Barn Owl - Tyto alba

One evening I was walking at our (land) garden, and something flew over my head. I could see white-ish underparts of the bird, and beautiful wings. It was the Barn Owl. This owl sits on several trees - Silver Oak, Coconut, Christmas, Mango, and Peepal - either at our garden or on neighbouring trees.
 

Well, the plan was to make the bird feel comfortable around us. Every day, we made a habit to walk at the garden for an hour or so; different timings. We spoke softly about our day's events. We let the kittens come with us to the garden. We also would stand still and observe the owls. Owls... Yes; two of them. If they flew and sat on our water tank, or sat on the edge of our garage, or sat on the water pipes or window extensions, we simply stood and observed. No cameras. No drama.
 

It's been over a month or two. The owls are no more scared of us or our voices or our naughty kittens. The previous evening the owls flew together and sat close to us (one on window extension and other on the water tank), for the first time. It was romantic to hold hands with my husband, and watch those two owls (with heart-shaped faces). And yes, by the time I got my camera, the owls had flown to the Silver Oak tree; one of them sat tight posing for the photo while the other was shy and sat deep inside the tree.

Some times, I wondered if the owl would snatch our little kitten, and then flly away. Nope; I guess the owl knew what a terror the little kitten was! And... We haven't been able to find the owl's nest, if one exists. It's good to keep that a mystery; we humans can damage anything for the sake of curiosity and for the sake of clicking a photo!
 

Other names of the Barn Owl are Monkey-faced Owl, Ghost Owl, Church Owl, Death Owl, Hissing Owl, Hobgoblin or Hobby Owl, Golden Owl, Silver Owl, White Owl, Night Owl, Rat Owl, Scritch Owl, Screech Owl, Straw Owl, Barnyard Owl, Delicate Owl. - taken from www.owlpages.come.
 

FB page - https://www.facebook.com/mynaturefriends?ref=hl

Also see Bangalore Barn Owl Conservation Group.
 

Regards,

Asha