Show us your owls...

[Tom Kellie]

Otus senegalensis

Photographed at 3:40 pm on 9 February, 2014 at Lake Baringo, Kenya, using an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II super-telephoto lens.

ISO 800, 1/800 sec., f/5.6, 400mm focal length, handheld Manual exposure.

*****************************************************************************************************

Until the 3rd safari, I'd never observed an owl in the wild in 60 years, although I'd heard their distinctive calls on occasion. At Lake Nakuru I saw my first-ever owl.

Much later on the same day, this Otus senegalensis, African Scops-Owl, was pointed out by the boat guide. It was perched in a tree growing out from the water.

Two owls in one day...and not a one since!

Edited June 2, 2015 by Tom Kellie

[offshorebirder]

I have put multiple nest boxes up for Eastern Screech-Owls (Megascops asio) on my parents' property on the western edge of Charleston, South Carolina. Pairs of Screech-Owls have used one of the available next boxes each spring for the past 12 years or so. They have successfully fledged over 40 young.

 

This spring they declined to use their own nest boxes, and appropriated one of the Great-crested Flycatcher nest boxes. I had no idea Eastern Screech-Owls could fit in the smaller entrance hole in a GC Flycatcher box! But they raised 3 chicks successfully this year - the little fuzzballs are currently bouncing around the denser thickets under the watchful eye of their parents. The mother is a "red phase" E. Screech-Owl and their father is a "gray phase".

 

Here is a father from a few years ago:

 

Here is the mother napping in the entrance hole to the Great-crested Flycatcher box:

Here is one of the fledglings from this year's batch (May 25, 2015):

 

Here is a nestling peeking out of the entrance hole to a Screech-Owl nest box a couple of years ago:

 

[mvecht]

I like the little Owls.

Pictures from Botswana 2006/2007.

 

[offshorebirder]

By the way, in the second photo of my above post: if you look closely at the bottom corners of the Screech-owl nest box, you will see feathers of former prey items sticking through the cracks between the door and the box walls.

[elefromoz]

All stunning. @@Tom Kellie love those talons (do Owls have Talons or Claws?) "two owls in one day…and not one since" think about visiting India...

 

@@offshorebirder, first off I thought that was a plaque of an Owls head on the front of the box, so funny seeing those big heads in such a small hole.Those little ones are just too cute.

 

@@mvecht, love the variations in eye colour

 

I love Owls and we were lucky to see many different ones, pretty much on a daily basis in the Parks, on our recent India trip.

 

Thank-you

[inyathi]

 

Otus senegalensis.JPG

Otus senegalensis

Photographed at 3:40 pm on 9 February, 2014 at Lake Baringo, Kenya, using an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II super-telephoto lens.

ISO 800, 1/800 sec., f/5.6, 400mm focal length, handheld Manual exposure.

*****************************************************************************************************

Until the 3rd safari, I'd never observed an owl in the wild in 60 years, although I'd heard their distinctive calls on occasion. At Lake Nakuru I saw my first-ever owl.

Much later on the same day, this Otus senegalensis, African Scops-Owl, was pointed out by the boat guide. It was perched in a tree growing out from the water.

Two owls in one day...and not a one since!

 

 

@@Tom Kellie Nice photo but I'm afraid I have to point out having once posted a mislabled photo of an owl myself that the bird is definitely a giant or Verreaux's eagle owl Bubo lacteus and not a scops owl the third photo in @@mvecht 's post however is an African scops owl Otus senegalensis, aside from anything else the size is the most obvious difference the scops is only 15-17cm compared to 58-66cms for the Verreaux's it's not known as the giant eagle owl for nothing.

 

The other owls in mvecht's post are 1 barred owlet Glaucidium capense, 2 & 4 pearl spotted owlet Glaucidium perlatum and 5 southern white-faced scops owl Ptilopsus granti.

[offshorebirder]

It is striking how similar Pearl-spotted Owlets are to the New World owls - Northern Pygmy-Owl and Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl.

[Tom Kellie]

@@Tom Kellie Nice photo but I'm afraid I have to point out having once posted a mislabled photo of an owl myself that the bird is definitely a giant or Verreaux's eagle owl Bubo lacteus and not a scops owl

 

~ @@inyathi

 

Thank you very much for making the correction.

I apologize for the error.

In an owl thread, it might be a twisted metaphor to say eagle-eyed, although that came to mind when I returned home and read your very kind correction.

With Appreciation,

Tom K.

[armchair bushman]

African Scops Owl

Lake Baringo (in the now flooded/abandoned grounds of the Lake Baringo Club)

Taken with my 6yr old Canon Powershot point-and-shoot the day before I dropped it on the tarmac and destroyed it.

[Tom Kellie]

Taken with my 6yr old Canon Powershot point-and-shoot the day before I dropped it on the tarmac and destroyed it.

 

~ @@armchair bushman

 

Lucky timing that you had the image before the accident!

