Barred Owl, Scarsdale, New York

The last six months have proven difficult to capture new photos to post. I became unemployed for the first time in fifteen years last month (if anyone has any leads for a trusted Executive Creative Director at either an ad agency or client side, please send them my way) and my wife is going into her sixth month battling a nasty form of Lyme Disease. Not exactly the time to be flying to the far corners of the globe. But there’s always my backyard. A close-in suburb of New York City, it’s certainly not a hotbed of wildlife activity. Most days it’s just the usual northern cardinals, tufted titmice and blue jays, but today this barred owl paid a visit. S(he) napped for the better part of the morning, but was eventually driven off by the constant circling of a red-tailed hawk. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 220mm) ISO 500, f/4 at 1/400th of a second.