Owl Sighting (2010_08_08)

This is the view Andrew saw Sunday morning when he was out on the deck.  I had just come in from giving the kitties their before breakfast snack and he asks, "What cat is that in the tree?".  Tree is about 60 or 70 feet from the house.  I didn't have my glasses on, without my glasses I saw the tree and a lump.  "Lump" looked to be about 12 or 18 inches off the ground.  Went and got my glasses, with my glasses I saw what appeared to be a dead branch at the base of the tree, kind of just a little to the right of where the shadow runs into the tree in the below picture.  Looks like a dead branch bump - right?  

Figured it couldn't be a cat, I'd just handed out pre-breakfast kitty treats and knew where all ours were -well, except for Tux and Cali our creek cats.  I knew it wasn't Tux or Cal - Tux is pitch black and white and Cali is white and black and orange and as you can see, the lump in the tree is neither black and white or black and white and orange.  I knew if it WAS a cat, it wasn't one of OUR cats - although a new cat showing up is always a possibility.  From my angle, it just didn't look like a cat.  I watched and nothing moved, so I stuck with my initial assessment, a dead branch or a part of the tree.  Meanwhile, Andrew is swearing up and down he saw a head move and ears .... "umhmmmph, of course you did dear".

I still can't see the ears that Andrew is claiming to see or the head move - so I get the camera to get a better look and the "head with ears moving" part of the tree to see exactly what he "thinks" he is seeing.  At the same time Andrew heads for the binoculars and this is what we see .... definitely NOT a cat, positively an OWL!!!

Seems to be quite comfortable

There are the "ears" .... no wonder Andrew thought it was a cat

Amazing how he blends in with the tree, especially when he is looking the other way .... no wonder I thought it was a branch

Oh what a cutie! 

Not sure if he was shopping for breakfast - glad our kitties are bigger than bite-sized, or if he was enjoying the cooler temperature of the creek .... creek gives off noticably cooler temperature so maybe he was just  enjoying cool drafts from the creek.  Or, he may be one of the 2010 chicks from the nest at the other end of the creek and is investigating real estate / nesting possibilities.

No matter what the reason - it was very cool to have a chance to see this magnificent bird so at ease and with the help of my camera's zoom ... to see him so clearly and so close.