Milhi and a pint sized predator

 

 

Been wanting to do this for a while.

Took Milhi out with me to catch and band Saw-whet Owls the other night.

 

For anyone interested in finding out more about Saw-whet Owls or Saw-whet banding and research:

 

Awesome web site: http://www.nedsmithcenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=22/

 

Some good You-tube videos:

Seriously ,it is a real one ?! So beautiful !!!

WOW! So awesome!

Awesome! I haven't seen saw-whets before, probably because it looks like we don't get them this far west. (We get lots of barn, GHOs, and the occasional burrowing though.) My dad's stepmom volunteers for Liberty Wildlife out here, so it's cool to see a critter from the other side of the country too. Plus Millhi is as adorable as the owl, and having her there really gives you a sense of the size of that little owl!

That Owl! Wow! What an adorable critter And she looks happy too!

Woah a real owl!? I thought it was gonna be a plush or something, cool photo ^_^

Woah a real owl!? I thought it was gonna be a plush or something, cool photo ^_^

 

My thaughts exactly, or morelike, "ok, lets see the mini tiger plush then... what th--?"

 

Seem like a rather calm one, though I know zero about owls and their general behaviour, and didnt know they came in such small sizes since we only get the bigger kind here. Learn something new every day.

 

EDIT: Or as it turns out, we do have owls like this afterall, except we call them sparrow owls.

Edited November 20, 2012 by Guest

Waaahhh!!! A DD sized owl! LOL. Had to do a double take when I first saw him, I said he can't be real, can he? Then I find that he is. So awesome! Millie looks cute.

Aww. It look so real. Wait?!~ Is it real? >.

Oooh, big eyed bird with big eyed doll Milhi looks very comfortable (& cute!) with the tiny predator

Oh WOW! It is so cute and so amazing!

 

I am so jealous!

 

How do you get to pet the owl? A real owl? Where do I sign up to do this?

 

Amazing shots! I'm blown away!

.. Milhi got her Hogwarts letters, didn't she?

 

*joining the queue of people amazed by real-life owl, being so tiny*

Seriously ,it is a real one ?! So beautiful !!!

 

Yup, its a real wild real owl. So did anyone notice the bit of dried blood on her beak? Probably from a small rodent that crossed paths with her not long ago.

Awesome! I haven't seen saw-whets before, probably because it looks like we don't get them this far west. (We get lots of barn, GHOs, and the occasional burrowing though.) My dad's stepmom volunteers for Liberty Wildlife out here, so it's cool to see a critter from the other side of the country too. Plus Millhi is as adorable as the owl, and having her there really gives you a sense of the size of that little owl!

 

They can be found in almost any part of the country including all of the west, assuming your in the right habitat and the right time of year. They are just really good at avoiding detection. Even for knowledgeable birders they are a rare sighting in my area. But once someone came up with a good way to lore them in and catch them(not sure who first came up with it) it was found out they are way more common then anyone ever suspected. Prior to starting banding them a few years ago I had only ever seen one. This year in the last 5 weeks alone we have caught more then 400 here.

 

I am so jealous!

 

How do you get to pet the owl? A real owl? Where do I sign up to do this?

 

Amazing shots! I'm blown away!

 

 

Well if you lived in my area I'd probably be able to arrange something, though we only catch them for about 6 weeks out of the year during their migration.

 

The "awww" factor for these little guys is almost off the charts.

Big eye bird and Cute eye lady