Saturday's Critters # 619

Welcome to Saturday's Critters! Hello and Happy Saturday!

 If you love all God's creatures like I do and also like to blog about them and take critter photos this is where you can share your critter post. Link up your post and share your critters, join in with my critter party ! You can share any kind of critters the real ones, pretend ones, statues and paintings, a new or old post!

Florida was one of my favorite places for birdwatching.  It seemed like the birds did not spook easily with so many people around.  I always try to keep a good distance from any wildlife. Owls are one of my favorite species of birds.  These are all archived images and these Owls were all seen during our time visiting or living in Lakeland Florida. 

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir

Click on images for better viewing.

1. The Burrowing Owls seen at the park in Cape Coral Florida. 

The Burrowing Owl is 7-11 inches long. They have brown head and wings white white spots. They are year round residents. They nest and roost in burrows, when threatened they can make rattling and hissing noises like a rattle snake. They eat large insects, frogs and small rodents. 

"Every moment of life is precious."

"Smile, life is too short to be unhappy." Does it look like the owl below is smiling? 

Keep wildlife wild!

Leave no trace! Respect the wildlife!

2.  Barred Owls seen at the Circle B Reserve near Lakeland Florida. 

This pair of Barred Owls were often seen sitting in trees close to the Circle B Reserve's parking lot.  

The leaves and moss almost hide these Barred Owls, there were times we saw three Barred Owls sitting close together.  There are two in the photo below, possibly the adult male and female. 

6. The Great Horned Owl and owlets seen at the Lake Parker Park in Lakeland Florida. Their nest were on the lights at the soccer field. Some of the light poles had an Osprey nest, I guess they did not mind having their nest close to the Owl's nest.  

The owlets are adorable, the nest sat high on the lights over the soccer field.  

Below you can see part of 2 Great Horned Owlets with an adult behind them. 

I am linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday   I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post.

Thanks to all my visitors and for your past and present comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves and respects wildlife. Thank you for linking up a critter post.

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Great Horned Owl

Hello,

During our time in Florida, we often visited the nearby Lake Parker Park in Lakeland.
We would check out the Great Horned Owl and it's baby owls at least once a week. It was fun watching them grow.  These images are taken from a distance and the owl's nest was on top of a light pole that was on the soccer field.

I am sharing a few facts about these owls. The outer ears are concealed by feathers on the side of the head.

Their iris is yellow and their eyes are ranked are among the largest in the animal kingdom.

Their bill is hard and inflexible.

It was awesome seeing the owlets. One on each side of the adult. I assume this is the adult female, we never saw the two parents together.

Thank you for stopping by and as always I appreciate your comments.

My list of memes for today, I hope to see you there. Thanks to both of the host below.

Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes
Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday