Stamp Seal with a Toadstool Base. Manufactured in the 2nd half of the 19th century, presumed Russian origin. Materials are vermeil (silver gilded with gold), enamel paint and shell. From the Mus茅e d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva, inventory number: 018080.
I heard it's Superb Owl Sunday so I have prepared some superb owls for you.
The barn owl is the most widespread species of owl, living on every continent except Antarctica. Their faces are shaped like a disk to help their hearing, giving them some of the best hearing of any owl. They mostly hunt by sound.
Snowy owls are the largest arctic predatory birds, They are born with black feathers and get whiter as they age. Females usually have more dark feathers than males.
Eastern screech owls have a few feather variants that make them look like completely different species.
The southern white-faced owl can increase its metabolic rate during winter to compensate for the cold and lack of food. They lay their eggs in nests built and abandoned by other birds.
The great grey owl is the largest owl by length, but a lot of that is feathers and they're actually very light for their size. Their hearing is good enough to hear rodents burrowing through snow and they can break through hard-packed snow to catch prey.
Blakiston's fish owl is the largest owl by mass and eats mostly fish. Despite the name, they may be more closely related to eagle owls than fish owls.
The elf owl is the smallest owl species, barely larger than a sparrow. They hunt bugs and play dead when caught. They like to live in holes in saguaro cacti.
Burrowing owls live in underground burrows. While they can dig, they mostly take over burrows from other animals. Farmers killing prairie dogs has severely reduced burrowing owl populations. They decorate their burrows with feces to attract bugs to eat.
The barking owl is called that because
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Its nice to have a day to appreciate superb owls. Feel free to spread the love by reblogging with some more owl facts.
A pet portrait painting of a cute grey British Shorthair cat named Mia, laying in the grass, which was her favorite thing to do. Acrylic painting on 9x12 inch (22.9 x 30.5 cm) stretched canvas, March 2024.
A big thank you to @whitedarkmoonflower for trusting me with capturing your girl's beauty on canvas! This was a fun one to paint due to all the subtle colors in her fur, as well as those fiery copper orange eyes! Grey fur has so much variation in colors from the lighting. It can appear blue or even violet in some areas, and creamy white in others. I also had a blast painting the grass and the out-of-focus background.
Octopus Chatelaine. Manufactured by William B. Kerr & Co. in Newark, New Jersey, ca. 1900. Medium is 800 silver, sterling silver. From the collection of Mary Nunn, exhibited by SFO Museum for their 'The Allure of Art Nouveau' exhibition, Feb 13, 2016鈥揂ug 26, 2016.