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1/40 f/4.2 82.8 mm ISO 400

Panasonic DMC-FZ18

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nature
Panasonic DMC-FZ18
annkelliott
Fish Creek Park
Bebo Grove
Northern Pygmy-owl
Glaucidium gnoma
P1020192 FZ18
interestingness#330
Calgary
Panasonic FZ18
bird
Canada
Bird of prey
NaturesFinest
Alberta
Owl
AvianExcellence
FZ18
explore2007December9


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Uncommon Northern Pygmy-owl

Uncommon Northern Pygmy-owl
I went back to Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park, yesterday afternoon. Found the rare Black-backed Woodpecker again immediately (also again today). Then I walked back towards the parking lot to photograph a group of five Mule Deer. Noticed two gentlemen with their enormous lenses focussed on "something". They said they had found a tiny Northern Pygmy-owl. These owls are rare to uncommon year-round in Alberta. Think I've only ever seen one twice in the city and once in the mountains. They can be mobbed by little songbirds and the owls have a pair of "false eyes" on the back of their head to help intimidate these songbirds, such as Chickadees. Though Pygmy-owls are small, they are fierce and often catch birds that outweigh themselves. They usually feed at night, but we did see this little guy swoop a few times this afternoon. They are such cute little owls to look at! Only 18 cm long and about the size of a person's fist or a popcan. I'm surprised that any of my photos came out as the sky was clouding over and I was looking into the trees. Extremely "noisy" shots and well cropped, but I'm still so happy to have them!

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