"WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY"

Great Horned Owls - 11 Photos

This is a small window into the life of a young owlet and a window of opportunity for me to photograph this young bird of prey.

The day turned cloudy with brief showers. I heard a screech of an owlet in the woods nearby and when I went to check out its direction, much to my surprise I found the owlet low on a tree branch, extremely unhappy.

I suppose it might have been its first experience of being wet in the great outdoors outside of the nest and without its mother's protective wings. The screeching was to get its mother's attention who was in a tree nearby.

The showers stopped and a much happy demeanor returned to the little owlet. Over the course of the afternoon, it flew to three different trees and in the end, a fourth one where it ended up on a branch next to Mum (Photos # 10 & 11). Mum groomed her little one and she was rewarded with a bite from the owlet. I don't know if this was a demonstration of endearment or a hint that the little one was hungry but they flew to two separate trees shortly after.

PHOTO #1

PHOTO #2

PHOTO #3

PHOTO #4

PHOTO #5

PHOTO #6

PHOTO #7

PHOTO #8

PHOTO #9

PHOTO #10

PHOTO #11