Such impressive creatures and extraordinarily efficient hunters. You can easily imagine a poor rabbit below being terrified as this creature of the night descends on it. 😉
While I find and photograph these owls often in the wild, this particular one is a captive bird, owned by Nature’s Educators. The photoshoot with it allowed me to get some cool shots that are very hard to come by in the wild.
One thing that struck me about this particular bird originally from the Midwest was the darker plumage as compared to the ones I find on the Front Range in Colorado. Their plumage can vary based on geography, likely a result of local adaptations to the environment. Nature’s colors here in Colorado are quite muted and less vibrant and our #owls reflect that.