Titmouse grabs the wrong thing from the feeder.

You liked my cardinal from yesterday, so I'll share this jay I also got a pic of yesterday.

Same Pixel 7 through China binocs and dirty patio door 😁

From Wendy Erickson

Great Gray Owl!

This is my first GGO and omg am ecstatic to say the least. I never expected to see this Owl on my acreage and it happened so fast. just lost all sense of Whooo Haaaa! So he is a bit soft and completely lost all my senses with camera settings.

Yes photographers are fussy and am very much a picky perfectionist. This is my ultimate dream to say the least. I have only seen one once and that again was on our property but it was dark.

They are so beautiful! This guy was hunting. More to Come!

North Saskatchewan

From Jim Ankrom

Grey morph screech trying real hard to look like a red morph screech under the sodium street lights. Master of camouflage, indeed!

Wherever you are right now, one or both of these owls is probably not toooo far away. These owls can fly further then probably any other owls. This had allowed them to go places other owls could only dream of. There's one place one of these two can't go... The next bracket!

Technically, there are 30 barn owls. We're going to look at the Western Barn Owl of Eurasia and Africa, we did the American one last time. You can get a better guess on if a Barn Owl is make it female by looking at the belly. The males are usually whiter and there are less belly spots. The ladies are a little tanner and have more spots. Their populations are doing a bit of a rebound because they actually love nest boxes and people are finally learning how awesome it can be to have owls around.

While Barn Owls like snug little places like tree hollow, nest boxes, and sometimes even barns, the Short Eared Owl loves the widest expanses it can find. Shorties can migrate 1200 miles / 1900 km, and have even been found hundreds of miles in the ocean in remote islands having babies in a tropical paradise. They have a unique courtship flight ritual in which the male will clap its wings up to 10 claps per second. It sounds like a woodpecker or snapping some bubble wrap.

Both of these owls are classics. They have many similarities, but also maybe differences, making this a potentially difficult choice. Let me know who you're going with now by upvoting your selection.

#superbowl #owloftheyear2024

This one could get interesting! We've got some undeniably to tier owls in both of the contests today. This one features 2 of the best North American owls, while the other are likely the 2 most ubiquitous on the planet.

First up, the owl that's not afraid to get down and dirty. They'll even collect dung to put at the entrance to the burrow to cover their own scent or to deter animals from entering. They also incidentally do us some big favors. Just by being there hungry little selves, a family of Burrowing Owls can eat almost 7000 bugs and 2000 rodents each year.

Up second, the king of the night skies, the Great Horned Owl. This mighty hunter gives nightmares to que a number of it nocturnal forest brethren. Even other raptors like Osprey, Peregrines, geese, and even just about any other owl can become dinner if they aren't alert! They are the second most massive American owl, only the Snowy is heavier. What do they do with this size and power? The use it to hold down their turf. Average home range for a GHO is 1.5 square miles / 960 acres (3.6 sq km / 388 hectares). While a whole family of Burrowing Owls can eat 2000 mice a year, a single GHO can take 4000 squeakers out of action.

The little joker has a large and vocal fan base. Burrow is a charmer and has endless numbers of cute and funny photos. GHO on the other hand, is distinguished and classy looking during the day, but at night it mercilessly patrols the area it calls home. When Watchmen needed a version of Batman, there is a reason it was Nite Owl they went with. GHO is Bruce Wayne by day, but Batman of the forest by night!

Upvote your favorite owl now!

#superbowl #owloftheyear2024

Almost published the next tournament post by accident again. 😑

I hate seeing my deleted posts, so I'll turn it into a low effort picture post.

Since you voted out my dear Long Ear, I'm going to celebrate it anyway!

From Asael (Asa) Ben-Tzroya

The long-eared owl is a species of owl which breeds in Europe, Asia, and North America. This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical owls, family Strigidae, which contains most species of owl.

Just playing around with the camera adapter for my binocs.

Mr and Mrs Cardinal came to visit for a light breakfast.

A little color correction and snipped out some rain spots and stuck food on the plexiglass.

Pixel 7 through cheap binocs through my dirty patio door, SE Pennsylvania

From Jason Painter

Snowy owls Indian lake Ohio 11-29-2024.

From Robin Lowry

Meet Mystic the Barn Owl!

During our recent studio workshop, Mystic stole the show, spreading those gorgeous wings to catch the light just right. With a simple setup, we achieved this beautiful effect of light streaming through her wings, creating a magical moment.

We explored a few more unique setups throughout the day, and managed to capture a few more shots. I can't wait to share once I've sorted through them! Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes glimpses of our workshop!

Eurasian Eagle did well against the Blakiston's Fish Owl in a bit of an upset if we looked at how these 2 fared last time. Though not as related as once thought, the EEO is still one of the biggest, toughest owls left in the game.

The Flammulated fans from last year don't seem as impassioned this time around. It beat Dusky, but by a slim margin of 2 votes. They're going to need to show up today if they want Flammy's name emblazoned on the prize this year.

The Eagle Owl is a manifestation of power. It's bold, rugged, and intimidating. If the Snowy continues its surge in the voting, the Eagle could be one that could stop it. It's got a lot of like characteristics, and could steal enough votes to get to the finals.

Flammulated is quite another story. It's small. It's brightly patterned, but still feels restrained, and it's not going to intimidate anyone much larger than its dinner. But this little one speaks to something ancient and primordial. It looks as old as the trees themselves. It captures the mystery of the woods.

Are you feeling big, brash, and confident, or does a more quiet and restrained persona capture your sense of what a top owl should be? Upvote the one you like below!

#superbowl #owloftheyear2024

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