Our New Neighbor
I've talked about this dude before on my blog, but on Friday he really gave us a show. He perched himself above the bird feeders in our back yard and waited for (I imagine) an unsuspecting squirrel to come along. He eventually flew away with an amazingly huge wingspan... but here he is, our new neighbor, "Oscar" the Barred Owl.
I originally thought he was a Great Horned Owl, but this picture I snapped out our living room window makes it very obvious that Oscar does not have tufts or "horns" on top of his head. His head is nice and round and he has the most incredible eyes. Beth looked it up in our handy Birds of Minnesota handbook written by my friend Stan Tekiela, and he is undoubtedly a Barred Owl.
The only other choice of owl in Minnesota (after Great Horned and Barred) is the Screech Owl, but that species of owl stands only 9 inches tall. Oscar was an easy two feet from head to toe. The only word I can think of to describe him is "majestic."
He sat perched on this pine tree for about 45 minutes. He would look at the house, then turn his head and look at the ground. Then he'd look at the house again and blink those enormous eyes. Something you don't see everyday...
I originally thought he was a Great Horned Owl, but this picture I snapped out our living room window makes it very obvious that Oscar does not have tufts or "horns" on top of his head. His head is nice and round and he has the most incredible eyes. Beth looked it up in our handy Birds of Minnesota handbook written by my friend Stan Tekiela, and he is undoubtedly a Barred Owl.
The only other choice of owl in Minnesota (after Great Horned and Barred) is the Screech Owl, but that species of owl stands only 9 inches tall. Oscar was an easy two feet from head to toe. The only word I can think of to describe him is "majestic."
He sat perched on this pine tree for about 45 minutes. He would look at the house, then turn his head and look at the ground. Then he'd look at the house again and blink those enormous eyes. Something you don't see everyday...
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| "Oscar" stares me down as I snap his picture. He's perched on a pine tree in our backyard, less than 75 feet from the house. |
