The star of the EarthQuest raptor program at Raptor Fest in early February was an Eurasian eagle owl. (See earlier post about the festival here.) He’s much bigger than the common local owls we have here, the great horned owl and the barred owl. This one flew from the trainer to the picnic bench and sat for a few minutes taking in his surroundings.  He then took off for a stump in the middle of the field.

“Get a good shot Lady!”

“You call that a snack?”

“I need a magnifying glass.”

“Wait, I see a bigger snack over at that perch.”

“I’ll come back for that tiny morsel later.”

The trainer had placed a piece of food on the stump. The owl looked at it but took off and flew over to the perch at the front of the field.

He was so big I couldn’t fit him in with his wings spread. He was absolutely beautiful and everyone was enamored with him.