From Lewis Slavin

🦉The encounter I'll never forgot🦉

It doesn't get any better than this 🤯 Me and Ryan (the local lad) decided to wander off into the forest yesterday and after not even 5 minutes he looks at me smiling then points by a tree and there she was! 😮Just sat there relaxing, she wasn't fussed at all, just kept looking around for her next meal, so we got a couple shots & then left her be & about 15 minutes later she comes out & hunts right in front of us & then flies right over Ryan's head 🤯

This has been the 1st time I've ever seen a long eared owl let alone photo 1 and these past couple days have left me with thousands of photos but also some memories that will Last with me for a lifetime 🤩

Canon r6 mk ii

Ef 500 mk ii

1x4 extender iii

700mm

ISO 1000

F 5.6

SS-1/500

Edited on Lightroom (on my phone)

Touched by a LEO

For once, that is a positive phrase!

Such a great shot!

Glad you like it!

I usually don't post the same species twice in the same day, but this one is a neat comparison with the other Long Ear here.

Long Ears are found through much of the Northern Hemisphere, but it's often fairly simple to determine the North American vs Eurasian ones due to the coloration differences. The owl in this post is from the UK, and has lighter plumage and darker, oranger eyes, while the one in the other post is from Canada and is darker with lighter and more yellow eyes. There are more subtle differences as you explore individual subspecies, but there are only so many people interested in getting that fine a point put on it.