Drove out to the country to see the Snowy Owl at an event today since they are not very common here.

Something else caught my eye though and I kept telling myself that it couldn’t be what it looked like. But it was!

It must have not been advertised cuz most people wouldn’t know what it was, but it was an Australian Boobook named Fable!

So when I saw they were letting people hold him for a donation, in couldn’t say no!

More pics to come, they had a lot of great birds I didn’t rxpect. I’ll try to get the photos for tomorrow, but this was exciting so I shared it now before I head back home.

    • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
      2·
      6 hours ago

      Thank you for the boost!

      The Snowy lived up to all the hype! I drove 2 hours there to see just him, and if he had been the only bird there, it would have been worth it.

      Huge personality, he seemed to enjoy being outside and seeing the people and the other birds. He was calm the entire time. He did a lot of vocalization and made many great expressions. All the great stuff you see in photos, I got to enjoy in person. Totally worth it.

      He did get a bit overshadowed by the Boobook, only since that was totally out of nowhere. I knew I would have to travel somewhere to see a Snowy, but a boobook is the total opposite side of the Earth so I thought I’d never see one, let alone hold one.

      But anyone who puts the Snowy as their absolute favorite owl of all time, I totally get it. Absolutely awesome bird!

      • .Donuts@lemmy.world
        2·
        6 hours ago

        Ahaha I spoke too early, saw your other post of the snowy later.

        But still, happy to read it was worth it! First time seeing it in person, right? Such a cool opportunity

        • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
          2·
          5 hours ago

          Yup, it turned out to be a first for a number of birds. They put away the Eurasian Eagle Owl right when I got there, but I got to see them a couple times before, though this guy was particularly pretty. They also had 2 falcons I’ll share at some point that I had never heard of. I also learned hawks and eagles and a few other birds also make pellets, which I had no idea they did. They had some cool pellets on display with some really big bones in them.

          The whole event turned out to be a total surprise for me, and I can’t believe what all they had, that it was free, and that it was $10 to hold the owl. When I held the Screech, that was around $100 ea, though we did have a private owl talk and got to hold it for a lot longer.