Shadows

I did start typing a description early this morning, but must have got distracted by something, and I lost the description. I was in such a hurry, as I overslept by 45 minutes and I was going to meet a few friend for a day trip S and SE of Calgary. What a great day we had, in beautiful weather, and along roads that I had never been along before. Two Great Horned Owls. Some new-to-me old barns, too!

This Great Horned Owl photo was taken yesterday, 11 November 2017. After watching the Remembrance Day ceremony held at the Field of Crosses on TV, I thought i would drive over to Fish Creek Park and see if there was any sign of the tiny Northern Pygmy-owl that some of us saw two days ago. There had been notices on the News and online, saying that the Black Bear that had been hanging around the park, had been caught and removed to an area west of the city, near Bragg Creek. They said that the yellow tape had been removed and that the parking lot was now open.

Well, when I reached the parking lot, the yellow tape was still there and the gate was still closed. About three vehicles had pulled off to the side of the road and the occupants gone. I wasn't sure what to do - whether to park there or go home, as there was no way I could do a long walk from one of the other locations in the park. A friend suddenly appeared by my window and said he was parked there and that he had already seen a Great Horned Owl. That was not the species I had intended searching for, but it always feels so good to see a Great Horned Owl. While we were talking by our cars, a Parks person came by in his truck and we had a good chat. A very pleasant man, who explained why they had left the area closed after all - to make sure that the Bear had not attracted any other predators to the area. Sounds like it did, as I was reading that a Cougar has been seen! The man told us that we could stay where we had parked, seeing as the News had been inaccurate, and that he wouldn't be ticketing any vehicles that day.

After he had continued on his way, my friend offered to go back and show me where he had seen this Great Horned Owl. Luckily, it was still perched there, catching a bit of sleep, but then becoming more and more alert. Unfortunately, it was covered in shadows from the branches. After a while, it flew off through the trees, possibly in search of the Ring-necked Pheasant that we heard. Many thanks for taking me, Lloyd! Made my day.