Owl season...
...it seems to be owl season, as I got two owls in different locations.
I have done a previous post of the owl in the first 5 shots below, but these are all new shots of it as we decided to go and have a look if they are going to accept the owl box that the owner of the premises built for them. And today I got lucky as we arrived to see the owl sitting on the platform of the box.
It is a Spotted Eagle Owl (Bubo Africanus), and the reason why I am so delighted is that we now have a pair of owls close to our home, in fact they are just down the road from us, and our hopes are that they will start breeding in that smart box. I can already see their babies in my imagination, and who knows if it will take place.
I told you that she was sitting on the verandah of the box.
Scratching an itchy ear.
And folding the foot back under its wings.
She was certainly enjoying the warm sun.
Now for the other owl.
Kindly inspect the trees and tell me if you can see the owl.
No? Well, there it was and it is the same specie as the owl in the pictures above, just at a different location about 5 kilometers away.
This one was a bit smaller than the one in the top picture.
After a lengthy period I got the owl to look down at me.
And yeah, there is that icy, yellow-eyed stare, so as if to say, don't you dare to come closer. Lol.
Our winter solstice took place yesterday the 21st day of June and the 21st was two days after my 9-year Hive birthday which was on Friday the 19th of June. Amazing, as all things just seem to fall in place lately. The winter solstice is here in our southern hemisphere the shortest day, and in the northern hemisphere on the same day is their longest day. Strange but true.
There is another owl specie that looks similar to the Spotted Eagle Owl. It is called the Cape Eagle Owl (Bubo capensis). They are bigger than the Spotted Eagle Owl and they also have different colours. Their feet are much larger, and they have orange (not yellow) eyes. They also have a different call, as its sharper than the Spotted Eagle Owls. We have 6 different species of owls here, and I can only hope to get the others on camera.
Such is life.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
Until next time, cheers!
Looks like it sitting on a branch on the left side of the first tree . !PIMP
Yeah, you have a good eye :)
!PIZZA
!BEER
Congratulations @papilloncharity! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPOwls are wonderful creatures, I love them. I've seen a few myself in my lifetime. Thank you for sharing these photos with us. In one of the photos, the owl was very well camouflaged. The oldest fossils that can be confidently attributed to an owl date back to about 60–61 million years ago, shortly after the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs. Did you know that owls have been around for at least 60 million years?
I agree with you, as we also love to see the owls. You seem to know much about birds, and I have it that the first owls arrived in Africa in the Paleogene era, 25 million years ago. No doubt about their origin being 60-61 million years.
!PIZZA
!BEER
keep chasing those rare sightings and sharing your adventures with us
that Owl is thick, shunky boy, idk if its something we are printed in our brains from school but why do Owls look smart instead of menacing , that last photo with the horns a d big yellow eyes looks sick 🤘thx 4 sharing ✌️
Owls are not scary, or evil, and many myths abound about them. They are just big predator birds, much the same as the eagles and falcons. The only difference is that the owls are nocturnal, meaning that they sleep in the day and hunt for prey at night.
Glad that you like their eyes.
!PIZZA
!BEER