I was walking on a trail, just before 4pm. It was bit dark in the woods when I heard a bird call. I looked in the direction, not seeing any until I heard the same call again. Then I saw a bird about the size of Robin go up to a branch on the tree about 5 meters above the ground. I kept my eyes on the location as I made my way toward the tree. With little light coming through, I was not able to ID the bird with my eyes.
I took my camera out and zoomed in, I was still not getting a clear view. Decided to take few pictures and would be able to tell what type of bird it was from my camera's LCD. It was a owl, later confirming it was a Northern Pygmy Owl.
It was perched too high for me to get a clear shot, took pictures from few spots before deciding to move on. Had a another peak on the camera's LCD before getting home, I did noticed that it had a prey in one of its talon. But only when I looked at the picture on a monitor I could make out what the prey was.
I'm glad the owl's eyes can be seen, along with the beak and of course the owl's meal. For me it was one of those moment, when I'm happy living so close to nature, and only with time this moment becomes clear. I imagine when I heard the call, the owl was coming down to grab its prey and then I saw it fly up. In the end, it was giving me the look to move along so it could eat in peace.
Until next moment,
Amar