Owl Sighting: What a Hoot

While walking home from the GO Train on Wed, a large bird swooped across my path. It was an eastern screech owl (the most common type of owl found in York Region). I pulled out my bloggie and caught some footage (it was dark, so not the greatest quality). Check it out:
http://www.vimeo.com/18537512

This was my first sighting of an owl not in captivity. It looked at me for a while, and I at it looked back, both of us contemplating the other creature. I love pleasant surprises like this in nature when I least expect it. Sometimes, when you really open your eyes to the world around you, the world around you changes.

According to the local field naturalist group, 313 bird species have been recorded in York Region (29 considered rare and 70 considered very rare). Among the many types of birds I've seen in my backyard are a ruby-throated hummingbird, a red-tailed hawk landing on my deck, and even some escapees (zebra finch in my backyard last year, plus a parakeet outside the community centre a couple of years ago)! Birding is a fun and rewarding past-time and something I'd like to get better at.