Two images of a Boreal Owl. An other first for me. Three of us had planned to look for a Boreal on Amherst Island some 2.5 hours drive away. We had planned to go Wednesday, when on Tuesday morning, I got a call that a Boreal had been spotted only about a 15 minute drive from my home. When I got there, there were several photographers and birders present. It is my understanding that Boreals don't usually frequent the Ottawa area. I certainly had never seen one before.

The owl was perched right alongside the road, not very high up. It was sitting on, thawing out, or heating up dinner;namely, a mouse. You can see the tail of the mouse in both images. I'm not sure if it was keeping the mouse warm or defrosting it after retrieving it from a cache. I could only stay a short time, but reportedly, the owl ate the mouse mid-afternoon after sitting on it for several hours.