Why the Blue jays are all in a fuss this morning.

[tamrock]

I'm sitting here drinking my coffee this morning and I hear the neighborhood Blue Jays all in a fuss outside. I was sure I knew why. Indeed I was right and I see the bunny killers are back. These owls show up every season at this time and stick around till winter is well on it's way. They'll thin out the Cottontails & Prairie Dogs around the area and then they move on elsewhere. To me their arrival means a time of change and summer here in Colorado has just when over the hump. We'll start moving towards the Indian summer soon. Still we'll see a few more hot days around here.

 

[ronwoodcraft]

Awesome Shots!!!...I used to see owls, but for some reason I have never had a chance to get a pic of one since I started carrying a camera.

 

[DigIron2]

Pretty neat!The second pic almost looks like he is smiling for the camera.good shots.The biggest predator's around here seem to be the hawks.Had a snowball white kitten that disappeared awhile back.I think that's what happened got the poor little guy!He did stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[tamrock]

Pretty neat!The second pic almost looks like he is smiling for the camera.good shots.The biggest predator's around here seem to be the hawks.Had a snowball white kitten that disappeared awhile back.I think that's what happened got the poor little guy!He did stick out like a sore thumb.

That's sad. Cats around here go missing allot. I see posted missing cat signs every year, but they most likely became victims of the coyote around here. I did see one night an owl swoop in on my little Morkie dog, but my larger dog, who no longer living due to age, saw it coming in and stopped the owl from grabbing her. It was dark and I didn't know what he was charging at until I saw that owls wings open up to stop it's low level dive on my little dog. That owl was with in 10 feet of my little dog and she's white also. I made a chirruping sound to get that owl to look at me. Notice the difference in the size of it's eye pupils. They open up fast and wide when they hear or see something interesting. I'll find rabbit guts and fur along the edge of the house and under the trees here and there as I've watched these guys rip those rabbits to shreds as the gobble them down.

 

[curious kat]

Awesome Owl tamrock....those Great Horned owls are scary for the small guys....even people! My sister almost got carried away by one (at least it was going to try to do that), when she was 2 years old. We were on a walk in the forest and I turned around to see it headed right for her little head, so waved my arms to scare it away...really! But I do like them, Beautiful "cat" birds.

 

[vpnavy]

Nice photographs! Thanks for sharing...

 

[PamDF]

great pic! the owl looks like a majestic queen in the second pic, we don't have those around here (big city) biggest predator here is a small falcon about the size of my hand and weasels...

 

[rginn]

Yeah, not much summer left here. I don't see or hear owls here in the high country. Surely they're around. Due to a silly family superstition, I take certain precautions to keep them far away from me, so maybe that's the reason.

 

[old digger]

Nice Photo's! I've read that those Great Horned owls can be quite aggressive.

 

[tamrock]

Nice Photo's! I've read that those Great Horned owls can be quite aggressive.

Those Blue Jays & Crows sure do give these guys all kinds of hell when they encounter these owls. Not sure what it is?, but I don't think any other species of birds around here ever appreciate their coming around. It seems all the wild kingdom harmony in the neighborhood is offset by their presents. They sure do clean up on the bunny's though.

 

[tamrock]

Yeah, not much summer left here. I don't see or hear owls here in the high country. Surely they're around. Due to a silly family superstition, I take certain precautions to keep them far away from me, so maybe that's the reason.

I saw an owl long time ago in the piñon's west Buffalo peaks. I was hunting artifacts and just had that feeling something was watching me and I looked up in the tree next to me and this owl was was looking at me. It was a grey owl I think? Smaller then this Great Horned. I also remember a white owl lived in the head-frame of the Climax mine up on Fremont Pass. That head-frame they never tore down, so I'll bet money that be home for a few generations of that owl since I last pulled on the rope to give the hoist-man his signals to take me down below.