Owl and the family

I was taking out the trash this week and this beautiful owl landed right above my head in the front yard. I've seen him once before from a distance.  I hurried inside to tell the kids to come outside and see the owl.  As we were coming out the backdoor to sneak up on the owl he flew around the back of the house and landed right above us on this branch.  He swiveled his head from left to right and he watched us.  He was curious.  The kids were thrilled.  I raced inside to grab my camera. 

 My photos were not turning out!  My 50 mm portrait lens was on the camera, my White Balance was set for day and my ISO was at 100 for a sunny day.  The owl was patient.  He hung around watching us long enough to give me time to change my lens, set my White Balance and struggle with finding the right ISO for the dusk.    

We were so excited to see the owl in our yard because I recently finished reading Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat to my children.  My son's teacher read the story to his class and my son begged me to read it at home because he thought his little sister would love the story.  She did.  This old story is about a boy and his pet owls.  If you like sweet old fashioned stories about kids, pets and the trouble they cause this is a fun read.

He was as curious about us as we were about him.
My kids and I moved upstairs and opened my daughter's window to get a birds eye view of the owl.
I like how the red buds on the tree brings a pop of color to this soft photo.

The sun was setting and I used my flash. 

The bluejay chased our owl friend away. You can see the bluejay in the branch behind the owl.