Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus richardsonii)

[naoki]

A friendly Boreal Owl from our backyard.

One day in early February, my 6 year old son, Taiga, and I were playing outside in our backyard. I didn't notice this pretty fellow perched on a branch of a spruce, 7 feet above the ground, until we were about 8 feet from it. It was a friendly owl, and it didn't seem to care too much about us. I went inside to get a camera, but when I was approaching it, I was moving too fast with a monopod, and I spooked it. Taiga got to watch it from a really close distance for at least 5 minutes. He even observed it pooping. We kept looking for the owl for a couple days after that, but we eventually forgot about it. Then when we were playing in the front yard (I actually took these photos on Feb 27), Taiga suddenly said that I saw something flying and it could be an owl. So I followed Taiga to the direction of the flight. And there it was, we found it perched on the exact same branch (9 feet from our bedroom window). This time, I moved really slow, and didn't use a monopod. It wasn't too worried about us again. Well, it didn't seem to like the flash too much and gave us a puzzled look. After taking a hundered or so photos, we decided to let it have a peace.

It is wonderful to know that this magnificent creature is letting us share its territory. BTW, my son's name means "Boreal forest".


Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus richardsonii) on Flickr


Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus richardsonii) on Flickr

 

[Secundino]

Thanks for sharing this beautiful owl!

 

[Wendy]

Wow! Beautiful and outstanding photos! Thank you for sharing. And I love your son's name.

 

[Paphluvr]

Great photos and a great story to go with them.

 

[abax]

Very, very nice shots. We have two or three different kinds of owls around
our house, but they're not so patient.

 

[Ozpaph]

wow!

 

[cnycharles]

Cool!

A while ago a few of my orchid hunting friends and I were at a spot checking out flower development and we heard and saw an owl in the trees above us. It was making a calling noise, and when we later moved 20 yds away it flew after us, still calling to us. Friend Matt who works for cornell ornithology lab thought maybe it was a juvenile that had recently been kicked from the nest, thought it saw friendly faces and was asking for a handout!


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[naoki]

Very, very nice shots. We have two or three different kinds of owls around
our house, but they're not so patient.

I believe that Great Horned Owls, Barn Owls, and Eastern Screech Owls are the common ones around there (I used to do birding more actively when I was in Bloomington, IN). But you are right, it is rare to have a close encounter!

A while ago a few of my orchid hunting friends and I were at a spot checking out flower development and we heard and saw an owl in the trees above us. It was making a calling noise, and when we later moved 20 yds away it flew after us, still calling to us. Friend Matt who works for cornell ornithology lab thought maybe it was a juvenile that had recently been kicked from the nest, thought it saw friendly faces and was asking for a handout!

That is a cool experience! When you imitate their call (or play recordings of their call), they occasionally come closer to defend their territory, too.

 

[fibre]

What a beautiful owl!

 

[troy]

Owls are very mysterious!!! So cool looking!! Thanks!!

 

[JeanLux]

Great pictures!!!! Jean

 

[Tom-DE]

Nice photos!