Views, Springs, and Owls

On our third day, we planned to do a loop ride.  We would thread our way through the two domes on the left in the photo above, where we would find Cowboy Cave.  The sky was cloudy but the views were fine as we set out. 
As we neared the cave after a 10 mile ride, the animals were ready for a drink.  Above, Daisy is standing on a precipice with a 500 foot sheer drop into a sandstone amphitheatre, where Steve suspected we would find a spring.  We looked down and saw water flowing.  All we had to do was find a way to reach it.  After rejecting a few scary burro trails, we finally found a trail made by some of the smarter, safety-minded burros.  We followed the smart trail and reached the bottom of the canyon without incident.

Ah, refreshing.

Even more refreshing.  The size of the pool and stream may not look like much to those of you from rainy climates, but this is a large spring for the Canyonlands area.

While exploring around the spring, Steve flushed a bird with an almost 2 foot wingspan. It conveniently landed in a pinyon within camera range. 
This Western Screech-Owl is no more than 9 inches in length and weighs only about 5 ounces. 
Owl feathers have a comb-like or fringe-like leading edge of their primary wing feathers. With a normal bird in flight, air rushes over the surface of the wing, creating turbulence, which makes a gushing noise. With an Owl's wing, the comb-like feather edge breaks down the turbulence into little groups called micro-turbulences. This effectively muffles the sound of the air rushing over the wing surface and allows the Owl to fly silently.  http://www.owlpages.com/articles.php?section=Owl+Physiology&title=Feathers
The Western Screech-Owl eats rodents and insects. 
And yes, it's unusual to see one in the daytime.