Our Friendly Neighborhood Owl

Even a year after moving to the north woods, the wildlife living around us still makes us pause. I suspect this will last a good long while. A lot of our local neighbors are much more impressive than the crows, geese, and skunks we were accustomed to in our more urban digs.

For several weeks this winter, the owl pictured here came and visited us on a semi-regular basis. That patch of brush faces due south and catches most of the sunshine available throughout the day. So, on sunny days, he (she?) came to our yard to catch some z's and some rays, and would disappear again an hour or two before sunset. We haven't seen our friend, though, for a while now, and kind of miss him. I wonder if we can put out some kind of sign to invite him back next winter...

This picture was actually taken with the assistance of a pair of binoculars and after a whole lot of fussing. We really need to get some better lenses for the SLR. We have a Canon Digital Rebel. Does anyone have any recommendations?