You will quite likely never again see shots of this kind in your life again.
I really did not expect the quality of the views in here, and you will also look anxiously up in the sky if you know that your life is on the line.
A terrible story about what happened here, as these are not the two owls that I have shown you recently, instead they are two new youngsters that moved into the tree where the previous two were. No, the previous two did not leave their spot willingly, as the owner of the property informed us that his wife was in a terrible state when she heard what happened to the previous two owls.
A friend of hers down the road sent a message to her telling her that the Harrier Hawk had just lifted the one owl off on the road, as the owl was busy hunting a mouse. If that was bad, the harrier hawk also got the other one, and for two weeks the tree was vacant. Then by grace these two youngsters, both males, moved into the tree. Just yesterday, some crows chased a harrier hawk out of this area which the crows consider as their territory.
Somehow, the youngsters know what happened to the other owls, and it might even be their youngsters. In any case, this one flew out of the tree to sit on the roof of the house below the tree.
A real picture of nervousness.
But then the owl took on a very challenging look, and I think he was trying to scare me.
When he realised that I was not a threat, he relaxed.
What do you know, he even gave me a smile.
Then the owl flew back into the tree, and I really think that he thought I was funny because he had a wide open mouth smile :)
He seemed very impressed with himself when he sat on the roof.
This is the last picture of this owl, and now I will show you where the other owl sat.
Up there, higher in the tree, and the funny thing is that they sit in the exact same spots where the other owls sat.
But this one wasn't as friendly as the other one.
So, I said my goodbyes, and let them know that I will be keeping an eye on them.
So, a very sad story was turned around when these two took up residence in the tree. At dusk, the owls are most vulnerable, as there are no crows around and they hunt for rodents down in the road below the tree. Another problem is that the first previous owl was about half a block down the road when the harrier hawk got him. Now, the harrier hawk is a very sly bugger, and he will sit hidden close by for a whole day, at times, waiting to strike the prey.
We were so glad to hear that the new owls had moved in, and the owner of the property said that his wife was over the moon with joy with the new ones around. Many people walk their dogs in that road past the owls, and they all know that the owls are there, and then there are also road runners that pass the tree to look for the owls, so a local alert about the harrier hawk's presence was sent out, and everyone is now keeping an eye.
Such is life.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. No AI and no Photoshop. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
Until next time, shalom!