You all are probably sick of all these high quality professional shots I’ve been posting, so I took some photos on my phone for you yesterday so we can get back to keeping it real. 😉

As I’ve mentioned before, the mesh they use here is by far the worst I’ve encountered for taking pics, especially since the Pixel doesn’t think anyone needs manual focus. I downloaded Open Camera and tried using that this time to see if I could do better.

Title photo is of the new Barred Owl that was being so cute and singing to me on my last visit. He made one little noise this time and that was it.

It was windy and rainy, so most of the birds were in the back of their enclosures and tucked in to stay cozy. I don’t blame them.

This is him about a foot away. The screening is not so bad for your eyes, but it just dominates the focus on the camera, and it’s smaller than a pinky so I can’t even press up against it to shoot through the holes as I normally do.

  • anon6789OP
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    101 month ago

    They had a few Peregrines which I always enjoy as well. This one was the only one that wanted to sit nicely.

  • anon6789OP
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    101 month ago

    This is about the best I could do with the resident GHO. This one’s enclosure is narrow but deep and it’s usually always on this beam in the back so this is the furthest pic to try to get. Thankfully it sits pretty still.

    • anon6789OP
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      61 month ago

      I was walking past this pen and couldn’t really get a good look at what was in there. The sign said it was a Northern Harrier, which I wasn’t familiar with. It said it has an “owl-like facial disc” so I stuck around for a bit to see if I could check it out, but I didn’t get much better of a look at it than this photo shows.

      I don’t know if I’d call the bird owl-like, other than it has a distinct facial disc. Still cool looking in its own right though.

      Nothing new in the gift shop, they actually seemed to be sold out of a lot. The gf got an owl wine stopper and we donated a case of facial tissue from their Amazon wishlist. They had 14 of 16 requested cases of paper towels, but none of the tissue.

      Talked to the lady at checkout and she verified that stuff is some of the most needed because they go through so much of it, like I commented on in the other post today.

  • anon6789OP
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    91 month ago

    The Bald Eagles were some of the few that didn’t seem bothered by the weather. This is one of the better photos I’ve gotten of them.

  • anon6789OP
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    81 month ago

    I like the expression on this Barred Owl. I think there were 5 Barreds in total.

    I did see Weird Alice the Screech, but she was waaaay back and up in a dark top corner of her enclosure so I just saw an owl shaped shadow.

  • anon6789OP
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    71 month ago

    Here’s another Barred Owl. This one heard something interesting on the ground. I didn’t notice anything though.

    • kamenLady.
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      41 month ago

      Deep sad Barred.

      Love the photos

      • anon6789OP
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        1 month ago

        They had all their best frowns on yesterday.

        I used to think it looked unfortunately, but now I think of them as the Eeyore of owls, and now I have a very soft spot for them.

        Glad you enjoyed them. I know some don’t like my actual photos compared to the pretty ones I get from other people that have a real camera and know what they’re doing, but it’s what I got.

        But the point of it is mainly to show you guys these places are out there, accessible, and the staff are friendly and like talking to people. You can all get time with owls in person and I encourage you to do so!

        • kamenLady.
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          1 month ago

          I know some don’t like my actual photos compared to the pretty ones I get from other people that have a real camera and know what they’re doing, but it’s what I got.

          Personally, i can’t wait to see more of your photos.

          Your photos in this post have that “…behind bars” mood. Out of context, i could imagine this being a collection of the most criminal owls/birds, doing time in a super secure flying offenders prison.

          • anon6789OP
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            21 month ago

            The most wanted list, infamous for crimes against rodent-kind!