Grafton Screech Owl (Rufous Morph) - No. 3
This Eastern Screech Owl has become a local celebrity of sorts. He has been photographed by a large number of my Flickr friends and other local photographers. Apparently, he can regularly be found perched in this same tree, almost always in the same pose with his eyes peacefully closed and oblivious to the outside world.
When I pulled up and started photographing this little guy, I began to wonder if this was maybe a hoax. After watching him for several minutes, he didn’t move an inch or open an eye. I began to think that maybe some locals had placed a fake owl in the tree, and maybe they were hiding behind the bushes snickering at all of the people with their fancy cameras who stopped to take photos. Just about that time, two Blue Jays swooped down and landed on a branch just outside of the owl’s perch. The owl suddenly let out a loud screech (which was pretty cool), and bolted for the interior of his tree hole. Unfortunately, due to the heavy cloud cover I was shooting with a very low shutter speed, so all I captured of this exciting moment was a blurr of orange feathers ducking into the tree hole. Nonetheless, this satisfied my skepticism and proved indisputably that the Grafton Screech Owl, as he has come to be called, is alive and real.
I suspect that as long as this little guy takes up residence in this tree, I’ll routinely stop in for visits.
© All rights reserved - - No Usage Allowed in Any Form Without the Written Consent of the photographer.
The best way to view my photostream is on Flickriver: Nikon66's photos on Flickriver
Grafton Screech Owl (Rufous Morph) - No. 3
This Eastern Screech Owl has become a local celebrity of sorts. He has been photographed by a large number of my Flickr friends and other local photographers. Apparently, he can regularly be found perched in this same tree, almost always in the same pose with his eyes peacefully closed and oblivious to the outside world.
When I pulled up and started photographing this little guy, I began to wonder if this was maybe a hoax. After watching him for several minutes, he didn’t move an inch or open an eye. I began to think that maybe some locals had placed a fake owl in the tree, and maybe they were hiding behind the bushes snickering at all of the people with their fancy cameras who stopped to take photos. Just about that time, two Blue Jays swooped down and landed on a branch just outside of the owl’s perch. The owl suddenly let out a loud screech (which was pretty cool), and bolted for the interior of his tree hole. Unfortunately, due to the heavy cloud cover I was shooting with a very low shutter speed, so all I captured of this exciting moment was a blurr of orange feathers ducking into the tree hole. Nonetheless, this satisfied my skepticism and proved indisputably that the Grafton Screech Owl, as he has come to be called, is alive and real.
I suspect that as long as this little guy takes up residence in this tree, I’ll routinely stop in for visits.
© All rights reserved - - No Usage Allowed in Any Form Without the Written Consent of the photographer.
The best way to view my photostream is on Flickriver: Nikon66's photos on Flickriver