Thread by @phylogenomics

So I had one of those amazing birding encounters I get maybe 1-2 x / year. I went for a walk at #YoloBypass and got in my car and was driving out through some of the rice fields when I saw what was a pretty big bird in front of a bush. I couldn't tell what it was at first. 1/n

Then it turned around and, even with the incredible camouflage, I could tell it was an owl. At first I was not sure what kind. I kind of caught me off guard. 2/n

And so I took a bunch of pics as it sort of hid there. It eventually went into the bush and I lost track of it. So I waited. I then noticed some other birds nearby. Cool. Horned larks. More on them later. 3/n

And still the owl did not come out of the bush. I did not want to disturb it but decided to get out of my car (I was taking pictures out of the passenger window from the driver's seat). As I got out of my car a hawk took off right next to me on the other side of the road. 4/n

Then I turned my attention back to the owl and the bush. And alas, it seemed like the owl was gone. I took some pics of some harriers flying overhead. 5/n

And then noticed the horned larks again and walked out into the field to get some more pics of them. Pretty cool birds. 6/n

And then. Boom. Out of the bush. A short eared owl emerged. And I got some good pics of it in flight before it landed nearby. I have only seem this species a few times. So cool. 7/n

And it landed and I got some really nice pics of it on the ground too. 8/n

The harriers I had seen earlier kept flying pretty close by overhead and the owl was checking them out. 9/n

But eventually they headed off and the owl went back to just hanging out. 10/n

And eventually it took off again. And this time I got even better pics of it in flight. 11/n

What an experience.

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Oh, and, though I am always on the lookout for birds, I actually had gone out today to get pics of Sacramento and the Sierra since it was so clear out