Oh, those eyes

One of the first places three of us called in at, during the annual Nanton Christmas Bird Count, had a pair of Great Horned Owls in the Spruce trees near their house. One flew to a different tree and all we could see was a bit of movement through the branches. The owl in my photo stayed where it was for a short while, giving me a chance for a few shots, and then flew over to join the other one. Ha, most of my photos were very blurry - not sure what happened there! Thankfully, three or four came out OK, otherwise I would have been so disappointed, as it really was an exceptionally beautiful owl. I had a weird experience when I was in this farmyard - can't remember if I was trying to focus my camera on the owl or some other bird, but suddenly there was a furry face between my hands and touching my face and camera! A black and white cat had leapt at my clothes and appeared right against my face!! Talk about making me jump, ha!

Got the local 20th Annual Fish Creek Park New Year's Day Bird Count this morning - all walking, unfortunately. Later - results for the small group I was with, covering Bebo Grove eastwards as far as Bridge 7:

Canada Goose-1250
Sharp-shinned Hawk-1
Downy Woodpecker-5
Hairy Woodpecker-1
BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER-1 (female)
Pileated Woodpecker-1, flying W from Bebo Grove at 8:30am.
Black-billed Magpie-4
Common Raven-26
Black-capped Chickadee-24
Boreal Chickadee-1
Red-breasted Nuthatch-8
White-breasted Nuthatch-1
Golden-crowned Kinglet-2
Townsend's Solitaire-2
Bohemian Waxwing-150
Red Crossbill-25
Common Redpoll-50

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!