A good stretch of the legs and wing

I'm posting my "daily three" around 2:00 am on 21 February 2015, as I'm not sure if I'll go for a day of birding today. Depends partly on the weather (snow is forecast) and whether I end up sleeping right through two alarm clocks that play very loud music for an hour, and my kitchen timer, lol!

Thought this photo of the tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl might amuse you. This ferocious little hunter has been quite a celebrity in our city for many weeks. I have many much more photogenic photos of this owl, looking much like a round ball perched on a branch. I just managed to catch it during a good stretch of legs and wing. The legs are usually out of sight, tucked under the body feathers with just the talons showing.

"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