I'm So Excited!

I got my first picture of an owl in the wild! We saw an old abandoned farmyard and decided it might be a nice place to take pictures. We drove up, and I saw this Great Horned Owl peeking out of the shed. I was afraid he'd fly away, so I took a couple of pictures before leaving the truck, and then stepped out to take some more.

As we got closer to him, he turned around as if he was going to go inside, and then suddenly swooshed out over our heads and flew away.
We decided to look inside the shed, and suddenly, just as we got right close, a second owl appeared in the opening, stared me right in the eyeball and then swooped low over our heads and took off. I wish I had a picture of that, but we weren't expecting a second owl!

A large dragonfly landed on the arm of my jacket and stayed there until we had taken many pictures, and finally I shooed him off! I learned that he is a Blue-eyed Darner.

I'm always fascinated by the many compartments that make up their head and body. The large blue parts on the side of its head are its eyes. Each bulging compound eye consists of up to 30,000 individual eyes! Eighty percent of its brain is devoted to vision! It sees all the colours we do plus ultraviolet and polarized light. They are the fastest insect in the world, and can fly 35 mph. They are also the most acrobatic.

I saw and photographed a new bird: the Red-necked Phalarope. He only has a red neck during mating season. They are smaller than a robin.

There were dozens of them on the lake, and they demonstrated some fascinating behaviour. They would go around and around in one direction, pecking at the water every round or two. They moved so fast it made you dizzy just watching - especially when dozens were doing it at the same time!
I learned that the reason for this was to stir up the water which brings the planktonic invertebrates up to the surface into pecking range. Quite a sight!