Evening Visitor

Brenda and I were on our deck this evening enjoying the good weather. Suddenly Brenda's eyes opened wide with surprise. Swooping out of the pine forest was a giant bird. It landed in a pine tree in our backyard. At first, I thought it was a very large hawk. I didn't get a good look at it as it flew by. There had also been a hawk calling all afternoon from the same area

that the owl had flown from. Then as I observed the bird sitting in the tree, I realized that it was much wider than any hawk. It was none other than the great horned owl. I asked Brenda to keep an eye on the owl and I quickly went to get my camera. I was very fortunate to have just enough light to make a decent photo. I was also very happy that the owl held still and posed for long periods of time! Thrilled to have such a beautiful bird in my backyard!