Serendipity. Went to pick up the latest set of fallen twigs. Heard a hoot and saw these. Managed to get the camera before they moved. Mother owl Baby owl
Well done you. What smashing pictures. We are just a bit jealous - wish we had managed to get snaps like that.
We call those Bosuil’s. Those pics are excellent. Oh Palu you were so lucky to be able to take these foto’s, now we get to enjoy them. Cheers.
Our Tawnies appear to have moved to somewhere else. I miss hearing their calls and seeing them perched in our trees.
Eileen, I especially like their calls. There was one hotel that we used to go to every year and at night when we would take our evening tea, we sat out on the balcony and listen to them. They often would come quite close. The reason that we went to that hotel was for the red deer rut. You could see them and hear them. It was all so interesting, but hearing the owls slowly became my main focus.
Pure luck. We have heard them for ages without being able to see them, but this time she was sat in the lower branches of an Oak tree. My wife came out to see and she spotted the baby a few feet away. Often hear them when I get up in the night to go to the bathroom. Apparently they live somewhere in the grounds of the Private (Public) school next door to us.
Listening to the owls' calls, wonderful! However, owls have another function other than entertaining us at night. They are great mousers--better than cats. They feed on vermin, mice, voles, etc. and are great predators. We occasionally have an owl, but none as photogenic as yours, Palustris!
The adult was in a different tree last evening. Too dark to get another image. She was calling for a good half hour. The familiar twik twoo noise is made by two individuals. The female makes the first one and the male the twoo. The tawny owl is a European species so our American friends will be hearing a different set of owls. Barn Owls generally do not make calls. The male sometimes gives a harsh scream of short duration. Little Owls make a variety of different calls, the most commonly heard of which is a rather shrill yelping alarm call. The male's song uses a repeated series of rather nasal sounding 'gwooooohk' calls, each of which has a slight upward inflection.
This is such a golden moment Palustris. Well done. I've never been fortunate enough to see a young owl with down. You must be so pleased. Owls are my fave.
Not seen them for a while, but heard them calling during the night. They will have chased the baby away by now. Next time we hear them a lot is early spring when they are looking for a mate.
