My flight doesn't leave until about 1:40pm today. WildBird has already left for her flight, so I'm thinking of finishing packing and then heading to out to try and see an aplomado falcon before heading out. I've seen so many great birds this trip, some I've seen before and some completely new.

One bird that has eluded me in the wild is a barn owl. I've handled them but I've never seen one in the wild. Someone gave me directions to an old, abandon cotton gin:

Doesn't this just look like the set for lots of slasher type murders? I tried looking through all the broken windows and couldn't find the bird. The door was a ajar and I poked my head in. The wind rattled everything that was loose and you heard creaking and and metal vibrating. The building seemed like it could collapse at any time. I scanned and found a pair of barn owls. I tried to digiscope, but knew it was way too dark. It's enough of a souvenir for me though:

One of the birds flew to the other side of the gin and disappeared behind a rafter, then I heard tiny rasping begging calls--they were nesting! I headed out and left the owls in peace.