Perched Barn Owls With A Snowy Background

Most of the images of Barn Owls I post show them in flight but I also enjoy the different perspective one can get while they’re perched. Each of these shots was taken ten months ago when the January snows were deep and persistent in the background of nearly all my images.

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Western Kingbirds

Yesterday was a slow day on the island, though we did see our first Western Kingbird of the year (I should say that Mia saw it as I missed it – one of the disadvantages of being the driver…).  The sighting got me to thinking about these aggressive tyrant flycatchers and reminded me of how much I’ve missed them these last few months so I decided to devote a post to them. They’re called “kingbirds” because of their belligerent behavior and fearless nature.  Kingbirds are very aggressive toward other birds and it’s not unusual to see them attacking almost any species – including hawks and American Kestrels.  They’re extremely agile in flight and can get away with such seemingly foolish behaviors.    1/800, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc In this shot you can see most if the important field marks – pale gray head and breast, darker mask through the eyes, underparts yellow, tail black with white edges and black bill.  The sexes are similar.  Most folks are unaware that the species has a small orange-red patch on the top of the head but it is nearly always hidden except while performing certain behaviors.      1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc These birds are almost unknown to walk anywhere – virtually all locomotion is by flight.  Typically they hunt from elevated perches so they flit from perch to perch looking for insects mostly.  When I’m lucky I find them on natural perches like this dried thistle…      1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4,…

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