Intense

Oh, boy, talk about chromatic aberation (the purple edging to the branch and some of the feathers). Really not good quality photography, but I just love this little Northern Pygmy-owl's intense stare, as it focuses on the ground below, watching for the slightest movement. It's bloodied beak tells that it had recently had a meal. Remember, these tiny owls are fist-sized or popcan-sized : ) Imagine how difficult it is to find one of these little birds of prey. As with all my photos of this owl, this is a zoomed in, cropped image : ) I think I only have about three more photos of this owl fit to post, so please bear with me!

After a beautiful morning of sun and blue sky, the weather has changed to overcast as the temperature rose. I think it was about -16C when I left home early this morning for a three-hour walk at Carburn Park. Everywhere was covered in ice crystals, especially along the river's edge, and vapour was rising up from the Bow River. Managed just a quick shot or two here and there, as I was with a bunch of friends and so had to keep moving : ) Just looking at my photos makes me shiver. Sometimes, I look at photos like these, think of being tucked up in a nice warm bed, or sitting with a huge mug of hot coffee, shake my head, and wonder what stage of insanity I am at, LOL!!! Can it really get any worse, ha?