The bracket is made!
I think this year's lineup is an improvement over last year. Based on what I've seen, all the opening matches look very competitive. My goal was to fix some of the lop-sided wins we had, and I'm feeling good about how this schedule looks.
There's going to be some tough choices for you guys. Much like last year, I'm glad I don't need to decide, but I'm still going to have to accept some painful loses at some point. I try to keep impartial during the tournament, but I definitely have some personal favorites. Sooty vs GHO is one where I'm not looking forward to saying goodbye to either one.
You guys didn't nominate my beloved Spotted Wood Owl. Buff Fronted got in, which I was happy for, but its first opponent is last year's winner.
I'm excited to see the Battle of the Southern Hemisphere between Australia's Barking Owl and NZ's Morepork.
We've got Eurasia's biggest owls going head-to-head.
Snowy, Burrowing, and Buffy are all up against some flashy newcomers where we could have a surprise victory like the unexpected triumphs the Flammulated Owl had last year,
I think I will start the games Wed, 4 DEC after I get back from some travel. Then we've got a little over 2 weeks of excitement to crown this year's winner. I'll put the final 4 owls in the banner again and the winner gets the icon.
Got a personal favorite you're ready to cheer on to victory?
Let me know which matches you are most looking forward to or dreading the most!
It is pretty time consuming, and some of the rarer owls are really hard to find good pics of, but seeing everyone get passionate about their favorite and feeling the tension on the close voting makes everyone really feel involved in the community. It also gives me a better idea of what you guys like and want to see more of. It pulled in a lot of new fans from the All feed too, so it's good advertising for us.
I think it helps my overall goal of letting everyone know about all 250+ owls, to show how unique they all can be, and to give people a bigger reason to care about our planet and the people trying to save it, one animal or tree at a time. It's becoming more crucial all the time, and saving nature starts with making people appreciate what we have and to give it intrinsic value.
I got one of these guys who lands on my roof occasionally
I believe that is a Spotted Eagle Owl, not a GHO. The Great Horns do get greyer the further north they go. Spotted is an African Owl, GHO is American. Don't know where you're at, but that should help.
I kinda love that about the Middle East and African Eagle Owls, they kind of gradient between the GHO and the Eurasian Eagle.