Yawning Barred Owl

On weekends, my family and I head out to the back country for hiking and photography. On one such hike, combing through the outdoors we thought we could see a larger bird nestled into a tree. At first we thought it might be a Hawk or Eagle, as we had seen them around that day. To my astonishment it was a Barred Owl. We stood there a moment just watching it, before I took it’s photo. After a moment it yawned opened its eyes blinked and then went back to sleep. As to not disturb it further we backed away and continued on our hike. This was my first experience ever seeing a Barred Owl in nature and to see a yawning one, tongue and all was absolutely adorable. It was so fluffy and the markings were beautiful. It was such an exciting experience and one that I will always remember.