Friday, June 17, 2011

I Meet Mr. Owl


Talking of Harry Potter, my town celebrates arts and entertainment events every month, and this month Harry Potter was one of the main themes of the event. Harry Potter fans filled the streets to be a part of the costume party and play life-size chess board, and also had their photos taken with the Talking Sorting Hat. But, for me, star of the show was "Archimedes" - a horned owl, which is the largest breed in the world with big yellow eyes; no wonder I was breaking out in a cold sweat when I was posing with him. After contemplating for a few minutes, I decided that I wanted a picture with him. Despite being afraid of being so close to this powerful, wild bird I managed a smile for the camera.

How often do you get to see an owl up close? It was really cool to see an owl perched on the educator's hand and see its head move almost a full circle. It was creepy cool!

I had to share this (very) exciting news with you all. Sorry for the bad, blurry picture, but it was dark and the only thing I'd was a crappy cell phone camera. Have you ever seen an owl in person?

14 comments :

Blue Eyed Night Owl said...

That's so exciting! No, I've only really seen them in zoos, but never so close. But I'd love to change that;)

Yasmin said...

That's exciting :D.

I've got to meet an owl close up and even got to stroke it!! For some reason the local garden centre had a man with one in the entrance. Rather surreal but it made me very happy!

Lunchbox said...

dying with envy right now...that's the coolest thing ever!

lisbonlioness said...

I know owls live near me because I hear them, but I am yet to see one in real life.
Heck, I didn't know how pretty you are, girl! You almost (very nearly!) outshone the owl! x

My Owl Barn said...

@ Thank you guys for leaving such lovely comments and sharing my excitement. You are awesome!

@ lisbonlioness You are too sweet to say that {blushing} ;)

owlsomegal123 said...

That's really neat! When I went to the Animal Kingdom in WDW, I got to take a picture next to a great horned owl (I think) that someone was holding, and then I got to go up on stage for the Flights of Wonder show and a barn owl flew over me and another person's head and we took a picture of it! :D

Anca Pandrea said...

Great shot! I would have done the same thing as you, scared, but in the picture. Sadly, I haven't seen a real owl yet, but if I do, I won't let the picture opportunity slip. Have a great weekend!

Anonymous said...

Awww, is really nice!

Yes, I did! Some years ago I had one for a year, was beatiful! Then become bigger and the vet told me about to give it to the zoo. It was sad for me, but the better for her.

Love youy posts :)

mindy said...

Here in az, at the phoenix zoo, they have burrowing owls- and u get to walk through their space...it even swooped down by my head! So cool! & near where I live there are 4 burrowing owls that I've seen on the corner around 9pm! Sooooo cool!

Oh, My Darling said...

Wow, what a rare and awesome encounter!

Laura Beth said...

Aww, handsome bird! I volunteer at a wildlife rehabilitation center and I'm on the raptor team, so all of my work there is with owls, hawks, and other birds with sharp parts. Of course...the owls are my favorites! Our ambassador barn owl, Valentino, and I have a pretty good relationship; he's so cute standing on my glove and preening, looking around, once he even took a nap on my arm...it is exactly as awesome as it sounds! :D

My Owl Barn said...

@ Laura That does sound awesome! What exactly is your job profile at the wildlife rehab center? Do you get any training to work with the owls and other birds?

Laura Beth said...

Most of what I do is feeding, cleaning, and picking up pellets! The food (usually mice or rats, sometimes small birds) is frozen or refrigerated in baggies so I have to heat it up (place baggie in hot water while I clean cages) and, if we have owlets or other babies, cut it up. Once I hand-fed a screech owlet little pieces of mouse. I also handle some of our education birds and talk to the one (a great horned owl) that I can't handle yet. It's all volunteer work, usually 3 or 4 hours every Friday night for me. When I joined the team I worked with a guy who trained me, and sometimes now I work with and learn from other team members. I haven't done any formal training/licensing, but I'd love to!

The center's website is www.wildcareinc.org if you're curious. :)

I handled Val (the barn owl) this afternoon and he was a little restless--he kept walking up my arm to perch on my shoulder. Cute, but ouch! ;)

Lorna said...

My husband held a similar owl at an event thrown by his company. I chickened out and held a turtle instead. Will regret my lack of bravery forever.