I'm sorry to hear about the loss, as a camera becomes a part of one's routine.

Tom K.

[armchair bushman]

It has served me well. It can still take photos, but if I try to zoom, the lens jams and the whole thing shuts down.

[AfricIan]

Here's another Verreaux's Eagle Owl.

 

 

This was taken near Jongomero, Ruaha in November 2009, the park had just had the first real rains of the summer so all the frogs were out but I'm not sure how appetising this bullfrog was going to be. I took this using the Sigma 150-500 belonging to Greg, our guide for the day - I'd swapped use of the lens for the loan of my spare D80 battery!

 

This was a resident of the church grounds in Franschhoek, nr Cape Town in 2012

 

 

I'm not sure what species this one is so hopefully someone can enlighten me.

[inyathi]

@@AfricIan Spotted Eagle Owl Bubo africanus this species is a smaller, and generally greyer than the Cape Eagle Owl Bubo capensis and also has yellow eyes whereas the Cape has orange eyes. In any case the fact that it is in the grounds of a church rules out the Cape which is really a bird of the mountains and the wilderness and not a species that you would find in suburban areas unlike the spotted which is.

[kittykat23uk]

Long-eared owl by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Long eared owls are not often seen here in the UK. This one was roosting at a local nature reserve so was quickly picked up on by keen-eyed birders. Its probably one of the most photographed owls in Norfolk!

[AfricIan]

Many thanks @@inyathi, we were on a winelands tour & our driver wasn't too hot on owl identification but it does show you should always have your camera ready. I though I did quite well with the shot given that we'd already visited two vineyards!!

[offshorebirder]

Here is a video clip of one of this year's Eastern Screech-Owl fledglings at "Rancho Dias". It is being scolded by an off-camera Carolina Chickadee - as a result the owl hunkers down and gaps its beak in the universal threat posture.

 

Conditions were challenging - shooting through a window in the branches, backlit subject in deep shade, etc. Video shot with a Canon 7D + 300mm lens.

 

* After you hit play, be sure to select the highest quality setting - 1080p.

 

Edited July 16, 2015 by offshorebirder

[offshorebirder]

Here are the 3 fledglings all lined up on the same branch. You can see them weaving slightly like drunkards - young owls do that because their eyes are not fully developed and bobbing back and forth helps them resolve objects.

 

The bird call at the start of the video is a Carolina Wren. It is their contact call.

 

* Again - be sure to select the highest resolution - I think the video starts on the default 360p

 

 

Edited July 16, 2015 by offshorebirder

[Terry]

The last couple of winters we have enjoyed Snowy Owl invasions from the Arctic due to harsh winters and lack of food in their homeland. This Snowy Owl with the brown tips on his feathers is a juvenile and will turn lighter in time. He was photographed in the Horicon National Wildlife Refuge on a cold January day.

 

[Treepol]

Pearl spotted owl, Mashatu July 2011

 

 

Giant Eagle Owl, Kgalagadi July 2011

 

 

African Barred Owl, Maun August 2011

 

 

Scops Owl, Satara August 2012

 

 

Spotted Eagle Owl, Kirstenbosch, August 2012

 

 

 

Burrowing Owl, Pantanal 2013

 

 

Sub-tropical pygmy owl, Northern Peru, August 2013

 

 

 

Spotted Eagle owls, Kgalagadi, August 2014

 

 

 

Giant Eagle Owl and chick, Moremi, September 2014

 

 

 

[KI-NRT]

Scops Owl, Kanha National Park, Jan. 2017

 

[Atdahl]

I searched and couldn't find an existing owl thread.  So, I thought I would start one.  Let's share our owl pictures from around the world and see how many species we can get.  Can we get to 100?  Maybe we can start with 1 species per poster to start but feel free to do additional posts to up the species count after others have posted.   Looks like I have photos of 19 species myself if my records are correct so I can play for a while if it comes to that.

 

I will start with Long-eared Owls which are exclusive to North America.   These are actually the first Long-eared Owls we have ever seen despite looking for them many times in the past.   They don't usually nest in our area but we actually have found two separate nests this spring.  Both have 4 owlets but only a couple are visible in this photo.

 

Alan  

 

 

[KiwiGran]

Scops Owl Buffelshoek tented camp, Manyeleti Game Reserve. 2018

As we went out to the vehicle to start our game drive we spotted this little fellow roosting in the shed the vehicle was parked in. A great start to the day.

 

[Atdahl]

Nice one @KiwiGran

[Kitsafari]

Ooooohhh very nice. I love Owls. 

 

Here's from Singapore: Spotted Wood Owl, a fairly large bird distributed in Southeast Asia (excluding Borneo). A resident pair in a local park has been very successful in breeding chicks. 

 

a young juvenile 2019

 

an adult with two almost grown=up chicks 2022

 

[Atdahl]

Nice shots @Kitsafari

 

Let's keep this going with a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl from the Pantanal in Brazil: