A plucky chickadee keeps an eye on a barred owl by our pond
A plucky chickadee keeps an eye on a barred owl by our pond

I posted this on my Weather Blog this morning, but figured I post it here too. As I walked up our walkway yesterday afternoon coming back from a ski, I caught the movement of a larger critter flying out of the hemlock by the feeder. Sure enough, it was this barred owl lurking about looking for a meal. It flew up into the top of one of our now-broken willow trees by the pond. Note the chickadee in the branch just below the owl. Chickadees like to know where the predators are, and will stay close and even harass them as a warning to other birds. Just another reason I love chickadees so much! The owl was nice enough to wait for me as I went inside and grabbed my camera.

Nikon D600, Sigma 120-400mm lens @ 400mm, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/1250″ exposure