Barred Owl

A friend, Sheldon Gottlieb, sent me this. He noticed him land there through his kitchen window and then grabbed his camera and 400mm lens.  Of note he is a great photographer but usually shoots people and places. If that branch wasn't there this would be in a magazine!

New Year's in WV

We had a great time out there. The fresh snow was great although the roads during the storm inside and outside of RR were treacherous.

Yes, I see you.

A new batch of Amarone from the White Tail estate. Yum!

Latest Birding List from HH. Lots of great sightings despite the winter!

These sightings are from the RR Park and then up Sideling Mtn Trail.

River Ridge (WV) - Constant Run Rd., Morgan, US-WV
Jan 6, 2014 10:00 AM - 10:20 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
12 species (+1 other taxa)

Common Merganser  2
Bald Eagle  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1
Downy Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker  2
American Crow  3
Common Raven  1
Carolina/Black-capped Chickadee  3
Tufted Titmouse  5
White-breasted Nuthatch  4
Winter Wren  1
American Goldfinch  1

Paw Paw at dawn 9.30.2013

Another cell phone shot but at least this one came out a lot better than the barred owl shot. This was leaving early to head back to Louisville en route from the Ridge to Paw Paw and an on the road back home. As always you can click on photos to enlarge them.

The "Natural History" Shot

Actual untouched photo-Can you see a barred owl on the branch???

Cropped photo that is lousy but shows the owl!

When I went with a pro photographer in a workshop in Yellowstone he said there are great shots and your natural history shots. There I took my first photo of a grizzly and it's a brown blur that is nearly unidentifiable but still important because it was my first shot of a grizzly bear. Today I got my first shot of a barred owl after hearing their calls over the years I had not ever seen one in the wild or taken a photo of one (or any owl). I only had my cell phone and it was dark under the tree canopy but it's my first barred owl successful shot!
Here is the original. See if you can find him. Unfortunately the cell phone camera does no justice as he was really only about 20 yards from me but looks like he is on another continent in the photo.

Harvest Moon (from driveway) 9/18/13

Wood stork (endangered)