Photography Kevin Fleming on 01 Apr 2008 09:24 am
spiritual eyes
Looking into the incredible eyes of this Great Horned Owl this morning I could see how Native Americans would hold this majestic bird with special reverence. With the ability to gather light from darkness owls were thought to see beyond the physical world looking into the spiritual world. Mice, rabbits and other small to medium-size mammals have an entirely different reality of this nocturnal hunter.
on 01 Apr 2008 at 9:54 am 1.Jay F. said …
Nice!
on 02 Apr 2008 at 6:46 pm 2.Beth Isaacs said …
Kevin,
Apparently it’s not only small mammals who should fear the Great Horned Owl. This owl can even take down a majestic Great Blue Heron.
I learned this after researching owls’ prey in the summer of ‘06. Our cat Smidgen was peering out our closed window that early June night, from her tabletop cushion inside. We spotted a Great Horned Owl perched on our front fencepost, just 15 feet from that window.
The owl was staring right in at our house. Did Smidgen look to the owl like a tasty confection in a bakery window? Or did the owl actually only see its own reflection, due to the streetlight?
In any case, we pulled shut the shade! And, thrilled, we grabbed our binoculars. Peeking out, we watched the owl swivel its head seemingly 3/4ths around, then saw it alight from the fence and move along.
A couple owls silently swooped around our Paynter’s Mill ‘hood that summer. They’d feast on the little frogs on the sidewalks. At dusk I watched one pick apart a snake, high up on a tree limb. The owl’s calls from the woods sounded like “cheeRIT! cheeRIT!”
We felt, like the Native Americans you cited, awed by their presence.
on 04 Apr 2008 at 2:26 pm 3.Jody Hudson said …
Hi Kevin,
Is this the same owl that Tony photographed recently? WOW, what a great shot, as always!