Long-eared Owl

Not the sharpest photo, unfortunately, but I was SO thankful just to get anything of this rare to uncommon (in Alberta) owl.

My description that I added to a previously posted photo of this owl was:

"My little point-and-shoot camera just didn't do well yesterday morning, when we were SO lucky to see a Long-eared Owl in Fish Creek Park. It was high up in a Spruce tree, behind a tangle of branches, low light, camera pointed up towards the sky and too much towards the sun ... sigh. Almost every photo was very blurred - my camera had such a hard time focusing and even when the image looked fine in the view finder, the image still came out a blur. I did use flash on some shots, but I think it made things even worse : ) However, this was definitely a time to be very thankful for ANY photo (only about three) that came out well enough to keep - and post, LOL. This medium-sized species of Owl is rare to uncommon in Alberta, so this sighting was a real treat! 31–37 cm (12-15 in) in length with an 86–98 cm (34-39 in) wingspan. Thanks so much, Tony! Brilliant spotting, as usual.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-eared_Owl