Ok - well, apparently after hitting my blogaversary, I kind of just ran out of inspiration for a while. Luckily, some moved in recently... quite literally.

Back in 2011, I bought Anya an owl box for Christmas. Shortly thereafter, we hung it in one of the trees in our backyard. Except for some starlings using it for a few weeks during their breeding season, it sat empty the whole time.

Until yesterday morning, when Anya went to let the dogs out, she was startled to see the owl sitting on the pole system for her bird feeders. After a little bit, it flew directly up and into the owl box. She was so excited that she called me right away to tell me the news.

Last evening, with the unseasonably warm weather, we decided to grill some burgers, and sure enough while I was doing that, the owl came out of the box and flew off. I checked in the morning and didn't see him, so was worried he had just been staying the one night, but when Anya checked when she again was going to let the dogs out, he was back again!

So now I have a new photographic subject to work with...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM with Kenko Teleplus PRO 300 "DG" AF 2x Teleconverter.

All of these shots were taken with the big Sigma lens plus the 2x teleconverter to get as close as possible. Unfortunately it also meant that there was less available light in already dim conditions, so this was quite the challenge. I don't want to disturb him too much, but eventually I think I will have to try using some flash to make this process a little easier.

So after some research, it looks like this is the time of year when these owls (Eastern Screech Owl (Megascops asio)) start nesting. The male will locate a suitable nest site and if he can find a mate, they will lay eggs around March, and the owlets will fledge in May. So hopefully I'll have plenty of opportunities to get good (ie: better) shots of this cool little bird... and maybe even some babies too!!!

Definitely stay tuned!

- Bill

PS: Oh, I almost forgot to mention... As you can see, this little fella has a rusty color to him. That is the rufous or red morph which is supposed to be much more uncommon around here than the grey morph. So it looks like we're doubly lucky with this beautiful bird.