Baby Great Horned Owl

PrescottPhotog

Hi Everyone,

I visited the owl nest the other day and found the mom and little one being harassed by the crows. The little one had climbed the limb about 10 feet from the nest to hide in the leaves. As the crows got more brazen mom moved out on the limb to be close and to protect the little one if necessary.

Finally the crows left and mom snoozed and the little one played on the limb, breaking off branches and shredding the leaves.

The reason they have their beaks open (looking threatening) is because it was 95 here that day (Phoenix was 110) and both were really huffing and puffing from climbing the limb which was rather steep but not as steep as it looks in the photos because I am shooting upward and at an angle, but still pretty steep.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

[Deleted User]

It looks like Jnr does not like you pointing that lense at him, giving you a bit of the evil eye

Not shots

Tim

PrescottPhotog

draggin wrote:

It looks like Jnr does not like you pointing that lense at him, giving you a bit of the evil eye. Tim

Hi Tim, I think he was more curious about the kids playing in the woods just in back of me (the nest is in a city park area). The kids and dogs were really whooping it up. I was shooting my 500 + 1.4 + 2.0 stacked (1820 mm) so I could stay a long ways off. I would say I was about 250 feet or more. Mom kept snoozing, but the little one was curious about everything (as most little ones are).

Thanks for viewing.

Gale

Young Owls are so darn cute
Nice shots

Jack'll do

Beautifully done Chris. I particularly like #3 and #5 thumb

WildWally

Awesome shots Chris !!!
I wish I could see just 1 owl NOT in captivity 1 time

Maestro

Awesome yet again Chris. Love the owl eyes. Good job finding the owl in the leaves too.

PrescottPhotog

Gale wrote:

Young Owls are so darn cute
Nice shots

Hi Gale, Thanks for the compliment. This guy/gal is cute and is also huge. It looks small next to mom but mom is a very big owl. There is a male in the woods on the opposite side of the lake that is half the size of mom and about the size of the little one, so I am guessing this one is a she, just because of its size and I would bet that the male in the other woods is the dad because we don't have many around here. Actually these are the only three I have ever seen.

PrescottPhotog

Jack'll do wrote:

Beautifully done Chris. I particularly like #3 and #5 thumb

Hi Jack, Thanks for the compliments (and for not using one of the big words, that last one gave me a headache)..

The mom is so relaxed, snoozing away, while the little one takes in everything it possibly can while discovering its new world.

I don't know what it was looking at in #3 but it had it's nose to the limb like a bloodhoud..

PrescottPhotog

WildWally wrote:

Awesome shots Chris !!!
I wish I could see just 1 owl NOT in captivity 1 time

Hi Walt, I didn't see any around here for a year or more, now I have seen three in a couple months. I find them pretty easy to approach. I move very slow and try not to make eye contact and the male lets me get pretty darn close.. I posted this one about 4 months ago, it is of a male in another woods, and is very small compared to the female at the nest, less than half the size. It lives close enough to be the dad of the little one.

I assume it is a male anyway, because it is just a bit bigger than this baby is already, which as I mentioned is huge already.

#1

Dogdots

Chris I love #3 ... He looks like how I feel. Must be trying to decide what to do

riddim_maker

Great job Chris and cute subjects
Makes me want to move to Arizona
Hopefully this summer won't warm up too much

saurora

Wow, first baby Red-Tails and now baby Horned owls! You sure are getting some great shots lately, Chris! Horned owls are really big. I had one try to land on my head in a park one time. Totally scared the daylights out of me. It turned out it was an escaped adult that had been hand-raised. He was just trying to find his 'mommy'!!!! I found an ad looking for him in the paper and was able to lead the owner to the bird. They were re-united. That was my one and only owl sighting!!! (NO camera!) :cry

Giphsub

Great set Chris I must have missed that last one you said you had already posted. Beautiful shot!

PrescottPhotog

Dogdots wrote:

Chris I love #3 ... He looks like how I feel. Must be trying to decide what to do

Hi Mary Kim, Thanks for viewing and for your comments. I couldn't figure out what he was interested in on that limb.. but it sure had his attention.

PrescottPhotog

riddim_maker wrote:

Great job Chris and cute subjects
Makes me want to move to Arizona
Hopefully this summer won't warm up too much

Hi Russ, Thanks for the compliments.. To late on the heat. Phoenix was 110 last Monday and we were 90+. Today it is raining and 45 degrees.. I can't figure it out, it could be a very interesting summer for weather..

PrescottPhotog

saurora wrote:

Wow, first baby Red-Tails and now baby Horned owls! You sure are getting some great shots lately, Chris!

Hi Saurora, Thanks for the compliment. The baby Cormorants and GBH are huge and leaving the nests. The owl has a week or two to go, it has lots of feathers but still a lot of fuzz. The RT baby is growing and I noticed a bit of tail feathers (just the quills and about 1/8 inch of feather) and wing feathers.
The RT has the longest ways to go.. probably another month so I will be watching and photoing along the way.

PrescottPhotog

Giphsub wrote:

Great set Chris I must have missed that last one you said you had already posted. Beautiful shot!

Hi Mike.. I just ran across this little one a week or so ago when going back in the flooded woods to get the GBH nests. It was a lucky find because we don't have many Great Horned Owls around here. Thanks for viewing.

Harryb

Good captures of a difficult to shoot subject.