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Canada
Alberta
Calgary
Fish Creek Park
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Northern Pygmy-owl
Glaucidium gnoma
popcan-sized
fist-sized
© Anne Elliott 2015
avian
perched
ornithology
nature
birds
predator
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bird of prey
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caught a Meadow Vole


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Looks a long way down from up here

Looks a long way down from up here
Thought this photo would give an idea of the size difference between a Northern Pygmy-owl and a Meadow Vole. Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm. I will add a photo in a comment box below, taken of the owl on the ground two minutes earlier.

On 22 February 2015, we got this chance to see the tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl in Fish Creek Park. When I arrived, it was perched in a smallish tree, but within a very short time, it suddenly flew down to where we were standing, maybe six feet away from my feet, and then returned to the tree. We were surprised that it sat for so long before eating the brains of its prey and then we began to wonder if perhaps it needed to bring up a pellet first. Sure enough, eventually, that is what it did.

"The Northern Pygmy-Owl may be tiny, but it’s a ferocious hunter with a taste for songbirds. These owls are mostly dark brown and white, with long tails, smoothly rounded heads, and piercing yellow eyes. They hunt during the day by sitting quietly and surprising their prey. As a defensive measure, songbirds often gather to mob sitting owls until they fly away. Mobbing songbirds can help you find these unobtrusive owls, as can listening for their call, a high-pitched series of toots." From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pygmy-Owl/id

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_pygmy_owl

On my way out of the park, an enormous flock of Bohemian Waxwings swarmed around the tall coniferous trees along the edge of the road. Hundreds of them landed at the tops of these trees and then they would swoop down to the snow-covered ground and eat the snow for a few seconds before flying to the other side of the road and back again.

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 Anne Elliott
Anne Elliott club
Have to smile at the look on this little owl's face in this previously posted photo. Not sure who was more surprised, the owl or the photographers - or the Meadow Vole!

A surprise to all
9 years ago.

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