Barred Owl

Isn't this 7-year-old male Barred Owl amazing? Not seen in the wild and not even seen at the Zoo this time. Instead, I got the chance to see and photograph (and stroke, awww) him at a meeting I went to yesterday evening. I've never seen a Barred Owl in the wild, but I do enjoy seeing the two at the Calgary Zoo. My camera can't deal with indoor light and I can't use flash successfully. Managed to rescue a few of the images, though. This owl was injured (damaged eye that he can't see out of), so would not have been able to be released.

I just find this image rather amusing, seeing this little Barred Owl sitting in front of an audience. The gentleman who gave the talk brought this injured, 7-year-old male owl with him and it was a neat experience to see a Barred Owl so close (even to touch him). He just sat and stared the whole evening : ) His eyes are amazing - like deep, dark pools.

This Barred Owl was sitting just a few feet away from me when I walked through one of the Calgary Zoo aviaries recently. Unfortunately, I couldn't step off the path to get a better view without the annoying, right-hand, vertical branch! In the wild, these owls are rare to uncommon year round in Alberta. Strange to see an owl that has dark eyes.

A photo taken indoors and through glass, of an injured Barred Owl at the Medicine River Wildlife Centre on July 24th. We were privileged to be be allowed to explore and botanize the land around the Centre - thanks so much, Carol and Judy! I love the eyes of the Barred owl - like huge, deep, dark pools. Forgot to add that I was posting my "daily three" very early this morning (around 6:15 a.m. I think), as I was going on a full day botanizing trip to Arethusa Cirque, Kananaskis, today. The little bit I had been able to find on this hike said that it was easy with not all that much elevation. Well, we were standing at 8,000' by the time we had scaled the very steep mountain side. Most of the climb was steeply upwards which meant that if I wanted to take flower photos, it was a case of trying to balance on a steep slope with an almighty drop below (so I took far fewer photos today than I normally would, ha). I am not good at heights, so did my best to avoid looking "down" during the whole climb up. Also not good at any trail that goes upwards instead of along the flat. Lol, I never thought I'd reach the top, but amazingly I did - and, oh, what magnificent views!!! This hike is just north of the Ptarmigan Cirque hike and parts of it were quite similar, except that Arethusa Cirque trail is up, up, up the whole way. Still, the views were simply breath-taking : ) Weather was perfect, no Grizzly Bears appeared, and the company was great. Only six of us went, so it was a nice, small group. Can't remember offhand, but I know we saw one new plant - a tiny blue Gentian with the most exquisite blue flower (but can't remember the name just now). What a way to spend the day! Thanks so much, David, for sharing this new place with us and thanks, too, for the welcome treat of coffee at Highwood House. Just what was needed : )

The Barred Owl has distinctive dark eyes, which I always like looking into - gorgeous eyes, not piercing like the yellow-eyed owls. This Owl lives in an outdoor aviary at the Calgary Zoo, along with Great Gray Owls, a couple of Snowy Owls and a Hawk (of some kind). This is one kind of owl that I have not yet seen in the wild.

Not seen in the wild and not even seen at the Zoo this time. Instead, I got the chance to see and photograph (and stroke, awww) this 7-year-old male Barred Owl at a meeting I went to eight days ago. I've never seen a Barred Owl in the wild, but I do enjoy seeing the two at the Calgary Zoo. This owl was injured (damaged eye that he can't see out of), so was never able to be released. He makes a great Ambassador, though : )

This Barred Owl was sitting in a tree right by the path in the aviary at the Calgary Zoo. I was probably about 8' away from it, with nothing between it and me. A great feeling. We do get these owls in the wild in Alberta, but I haven't yet seen one. A few steps further along the path and I came upon a gorgeous Great Grey Owl sitting on top of a thin, dead tree trunk right out in the open. It proceeded to preen itself, which was quite a sight. Will be posting a photo.

Well, Don, I guess some of us have to find a Barred Owl wherever we can find it, LOL - in this case, at the amazing Medicine River Wildlife Centre, north west of Calgary. A few of us had the chance to spend a day there, botanizing the land around the centre as well as enjoying seeing some of the injured or orphaned wildlife that was there, on July 4th. This is a species of owl that I still haven't seen in the wild, and would love to. Don has said he will bring his wild Barred Owl to Calgary this winter, and in exchange, I'll give him our tiny Northern Pygmy-owl, ha, ha!!!

I love the deep, dark eyes of the Barred Owl. This one lives in the walk-through aviary at the Calgary Zoo - it's usually asleep, but I was lucky this day. This is a species of owl that I still haven't seen in the wild.