lazygood4nothinbum
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2006
- Messages
- 3,895
this guy made a home in the garden while i did my little roadtrip last week. s/he's a low or ground dwelling owl. we startled each other when i came home and went out back to refresh the birdbath. apparently the owl had been asleep on the ground and then flew to perch on the turned-over wheelbarrow.
again today he flew out of nowhere, apparently he was sleeping on a low frond of a hedge of areca palms. a stealthy little thing, he doesn't move on his perch and his flight is absolutely silent. it is amazing to see him maneuver that wingspread of about a foot to 18 inches on either side of that brown body of his as he escapes my reach through the rather thick growth of my garden here. but he rarely flies more than twenty feet out of the way, pretty sure of himself, i imagine.
i've looked him up in florida bird books but am unsure of the identification. at first i thought he was the endangered burrowing owl as he likes to hang out on the ground but his tail is too big. he's very dark in color, i think eliminating the likes of screech, short-eared, etc. maybe he is a great horned owl? dunno.
i tried to get a better pic but he seems to have about a 20-ft flight or fight range. here's the best pics i got so far:
i've also got some kind of hawk or falcon who comes around between summer and winter, stays for a week or two, eats a morning dove or two, scares most of the rest of the birds but the jays away and then moves on until again the following year. don't know what he is but he's big and fast fast fast. you turn your head and he's gone. my cardinals and finches have already returned. lots of variety this year in the garden (some older shots but all representative of this years crop of migrants:
again today he flew out of nowhere, apparently he was sleeping on a low frond of a hedge of areca palms. a stealthy little thing, he doesn't move on his perch and his flight is absolutely silent. it is amazing to see him maneuver that wingspread of about a foot to 18 inches on either side of that brown body of his as he escapes my reach through the rather thick growth of my garden here. but he rarely flies more than twenty feet out of the way, pretty sure of himself, i imagine.
i've looked him up in florida bird books but am unsure of the identification. at first i thought he was the endangered burrowing owl as he likes to hang out on the ground but his tail is too big. he's very dark in color, i think eliminating the likes of screech, short-eared, etc. maybe he is a great horned owl? dunno.
i tried to get a better pic but he seems to have about a 20-ft flight or fight range. here's the best pics i got so far:
i've also got some kind of hawk or falcon who comes around between summer and winter, stays for a week or two, eats a morning dove or two, scares most of the rest of the birds but the jays away and then moves on until again the following year. don't know what he is but he's big and fast fast fast. you turn your head and he's gone. my cardinals and finches have already returned. lots of variety this year in the garden (some older shots but all representative of this years crop of migrants: