Friday, October 31, 2008

Who's there?



Camera Critters

A couple of years ago my husband and I were looking in a pine tree, after dark, for a geocache. Instead of the cache we ran nose-to-nose, er um nose-to-beak, with a Northern Saw-whet Owl. Of course, at the time we hadn’t a clue what kind of owl it was. It was the tiniest, cutest, little owl I had ever seen. It sat on the branch in the glow from our flashlight as we quietly ooed and awed. I only had a cell phone camera with me and I snapped one crappy photo of him.

My husband emailed the photo to someone in the conservation department and the owl was identified for us. The Saw-whet we saw was tiny; it could have easily fit in my palm. On average they’re only about 7-8.5 inches long and weigh 2.5-3.5 ounces

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I saw this owl at a zoo, and I thought the tag said Saw-Whet and the owl was small, but comparing these photos to the bird book it just doesn't look right.  But I can’t see any owl without thinking of that night I was kissing distance to that miniature owl.

And because I'm dying sick *cough* and my time is up for *ugh - a-choo* Letter O in Martha's A-Z Photo Challenge, this post is pulling double duty.  Sorry. *cough cough*  See, even this Barred Owl is ill.

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A-choo!

50 comments:

  1. Whooo whooo hopes you feel better soooon! Me, that's whooooo! :-) Sorry, giggle, just couldn't --- giggle --- resist --- giggle ..... mmmm.

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  2. How very cool that you got so close and the owl didn't get spooked. Are they normally so nonchalant?

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  3. Aww, I'm so sorry to hear. I hope you feel better soon. The owl in the last shot does look a bit under the weather.

    I think I may have seen the owl you are speaking of. I recently went to a natural history museum with an extensive owl display, and I spotted one that could fit into my pocket!

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  4. Really great shots. Love the close up of the owl.

    Hope everyone is having a Happy Halloween and Blessed Samhain!

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  5. That is so special, seeing a saw whet owl up close and personal like that!

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  6. Now there's some really cool lookin' owls!!! And yeah.....you bet I would have been spooked bein' that close to a freakin' owl!!! Hope you feel better Lisa!

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  7. Those owl shots are wonderful, Lisa. Thanks for introducing us to this creature. Loved the story, too! I'm glad your cell phone was on hand that day to begin this study of this guy.

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  8. Nice set of Owl shots, like the way you focused just on the face in almost all images

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  9. I'm so sorry your sick, Lisa! I hope your feeling better soon.

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  10. LOL! (((WOMAN))) Do you have a sign on you that reads and emits vibes........I am taking pictures of you, wildlife.....sit still .......right now? Because really, its not fair, they all seem to fly away when my camera is available! Even the dogs who I managed to capture the other day, when requested by a blogbud for video, sat down mute as soon as I turned it on? Not fair!!!!!

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  11. Oh PS......I hope you feel better soon, honey and lemon my dear! The best remedy all round! Hugs and smoochies xxxx love you!

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  12. Cool owl shots! Sorry you aren't feeling well - get better soon!!

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  13. That is so cool!!! I have never seen an owl up close in the wild. What an awesome find!! The only thing we've ever found caching at night in a tree was a nest of Huge cockroaches. Hundreds of them and all I could think was Thank God I didn't put my hand in before I flashed the light in there LOL I still get the willies looking into tree knots LOL

    Hope you're feeling better soon!

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  14. Awww! Gorgeous. I love owls...they look like they know all the answers to all the big questions of life. Now, if we could just learn enough "owl-ese" so that we could ask!!

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  15. How wonderful to get so close for such great shots.

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  16. Great story. Great pictures. Hope you feel better.

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  17. Ah. Lucky you. That must have been some experience. These are wonderful pics. I hope you feel better soon. Lisa

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  18. Hope you feel better soom! It must be going around the world for I just stopped coughing and feeling sick.

    Wow what an experience to get so close to that owl. What great pictures you took, really clear. WOW

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  19. If you think that's a crappy photo - I wanna see your amazing photos! Because, I think all the photos in this post are absolutely AWESOME! What an exciting experience that must have been!

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  20. Me neither, I've never seen one in the wild, only at the zoo!
    Those shots are gorgeous, I know I say that every time!

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  21. Oh no, what if it has bird flu?

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  22. My mother loved owls...they are neat creatures.

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  23. I love owls and your photos are gorgeous! Hope you feel better soon!

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  24. Lisa: What a wonderful capture of the wild owl, they are elusive.

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  25. Hi!
    Your photos are awesome. Have never saw an owl up close and personal! Take Care!!

    Sherrie

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  26. These are great pictures of the owl and not a crappy at all. Hope you will feel better soon.

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  27. Well, hooooooo would have thought it? !!!

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  28. That was funny, but not that your sick, hope you get well soon. Wonderful photos by the way

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  29. wow that's close sandy

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  30. They look awfully good to me! Hope you get better soon! :)

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  31. Feel better soon, my friend. I love these, especially the last one.

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  32. Those are wonderful and that's and understatement!!

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  33. Oh please feel better soon!

    It woudl have been hard to not pick up that tiny owl and pet it!

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  34. Great pictures!! Hope you feel better soon.

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  35. I finally participated! Woot! Or should I say *Hoot* ;0)

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  36. oh how i would love to find an owl in the wild and be quick enough to get his pic!! sometimes i'm even happy to get blurry pix if that's all i could manage. lol these are great.

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  37. Owls freak me out, but you made him look pretty!

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  38. Hi Lisa, great story and super owl shots. Those photos look like an Elf Owl or Northern Pygmy Owl to me as the Northern Saw-whet Owl has a black beak. Not that it matters, they are all gorgeous birds and those are beautiful shots!

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  39. Owls are just beautiful! We have a male and female set of very large owls here at the house. I've yet to identify the species but they are magnificent. I love to listen to them talk to one another and here the swoosh when they land on the house.

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  40. Feel better soon! I never will forget the time that I happened to look up at a saguaro at the same time a tiny little elf owl stuck its beak out and blinked at me. Thanks for bringing back that special memory!

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  41. I want to touch him - he looks so soft.

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  42. I visited someone else this week who had posted a photo of owls and I told them what I'm telling you...I JUST LOVE OWLS! Is the top one the crappy photo taken with a cell phone? Doesn't really look all that crappy to me...in fact it looks pretty darned good...makes me want to hold that sweet little ball of feathers and stroke it...but I know it'd try to kill me, so guess I'll just admire it from afar! Congratulations on Post of the Day mention! I'm over here from David's, of course!
    Sandi

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  43. Owls are neat aren't they? You are so lucky to get to see them out and about. We don't have that many down here in S.TX, at least not the part I live in. Plenty of hawks & vultures though.

    Hope you get better soon.

    Congratulations on making David's Post of the Day list. Great photos.

    Peace!
    Lee

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  44. These photos are marvelous and how ‘kewl’ that you were able to have it identified. I hope you (and the Barred Owl) are both feeling better by now.
    Hugs and blessings,

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