Rescued Barn Owl on day before release to freedom by TomDart
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
A barn owl, facial focus missed by 7 inches...yet the soft face to me is like the soft silent flight of this nocturnal bird of prey, hunting essentially guided by sound. I understand the dish of the face helps in hearing prey in the dark, along with interesting ear arrangement. Soft flight...yet in the hunt this owl is almost primeval in it predatory pursuit. Focus on prey unfortunately may lead to run-ins with fences and vehicles.
This is one of three rescued from demolition of a building near Chattanooga, Tennessee. After growing from mere babies to learning to hunt the best a human can teach without the parents, this owl was photographed in a special long enclosure, a flight cage, where the owls gained strength to get them started in the wild. When released, they flew with strength and determination.
Ahhh.. in focus are the legs and feet. Sterength is seen in the legs. A closer look at the feet barely reveals the strong and sharp talons of the hunting tools.

Comments (9)
This is such a beautiful capture of this beautiful creature. Congrats on saving and raising the chicks...looks like you did a good job :) I would imagine the chicks' parents were distraught to find their babies gone, though. So many people simply don't understand that animals have feelings too...
Goldie, I agree that many animals show love and affection beyond instinct for their young. Once the time has come for the kids to move out, that happens too. Do I anthropomorphize in giving the owl human emotion? Likely..but experience tells me animal connections exist beyond instinct and I sure do credit them with more than that! As I understand it the nest was in a duct of some sort and was destroyed in the demolition process and the parents knew they must move on. Fortunately the babies were rescued and rehabbers in that area got the owls to us for further growing and help. Your comment is appreciated.
So beautiful, dear Tom. Work to be proud of. Hugs for all day. DiDi. xx
How lovely!
Beautiful photo. The blurring shows the speed in the wings motions, while the face and legs look like they are still. Glad to hear you were able to save them and release them in the wild. Keep up the good work! :-)
what a beautiful owl and photo, I am almost jealous about, I am looking for so long times to catch a owl with my camera... no way wildlife in our region they are very rare ... Congratulations, great photo!! ππΌπ
Very nice shot & a heart-warming story to go with it...
Superb capture my friend. God bless.
Wonderful
Excellent capture.