The Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl is a resident of South Texas, but people don't see them often. There was a flood a few years back at one of their traditional nesting sites and since then, they've been extremely tough to find. To see this one, I went on a tour of the King Ranch in Kingsville. The tour went down to the Norias division, which is in the southern part of the ranch land, about an hour and fifteen minutes from my house. We got in around 7 am and our guide Jim played some tapes of the owl to draw it out. Sure enough, he popped out of the brush onto this tree, ready to be documented by six enthusiastic birders. Fun Pygmy Owl Fact: They have false eyes on the back of their heads. Predators don't know when they're not looking. When they look sideways, they kind of look like Voldemort from the end of the first Harry Potter when he's connected to Professor Quirrel's head...and even though this picture is a little blurry, I think it's worth it:
Yay owls (in solidarity)! :-)
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