I am bordered on two sides by tall trees – casuarinas, camphor laurels and cadaghi (Corymbia torelliana), with lower growing myrtles and pittosporum and melaleucas. I hear heaps of birds that I rarely see.
One I have often heard – or thought I had – is the Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua). Its mournful, slow ‘woo-hoo’ has wafted up from the forest to my verandah and my study windows so many times but I have never been able to locate it in time to see it. And I am a visual person, so evidence of the eyes is what will convince me.
Now I have been not only been able to see it, but manage one discernible photo image, much zoomed, before it took off.
No doubts: a Powerful Owl!
More commonly seen in the higher rise branches is the White-headed Pigeon, but these look like a pair: the male (on the left) and the less dapper, or less vividly contrasting plumaged female, which I have not seen before.
Oh, I am so fortunate that I still have this proximity to an arboreal high rise and its inhabitants!
Thanks Helen. I hear the call in daytime a lot, so he must at least be awake! And the Gloucester Sustainable Futures Convention was great.
I thought the Powerful Owl was nocturnal but this is a magnificent chap in daylight. Glad you snapped him before he took off. Rare sighting. Lovely to meet you in Gloucester. Says a lot for name tags!