Nesting Great Horned Owl

I left Ann at home this morning, as she wanted to catch up on her household chores.  She was understandably jealous, that I was going to go birding and shooting without her, but someone had to do it.

We had discovered a Great Horned Owl’s nest in the fork of a tree a couple of days ago.  I am thinking that there are may be some owlets hidden there.  Great Horned Owls lay there egg sometime in January thru February.  The incubation period is from 28-35 days.  So based on that, the little guys should be ready to fledge.

I saw no sign of owlets, however the mother, I presume, flew from the nest as I approached from about 50 yards away.  I stayed back a good distance and watched as she landed in a nearby tree.  I got my Canon 70D and 150-600mm lens and cautiously got out of the car.  I hand-held the camera, steadying myself against a nearby tree and shot this photo.  The advantage of a long lens, of course, that I can get images from a good distance without disturbing the bird.

Great Horned Owl

I watched from behind a tree for awhile, then she took flight and flew back to the nest.  Again with my long lens, I was able to catch her peeking at me from her shelter.  Even though I was around 50 feet away she was obviously aware of me.

Great Horned Owl in her nest.

Since there was no sign of any owlets, I left her to her motherly duties and left the scene.

I drove through the local parks and saw several of the usual resident species.  I got a couple more photos to show you.

Vermilion Flycatcher

Ladder-backed Woodpecker – female

It was a fun morning even though Ann wasn’t with me.  I missed her doing most of the spotting.  But I done all right by myself, anyway.  Of course, the highlight was photographing the owl.