Speck did well in its first match, with a solid win over the Great Grey. This handsome and intelligent looking owl really won the crowd over.
Meanwhile, Screech Owl has a bit of a rocky start for a returning final 4 owl. The Philippine Scops and its nebula eyes almost took its place. Maybe just early round jitters?
The Spectacled and the Screech are significantly different from each other. Speck had been featured from time to time, especially the one from Suffolk Owl Sanctuary. It seems to be doing a bit better here then it normally does.
The Screech is very popular. I don't think we've likely ever gone a week without a Screech Owl or two. We like it awake, we like it sleepy, we like it angry. But have we gotten bored with this little one?
Who are you going to choose? You've got 2 good choices here. Upvote your favorite now!
#superbowl #owloftheyear2024
I try to work a nice variety into the sets. Last year I started to go over my 3 pic limit and it got too crazy, but a decent number of these owls come in a few variations.
Screech has red, grey, and brown.
Snowy has all white males, speckled females.
Great Horned goes from brown to grey as it gets in colder climates.
I want to give them all an equal shot, so it's a challenge to encapsulate so much goodness into 3 or 4 pics.
Thank you for running this! It's a great contest to have; I'm also learning a thing or too!
I'm glad to hear that!
I try to make learning fun here. The owls are indeed fascinating to look at, but more than that, they have so many cool adaptations that make them so interesting to learn about.
I've been seeing many new names in the comments, and growing the gang is also a secondary purpose of the games, so I hope everyone stays around after it's over. We have lots of fun the whole year and you don't want to miss it.