Vachement chouette

May 31, 2014 • 1:30 pm

By Matthew Cobb This popped up in my Twitter feed https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BnDlawWCMAAnoHL.jpg Not sure what kind of owl it is – any ideas? Apologies to the photographer – I don’t know who took it. The title of this post is one of Jerry’s favourite French ooh raises. It means “terrific, fab”, but translates literally as “cowly owl”.

24 thoughts on “Vachement chouette”

    1. You are probably right as Saw Whet owls are strictly nocturnal. Elf owls are the smallest owls so better to fit in the pipe, too!

  4. I’d guess Athene noctua, the Little Owl, quite common in Europe…

  5. “Oh, hoot. Please. Next I’m going to try a “Do not disturb” sign.

    Sigh. You think it would be enough with Pipe down…”

    1. Maybe it’s Centrally Heated Wol?
      Scene : up on the flat bit of the roof, trying to fix the mid-winter leaks, and it’s perishing cold. So as Dad unrolls the next sheet of felt, I warm my fingers in the jet of warm air issuing from one of the ventilation pipes.
      Quoth Dad : “Have you thought about where that warm air is coming from?”
      Quoth I : “No.” [Pause, thinking] “We’re over 10m up from the liquid level in the sewers. I feel no droplets. I’ll wash my hands before lunch. [SHRUG]”
      Cue expressions of disgust.

  8. ‘Ya pas de doute que ce petit hibou,dit chouette, est tres chouette, mes amis 🙂

      1. Memo pour moi (dans Franglais incroyable) : Il me faut trouver une cravate decoree des hiboux, parce que j’ai seulement des cravattes des pingouins.
        Oh, un moment, il y a un dictionnaire Anglo-Grenouille ici.
        “Chouette,” a “little cabbage”. Where’d they get that?
        That has got the potential to leave me wearing some particularly silly clothes.

      2. Selon “Larousse” les chouettes sont des oiseaux rapaces nocturnes qui n’ont pas de plumes en aigrette de chaque cote de la tete,tandis que les hiboux peuvent souvent en avoir mais ce n’est pas obligatoire…

        1. Je pensais que les chouettes se distinguaient des hiboux pas l’absence d’aigrettes.

          Je croyais que cs mots étiaent bien définis, mais je m’aperçois que ça n’est pas si clair que je le croyais.

          Merci de m’instruire 🙂

  9. Looks like Athene noctua (Little Owl). From the style of piping and the stone block, I assume it’s in Europe. A bit dark for Athene cunicularia (burrowing owl) but that would be my choice if this were a New World photo. Definitely NOT an elf owl, which is smaller and has different markings and facial expression.

  10. Seems like chouette oughtta be a Brussels sprout, or something along those lines.

  13. In French, there are two words for owl: hibou and chouette. Hibou is used for owls who have “ears” (two tufts of feathers on either side of the top of their heads), chouette is used for those which don’t have “ears”.

    Chouette also means “neat” as in “this is neat music, neat food, etc.,”

    Vachement means “really” as in “this is really good”

    So “vachement chouette” means “really neat”.

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