Northern Pygmy-owl - from the archives

No time to get out with my camera so, like I have been doing the last few days, I will add the description that I wrote under a previousy posted photo, taken during the same sighting of this gorgeous Great Gray Owl. Having posted photos of five different owl species in the last couple of days, I thought I would add two more species today.

"Just over four years ago, on 14 January 2015, I called in at one of our city parks for some fresh air and, hopefully, find a friend or two. Maybe even an owl. I was lucky with both and people had already found one of the little owls. It was an amazingly therapeutic outing - my daughter had died just 11 days before and it was so comforting to be with friends.

Usually, the owl was just about within my camera range and we were all lucky enough to see it perched in a variety of places, including some closer views. Any very close photos that are on my photostream, taken on various days, were taken when the owl unexpectedly flew right to where people were standing, seemingly without any stress. You would think that the owls would move away to a different area if they were bothered by the presence of people. Instead, these tiny owls seem to be very tolerant, and continue to hunt, stash food (Meadow Voles) and even mate, when people are present.

"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"