I love owls! Esther Shain found this Barn Owl roosting in the daylight hours.
When I asked Diane Hichwa what this nocturnal owl was doing during the middle of the day, she said, "Well, they have to be somewhere!" Yes, I guess they do...
Thanks to Esther for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
There was some fog this morning, which came up from the south, but it's sunny this afternoon. Temps are on the cool side, just the way we like them! 69 degrees this afternoon.
Jackie Sones was out very early a few days ago and was rewarded with a sighting of this Barn Owl, Tyto Alba. Doesn't it look like this owl is scattered with diamonds?
Jackie then watched the owl fly off into the fog. She wrote: "There was dense fog at the coast, so you could see moisture in the owl's feathers. As the owl flew off into the fog, it looked like an apparition, making us wonder if it had really been there or not."
Thanks to Jackie for allowing me to share her photos with you here. Jackie has a wonderful nature blog that you can find here: https://bodegahead.blogspot.com/
It's warm, breezy, sunny today...but a fog bank is forming up over the Pacific Ocean.
Eric Zetterholm photographed this Barn Owl recently, spotted on The Sea Ranch perched on a fence post.
Here is a close-up of two Barn Owls, taken by Jim Garlock.
Barn Owls are nocturnal - predators of the night. When they fly overhead, they look ghostly white. They don't "hoot" like some owls; their calls are a raspy scream. You can listen to it here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Owl/sounds
Thanks to Eric and Jim for allowing me to share their photos with you here.
Barn Owls are year round residents of the Mendonoma Coast. Jim O'Brien got up early one morning and was surprised to see this Barn Owl asleep in a tree.
Jim's photo looks like a beautiful painting. Barn Owls are nocturnal; they find a secluded place to roost during the day. This particular owl woke up when Jim took the photo and flew away.
They hunt at night, using their excellent hearing to find rodents. Barn Owls don't hoot like many other owls. They have a raspy call. You can hear it at this link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Owl/sounds
Thanks to Jim for allowing me to share his photo with you here.
Rich Kuehn's neighbor on The Sea Ranch called him to come over and see if this large Barn Owl was doing okay. When Rich got there it was perched on a fench and nodding off. Rich theorized she - yes, it's a female - was hunting for her young, which a nocturnal Owl such as this usually does at night. But if needs be, a mother will do what she has to do.
To see another photo of this beautiful Barn Owl, go to the ICO's web site, click on on-line features and then Sighting photos! http://www.mendonoma.com/