From Guy Lacroix

I had been photographing this Northern Hawk Owl hunting rodents in a field. He suddenly flew to the top of a spruce tree and hid amongst its cones. Soon after, a Red-tailed Hawk flew over us. That's when I realized that the Northern Hawk Owl had recognized this Red- tailed Hawk as a predator and had sought refuge. It worked. The Red-tailed Hawk never saw him and just flew on by.

Northern Hawk Owl / Surnia ulula
Greater Ottawa area

Those are actually spruce cones! Not sure what species precisely, as I deal more in the Central Europe area, but that's most certainly a spruce cone. Pine cones have very characteristics plates covering each cone scale.

edit: i just realised the post body mentions this is a spruce tree. oh well!

Huh, we always just called them all pine trees. Thanks for getting me to look up the difference! I'll have to pay more attention next time I come across one.

For anyone else that may not be aware:

From Fine Gardening

Telling the difference among conifers can be tricky. To me, they are all Christmas trees. But calling them such doesn't really mark me as a discerning gardener. There is, however, a quick way to tell these three common conifers apart.

Look for the number of needles that come out of the same spot on a twig. If a twig bears needles in groups of two, three, or five, you can safely call it a pine. If the twig carries its needles singly, it's a good bet you've got a fir or a spruce. Pull off a needle, and roll it between your fingers. If it feels flat and doesn't roll easily, it's a fir. If the needle has four sides and, thus, rolls easily between your fingers, it's a spruce.

There looks to be much more differences between cones, so I'll save that for another day! 😅