Owls 1

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

A distant shot of the tiny, rare to uncommon (in Alberta) Northern Pygmy-owl, seen in Fish Creek Park on 13th November. We were lucky enough to see it again this morning, but it was way off in the distance, much too far for a photo. The weather is beautiful today - love it when the sun is shining and there is snow everywhere. We were so lucky with birds, too - not a huge number of them, but what we did see were great species - Northern Goshawk, Pileated Woodpecker, the Northern Pygmy-owl, Boreal Chickadees, Townsend's Solitaire, etc.

I wonder how this tiny owl (the size of a pop-can or a person's fist!) is doing today. How our weather has changed. It's still lightly snowing this morning, with a few inches of snow already on the ground (which means on my car, ha). I have a volunteer shift this afternoon, so I have no choice but to face winter (unlike yesterday, when I stayed home in the warmth all day). We were so lucky to see this little owl in Fish Creek Park on November 13th. Lots of people go there in the hopes of finding it, and most never get the chance, so I feel extra fortunate. Good luck, if you are one of those hopeful people! This is quite a crop, by the way : )