actually ended up circling me and running between my legs in like a figure 8 a couple of times.
I watched her for a minute or two and backed away,I never did see the eggs or the brood.

Killdeer do a great broken wing dance too,a pair has a nest on a rocky patch of the yard and didn't take kindly to the lawnmower.

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