Ruru (Morepork)

What a treat! I had just arrived home from work and was lighting the fire, wondering what I was going to find in the house to blip, when I got a call to ask if I'd like to photograph a morepork with a mouse in it's foot. Silly question!

Of course I'd like to photograph it - mouse or not!! A friend's daughter had spotted one in her shed - the lights were on, the dog was barking, the kids had been in and out photographing it, and still it sat there, totally calmly posing for me. Wow.

New Zealand only has two owls and only this one is a native. They are often heard at night, with their distinctive 'moorepoork' sound, but rarely seen - in fact the only other one I've ever seen was earlier this year up at Denniston. Yes, much prettier in the 'natural world', but this one is still a morepork even though it's background is a tin shed - and this one does have that added bonus of a dead mouse!

Gee, you can tell I'm not excited or anything!

Sure as heck beats the feather and water drop blip you were going to get.