Not a "job job" per say as the vast majority of us aren't paid, but this is my second year volunteering at a wildlife rehab center, which is a 90+% female job.

I think it's great! I was primarily raised by both my grandmothers who both seemed to be the boss in their households, and were both very confident and assertive in different ways, and were very positive role models to me growing up, so I never had any issues with women in charge of things.

So now besides getting to spend the weekend with amazing animals, I also get to spend it with some amazing ladies! There are 2 other guys on my shift right now, and they're both good as well. I think this being something we do without it being a breadwinning activity really cuts out a lot of ego, as there's nothing to really get ahead of anyone else in.

Everyone likes me because I'm reliable and friendly and I'm there to try and make things run better and to make the public events more fun, so I take on extra activities as well. They're all super positive and supportive, which being relatively shy and with bad self esteem, I appreciate it immensely.

Everyone is just so badass in a good way, it's one of the best things I've done, and I don't feel any staff, volunteers, or the public has treated me any different than anyone else. I've heard the senior people talk about other guys that have worked there and nothing sounded anti-male either.

The only thing they single me out for is to grab high up items, which I'm ok with ☺️

That's a clean looking bird. So white!

The orcas are trying. 😜

Animals watch us and learn from us in some ways even more than we watch and learn from them.

Whichever points in my life I've been interested in birds, the robins have always been there. Even as a little kid, they're easy to pick out. They'd nest in the tree outside my bedroom window when I was little. Even now, I've been enjoying the fledglings going around my yard with their parents learning how to hunt their food. Always been a favorite.

I've seen an albino or leucistic cardinal at one point as well at another nature center, but I can never figure out what place it was when going back through photos. I remember Pearl though since she was relatively close to me, so I got to see her multiple times over 8 or 9 years.

It might be my fav owl pun name. They did good with that one!

Thanks for sharing! I will copy my comments over here as well to help share some things I found really neat about your photo. You captured a bunch of cool bits of owl anatomy all in one go. Everyone should view in full size to check everything out in detail.

You got great detail of the fringe on the leading edges of the wing (silences microturbulences, highlighted below), which I don't see very often. There's also enough light to show the eyes are brown, not black, and the reflection gives some highlight to the tapetum lucidum (reflecting membrane at the back of the eye to enhance low light vision) without being too much. Facial disc (ring around the face of stiff feathers for capturing and reflecting sound to the ears) also stands out nicely.

I normally don't share ambassadors after they're gone unless they have either done something remarkable or if they're one I know. Pearl is both.

I've seen Pearl at least 3 times over the years. She was always rather sociable, and it's something really special to know you're in the company of a rare animal.

Visiting The Raptor Trust is one of the experiences that made me want to get involved with birds of prey. The people and animals have all been amazing to visit. I'm glad they were able to give this bird a very long and comfortable life.

Here are some pics from my last visit with her in 2024. I know they're not very good due to all the netting. She was easier to see in person, but they are enough to trigger those special memories of the time I got to spend there.

It's head nubbies are too much!

Looks like a great tree for foot holds.

To my knowledge, all owls can bath as part of their feather maintenance routine. They seem to enjoy it when they do, but I have no idea the frequency. Since birds have a few different feather cleaning methods at their disposal (water, preen oil, anting, dust baths, sunning) perhaps it changes with what kind of things they have been getting into, just as we have different cleaners for different kinds of dirt/stains.

Here is a young GHO in a photo captioned "Shake That Thing" taking advantage of a bird bath.

Don't make fun of my regional dialect 😜

I'm a bit of an owl fancier, one could say. 😜

Die Eule Tanzt

While I'm not the biggest fan of people flashing owls, you got a very lovely shot.

You got great detail of the fringe on the leading edges of the wing, which I don't see very often. There's also enough light to show the eyes are brown, not black, and the reflection gives some highlight to the tapetum lucidum without being too much. Facial disc also stands out nicely.

Feel free to share with ![email protected] if you'd like. They tend to love when other users get to capture some nice owl photos.

They've been barred from every other aviary in town!

They're building up to it. They're still getting all the kinks sorted out of their owl filing system before moving on to ones that can also float away on them.

They're one of my favorites. They look covered in stars.

JR does not appreciate the violation of personal space. Camera is 1000 yards too close.