We have a visitor

[Terri French]

We have had owls in our yard in years past. I guess I should pull up the old photos and study them out to see if this is the same one. It's windy today and the owl found a relatively calm place to sleep. When I went out with the camera it woke up. Is there a way to tell if it is a male or female by looking at the photo? I'm not a good bird photographer but I sure love watching the owls that we get in our yard.

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[Jeff1]

Nice shot! He/She is really giving you the eye! Jeff

 

[drr1531]

You're living right when the subjects come to your home. Even gave you a contrasting BG to work with. Nicely captured.

 

[gnagel]

Very nice...and very sharp.

Glenn

 

[Butlerkid]

Beautiful shot, Terri!

 

[Allan]

Looks good on my phone. I like the bg and how it doesn’t obstruct the owl.

 

[dossy]

We have nothing like these owls in our area. I love this image. Besides that strong expression, the feathers are like a fine tapestry!

 

[Palouse]

Nice one Terri. Your question got me curious, and while I'm far, far from an expert, none of my books or sites make any reference to differences between male and female.

 

[bsinc1962]

Nice image Terri. You've captured it beautifully.

 

[Palouse]

I did find this on Cornell's All About Birds site, "Even though the female Great Horned Owl is larger than her mate, the male has a larger voice box and a deeper voice. Pairs often call together, with audible differences in pitch."

 

[Terri French]

I did find this on Cornell's All About Birds site, "Even though the female Great Horned Owl is larger than her mate, the male has a larger voice box and a deeper voice. Pairs often call together, with audible differences in pitch."

If it wasn't so darn cold here, I would sit outside and listen..... Thanks for the information.

 

[Terri French]

Thank you all. I just started a new, second, part time job to help my daughter with a big project, and my time here will be much more limited. I want to reply to everyone, but need to get back to work. Here are a couple of photos of the owl we had living here for several weeks in 2016. I wonder if it is the same one. About a year ago, in the winter, an owl killed a pheasant in our back yard. There were feathers everywhere. Last fall, we had part of a rabbit that was left in our yard. In 2016 it was hanging out in a tree near our deck every day. We had so much fun watching it in the evening as it prepared to take off for it's hunt. Being the crappy bird photographer that I am, I never got a decent shot of it taking off. It was always so dark by then.

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[Walter]

Oh my Terri. Beautiful!

 

[Bohdan]

Beautiful images Terri. We too had a nesting pair of GHO in our yard two spring/summers ago. Such magnificent creatures. We hear one nearby hooting back and forth this year but so far have not been able to get a visual sighting. Enjoy your visitors. They would certainly be welcome in our neighbourhood

 

[Terri French]

Beautiful images Terri. We too had a nesting pair of GHO in our yard two spring/summers ago. Such magnificent creatures. We hear one nearby hooting back and forth this year but so far have not been able to get a visual sighting. Enjoy your visitors. They would certainly be welcome in our neighbourhood

How lucky to have a nesting pair!!

 

[Bohdan]

How lucky to have a nesting pair!!

And two little ones born as a bonus

 

[Mitchell]

Great catch!! These are really nice photos of a beautiful bird.

 

[Luis R. Lebron]

Beautiful pictures. I have heard owls every once in a while but have not been able to get a good picture.

 

[Darrell C]

Now how cool is that, well done.................