WHO?

First of all, many, many thanks for the stars and hearts on Seymour yesterday. If he had the capacity to understand, I know he would be all pumped up about his imminent (or momentary?) stardom. Alas, he is a rodent and all he cares about is where his next sunflower seed is coming from.

My hubs is off work until next year (I know, doesn't that sound great!) So, today, after I put in a few hours of work, we took off for Stokes State Park, which is about a half hour away. We are lucky to live in a part of NJ with acres and acres of preserved forest, lakes and hills - Stokes is just one such place. It is deserted at this time of year, so we drove along the narrow roads, stopped to wander along a lake, took a few photos. Mostly just enjoying the fresh air and relatively warm temps. We were driving along the rutted road heading towards the main highway when I saw what a thought was an owl up in the trees back from the road. I ordered the hubs to back up, which he dutifully did, and I craned my head and squinted my good eye, trying to see whatever it was I thought I'd seen. And, OMG, there it was - an owl! A big one! I lowered the window, stuck the camera out, fired off one shot, then off he flew. No time to adjust settings or anything else, so I wasn't very hopeful that I'd even gotten him. But I did, and now you get to see him, too! A tad blurry, but what can you do?

This is a barred owl, and it is on the "threatened" list for NJ, so I feel quite fortunate to have seen it. It is a large owl, approximately 18-25 inches in height and is primarily a nocturnal hunter. They typically live away from humans, in forests.

This is the first owl I've seen in the wild since I was a kid in Alaska - more years ago than I care to admit. I am still amazed that I saw him at all as we drove by. This, for me, definitely qualified as one of "life's little moments..."

Three days, folks ... three days... tic toc...