Rick KenobiWe had a lovely visitor on our back fence this morning - a Barred Owl!
#Birding #Birds #Owl #BarredOwl #Nature #Photography #Wildlife #Backyard
Here's a picture of my wife taking a picture of the owl in the backyard while trying to let our tiny dog Muffin have her morning bio break!
JustAnOwlOh, it got weirder. I feel like my backyard squirrels have never seen an owl before!
My wife says this is actually normal squirrel behaviour and that they are mobbing the owl and trying to intimidate it. As it is an ambush predator, the squirrels know they are unlikely to be attacked in this scenario. How weird is THAT?
Taran Rampersad@VA3DSO it's exactly as your wife says.
You may see similar behaviors in small birds.
It's a great capture, and says a bit about your yard. Owls are picky.
Budgegeria 🦜@VA3DSO Those squirrels know stuff.
Twobiscuits🚴♂️ 
@VA3DSO if the owl has a go at squirrel #1, no doubt squirrel #2 will pull the owl's tail. If they've been watching the crows!
Leea@VA3DSO my local squirrels dropped a big bird from the tree. I saw the bird very briefly from the back, so not sure what it was, but suspected a hawk.
@lepaggoth Oh wow! That is crazy! I've seen one red-tailed hawk near by backyard. It took a run at a rock pigeon that was trying to eat from my bird feeders, but the pigeon managed to elude it.
Sam Van Horne, Ph.D.@VA3DSO two years ago I heard wild alarm calls from Wood thrushes in the woods, and I went in and sure enough they were trying to intimidate a barred owl. Which was kind of stationary and unmoved for a bit.
Paul Turnbull has moved.🇨🇦@VA3DSO Sounds right. We had a great horned owl roosting in a tree near our house a few times last winter. All the magpies and a few squirrels kept trying to harass it but it seemed to take a honey badger attitude and not really care.
Sci Fi Brickyards 🚀@VA3DSO
My money's on the owl
My money's on the owl
millennial fulcrum@VA3DSO booping the snoot of death. wow.
@falcennial It looked risky to me at the time for sure! But the squirrel lived to see another day.
I was going through my photos and found another nice shot of the owl - he was moving himself to the other side of the post and spread his wings. Really beautiful bird! 😍
#Birding #Birds #Photography #Nature #Wildlife #Canon #Photography
It's been almost 2 weeks since the Barred Owl graced our backyard with its presence but last night I had a dream about it! I dreamt it was perched in a tree in our backyard, and I could see it from the top floor of our house - and I dreamt that I was fumbling around to grab my camera and get some more pics of it.
I asked Copilot AI to generate an image of what the scene might have looked like, and I think it did a reasonably good job. (This is my first ever AI image)
Gina
Ciara
Vitskapsdama@[email protected] I was wondering about the owl! It must be infinitely patient to put up like that with the squirrels.
@vitskapsdama Yes, according to my wife, he is essentially napping on the fence because he feels safe. He's likely got a full belly from last night - and he is really unbothered by the squirrels or even me or my wife when we go in the backyard.
I've seen that type of behaviour before in our local forests, where we see an owl and it could care less about our presence. He's one cool customer!
Bruce B (he/him)@VA3DSO Amazing pic. I had no idea this could ever happen.
lovely_Natur+KulturIncredible 😮 @VA3DSO
ageofcool
Simon Flett@VA3DSO Don't owls eat squirrels? What happened next? Pictures please.
@RejoinEU Weirdly nothing happened next. The squirrels went back to foraging in the backyard and the owl just chilled on the fence. At some point in the afternoon, the owl flew away.
Nuwagaba Gift@VA3DSO
Did they cause any harm the first time they saw them?
Did they cause any harm the first time they saw them?
@nuwagaba2 No, nobody got hurt. I was amazed that the owl just sat there. It wasn't aggressive at all - it just wanted to nap. Once the squirrels figured out they couldn't scare him off, they just went back to their squirrelly business.
@VA3DSO
Nature is really amazing. Thanks for capturing and sharing such a wonderful moment with us. Did you keep your owl as a pet?
Nature is really amazing. Thanks for capturing and sharing such a wonderful moment with us. Did you keep your owl as a pet?
@nuwagaba2 no but it is welcome to visit anytime it wants! 🦉
@VA3DSO
Owls rarely visit a place twice unless they have found something good and peaceful. Let's hope it visits again. Can I share with you about my project?
Owls rarely visit a place twice unless they have found something good and peaceful. Let's hope it visits again. Can I share with you about my project?
@nuwagaba2 Sure, send me a DM. I had a look at your profile and it looks like you and your team are doing some awesome work!
penguin42@VA3DSO @nuwagaba2 Back to chewing the cabling on the wall opposite?
@penguin42
What's your favourite chocolate flavour?
What's your favourite chocolate flavour?
@penguin42 @nuwagaba2 I've never had squirrels or other critter gnaw on any of the cables outside my house (yet!). However, in that picture, that's actually my neighbour's house (the owl was on our back fence). Hopefully the cables remain intact!
Sundew
alarmed feet operative: kimothy siddon
Martin Seeger
ekvin@ekvin Indeed!
Barbara Monaco@VA3DSO Stunning shot!
JakJak
RiaResists@VA3DSO 😂 You got quite a show!