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Otus asio
A rufous Eastern Screech-Owl shown by Ms. Gabby Hrycyshyn, volunteer bird handler from The Raptor Conservancy of Virginia (RCV). According to Mr. Kent Knowles, president of the RCV, "The Eastern Screech Owl is a female. We can tell that by weight, not plumage. The males in that species weigh about one third less than the females." Photo 5 is captioned, "Yikes, Gabby -- PLEASE don't let that BIG bird eat me!" The owl was one of several birds featured in a raptor demonstration at the Belle Haven picnic area, Fairfax County, Virginia USA. The event was hosted by Friends of Dyke Marsh, National Park Service, and The Raptor Conservancy of Virginia. Related Resource: Friends of Dyke Marsh http://www.fodm.org/
The Raptor Conservancy of Virginia. This "teaching bird" has several disabilities that make it unsuitable for release to the wild: the Screech-Owl was hit by a car, resulting in permanent structural damage to both eyes. Related Resource: http://www.raptorsva.org
Copyright © 2012 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved. www.wsanford.com
Spotted on Apr 21, 2012
Submitted on May 1, 2012
26 Comments (1–25)
amazing creature
Congratulations my friend! Great series and amazing photos!
Congratulations for your SOTD. Beautiful photos and bird.
What a beautiful eyes !!
Beautiful bird!
congo Geodialist........
Congratulations!
My sincere thanks for the honor, Yasser, and thanks to everyone for the favorites and nice comments! I would like to thank Friends of Dyke Marsh, National Park Service, and The Raptor Conservancy of Virginia (RCV) for providing the extraordinary opportunity to see and photograph (relatively close-up) several magnificent raptors. And special thanks to Ms. Gabby Hrycyshyn, volunteer bird handler with RCV, for kindly and patiently showing the beautiful Eastern Screech-Owl in a way that made the subject much easier to photograph.
Fantásticas series :::
You got some terrific shots Walter, congrats!
wow nice spotting .........Congratulations :-)
Gorgeous spotting! She has such pretty eyes!
Awwwww! So cute, and those eyes are adorable! REALLY good spotting.
It has such beautiful eyes!
wow,, Congratulations!
Congratulations!
Congratulations , Geo Dialist!
Walter, this beautiful owl and her accompanying story has earned you your first Spotting of the Day! This is a well deserved honor and we thank you for all the great contributions.
"Despite its name, the nocturnal Eastern Screech-Owl doesn't screech at all!"
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the owl has beautiful eyes and fun
el buho tiene ojos hermosos y divertidos
Amazing eyes
Good to know...good rehabbers and educators are hard to find!! They have a great website too!
I was just joking. I must say all of the raptors from the RCV were very well-mannered. As I recall, none of them made a sound during the demo. I think the Red-tailed Hawk was panting in order to cool itself -- it was a warm spring day and the hawk seemed to be overheating because of its darker coloration. Mr. Knowles moved under the shade of the canopy soon after the photo was taken.
Nice photos...and yes, the screech is probably thinking he might be lunch! They should really separate the birds...however, we also have a couple at our facility that don't mind other species...but not very many! (he doesn't look all that worried!) Cute!
Incredible captions!!
lovely.