Feathered Friday - Finally A Cooperative Owl

After all these years I have finally found a cooperative wild owl in the forest for this #featheredfriday by @melinda010100
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I heard the robins, jays and squirrels going crazy with their bird of prey warning noises.
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Then I looked up in the trees for a while and found this barred owl looking at me.
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It didn't seem to scared of me but it was annoyed at the robin that was divebombing him.
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It stayed there pretty calm allowing me to walk around all sides and get lots of shots.
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It even had good lighting so I could get clear shots. My zoom lens does terrible in lots of shade.
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I think it found this perch nice and wanted to get some sleep before the long night of hunting ahead. I found him at the Dubuque Iowa Arboretum on a trail far away from the main paths.
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I can thank this squirrel and its squawww noise for clueing me in on a bird of prey in the area.
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Further down the path I heard a different noise.
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A male turkey in full display. He was very colorful and seemed to like the paths that the humans carved out in the forest.



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36 comments
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A fun walk through the arboretum! Great owl photos. I haven't heard a barred owl in a while... A guy up the road cut down a bunch of big old oak trees and I haven't heard one since

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I've only heard one once on my balcony at 2am. Other than that I usually hear the great horned owls at dusk.

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They were a regular sound of the night here for years. I miss them.

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Maybe they all flew off to Dubuque. I barely catch glimpses of them around here in the forest preserves, they are really shy and won't let you approach too closely.

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I've only seen one in the wild one time. Did you visit the Mississippi River Museum when you were in Dubuque? It's one of my favorites.

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Oh yeah by chance we had to stop and eat lunch (at the vault) and noticed it right nearby. I thought about petting the sting rays but I've done that enough at the shed aquarium.
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Nature is so beautiful :)

Keep it up!

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Always something new to be amazed by when going out into nature with a zoom lens.

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True, even with no lens, it's always amazing to go into nature and enjoy the "small" things.

Namaste!

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Or better yet go into nature with a macro lens to enjoy the extra small things.

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Oh! The owl is so cute! Please send him to my garden!! Fast! 😂😂

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Poor guy was getting dive bombed by jays, robins and sqwaaad at by squirrels. It might be more peaceful in your garden the river monitors are much more docile.

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I lol a lot at the title! good one, hehe. I totally understand your pain about lack of cooperativeness :=)

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You see one off in the distance, then you approach very slowly and cautiously. Then you even focus the camera and right as you are about to click the shot they fly away.

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oh, and a !PIZZA delivery for you (with mushrooms, ofc)

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The mushrooms are finally coming out around here. I need to find some summer chanterelles for the pizza.

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Love your beautiful owl captures !owl_barbara_orenya.gif

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I have had so many sighting of owls but most of the time they fly away before I can focus the picture. This one was kind enough to pose for me.

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The little owl is just lovely!☺️

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He was very tame, I think all the other birds were distracting it from flying away from its spot.

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Very cool about the owl. Turkey hunting season just ended here and we are starting o see them in the pasture again.

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I saw quite a few out in the farm fields on the drive home.

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Oh they are so lovely! Very nice pictures!

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Its a rare occasion for the owl to sit long enough for pictures.

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Wow! What a beautiful turkey! As a child, I was bitten by one of them. I still remember it.

The squirrel is very interesting. She looks fat to me.

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Yeah I bet you intruded on his staked out territory during breeding season. They will mercilessly attack sometimes. The fox squirrels are quite fat around here, plenty of acorns to eat.

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I was little, I was about 5 or 6 years old. I was visiting my grandmother and had never seen turkeys before. I remember that I was in someone else's garden and I saw a beautiful big bird. I didn't know he was biting. And he attacked me.

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Same thing happened to me but with geese instead. They thought I had food and attacked.

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