Barred Owl

Was thinking of calling this "Shakespeare on a Branch" as in Bard Owl, but couldn't bring myself to do it. Too bad a pun. This barred owl was in the act of grooming herself (or himself) on this tree not far from her nest. Check her out in large.

How we managed to see her...

My day began with Open Studio painting. I finished the painting I started at Big Rock Garden yesterday and started a new one. When I got home, the sun was out and I convinced Arvin to take a walk with me down into the park in search of owls. I knew where the nest was because a lady had shown it to me, Ian and Steve during our walk a couple of days ago. We walked down and happened to meet Ian who was cycling by on his way home. He said we probably wouldn't find any owls because he had just seen one of the pair at another part of the park too far to walk to. We decided to walk down anyhow and take a chance there might be one. And there she was, up in a tree just twenty feet or so from the nest tree. Either they don't have eggs yet or she was taking a breather. She was very busy grooming herself as we watched. She was also at a point very difficult to get a good view of. I had to clone out some overhanging branches from this photo. We were all really happy that we were able to see her.