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Thursday, January 13, 2011

Night Visitor

We pulled into the driveway last night and found this cute little guy (girl?) sitting on our front gate.



He/she flew into a small tree next to the garage and stayed just long enough for me to run in and grab the camera.



I'm not cute. I'm fierce!



Look at that cute tummy and how his/her head turns around.



I am NOT cute! I'm ferocious! I do have beautiful eyes though, I'll give you that. All the better to see all the mice your stupid cats aren't catching sleeping in those heated beds on the porch.



Oh good GRIEF. Is this some sort of nut house? Turn the lights off. I am trying to work out here.

I'm not sure if this little screech owl was out here by the house because the snow was helping him hunt or because the snow was keeping him from being able to hunt and he was hungry. Either way, we were darn excited to see him/her up close.

Tiny bit of camera info - I bumped the ISO to 3200 and used the flash to take these pictures in the complete dark. Not sure if that was what I was supposed to do (real photographers jump in anytime please!), but that's all I could think of quickly and I'm thrilled I got what I did. The last shot, with the car headlights still on, I need to think on some. I kind of like how the wreath on the garage shows though...

26 comments:

Christine said...

Awesome shots! And he/she is kind of cute.

mudranch.com said...

Not that I'm a "real" photographer or anything... But if they turn great (like they did) then you did something right! :D Great shots, and what a fun surprise.

Mom L said...

Fantastic shots! And he/she has nothing to be embarrased about - once can be cute and ferocious at the same time! Right now my beautiful Calico Queen is looking cute and adorable on the shelf over my monitor, while she glares at me for not feeding her yet. Guess I'd better hop to it before she pounces!!

Nancy in Iowa

Alice said...

Impressive photos of that owl! What a lucky opportunity! It doesn't look as though it was starving. Wonder if it would eat cat food ;-)

Tiggeriffic said...

I love screech owls.. they are so small and so cute. So glad it stayed in the tree and waited for you to get the camera.. He looks like he is posing for you..
Great pictures ~! Good Job~!
ta ta for now from Iowa

DayPhoto said...

WOW! Sara! Great shots! I would be so very excited to get something like that also.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

Linda said...

Great shots......and he/she is cute.

flowerweaver said...

Great catch! It pays to always have your camera near.

Lori Skoog said...

Excellent shots Sara. I love taking shots in the dark. They are so dramatic. Are you feeling better?

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

I really love owls, (we have a resident Barred owl) and your pictures of this little night-time visitor is really amazing!!

Kritter Keeper at Farm Tails said...

those are awesome! you are soo lucky to receive that gift. and thank you so much for sharing how you took that shot.

Jennie C said...

Incredible Shots!!!!!

Shirley said...

Lovely little fellow! Good job on capturing these shots.

Josie Ray said...

What a treat to have such a mysterious guest! And to capture his elusive image before he eluded you.

Is this the time of year for owls? We saw a great-horned owl when driving home two nights ago, and one woke me up around one a.m. last night and kept "hooting" for about half an hour. It was wonderful.

A house lacks character until there are owls living nearby.

Ed said...

Pure perfection, you did great and looks like a excellent exposure for the conditions..:-))

Joanna@BooneDocksWilcox said...

oh, aren't they beautiful, look at those eyes. Yeah, you did a great job.

kenleighacres.com said...

I love owls and it is such a rare opportunity to get pictures like that! Great job and thanks for sharing. It is hard to see that little guy as being fierce ;)

Debbie said...

Great shots of the little owl. We had these around here in the summers for a few years, but I have not noticed any this past summer. They are awfully cute! Great find!

Verde Farm said...

Sarah, I love owls. He is beautiful too. My grandmother had a wounded owl when I was a little girl and she put it on a 4 foot ladder and nursed it. I got to feed it and touch it and it was so wild the way it blinked it’s eyes-robotic like. This made me think of that and what a great memory it is :)

small farm girl said...

He/she is beautiful!

Carolina Trekker said...

wow...just beautiful pictures. Isn't he amazing? He and the "Condo Kitties" remind me of the verse..."The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea green boat. They took some (of your) honey and plenty of (your) money wrapped up in a five pound note. The Owl looked up to the stars above and sang to a small guitar..."

Far Side of Fifty said...

Great shots..what a special treat! Not often do you get a chance like this..well done:)

Beekeeper Barbara said...

Oh lucky you! I've always hoped one day I'd get to see an owl in the wild. Mind you I live in the city so that doesn't help much.

During the day time I watched as a hawk came and sat for a bit. Then it flew to the ground and came back to its branch with a mole or vole (not sure which). I guess they can hear/see them as they tunnel under the snow.

CTG Ponies said...

What a cool visitor!

Gayle said...

What a fluffy litte feather ball. How cute. Don't know diddly about camera settings. I'm an auto gal with crappy photos. :)