Wildlife, landscape and weather photography
There was no danger of me speeding past this little one when I saw it soon after sunrise recently. It was quite content to sit on its manmade perch and take in the scenery of Colorado’s great plains.
These little guys won’t be around too much longer as they will be starting their trek to the south. Even now, with their little ones fledged, most have dispersed and they are getting harder to find.
Normally a picture of these little guys will solicit a comment along the lines of, “Aww. They are so cute!” Well, that isn’t always the case.
This hard-working dad had spent the better part of the morning providing for his family. On the menu were a variety of bugs and a vole. After sharing the bounty and partaking in breakfast, he flew up and perched on a sign right in front of me.
His face wore the remnants of his meal and indeed, he looked pretty darned serious. Of course having to work so hard to feed seven little owlet mouths might have made him a bit grumpy too. 😉
Last weekend I spent two fantastic mornings photographing these cool little ones in Larimer County, Colorado. They have chosen a home in an open space right near a hiking path and are extraordinarily tolerant of the humans that come walking by.
The adults have seven little mouths to feed so they are constantly flying around nabbing whatever grub they can find. Here, the female returns from a hunting trip, empty-handed much to the chagrin of one of the little ones.
A fun encounter with this handsome fellow last weekend.
He was out in a field, a bit too far for me to get a decent show when much to my surprise, he flew up and landed right in front of me. The post-sunrise light was gorgeous and lit him up nicely although, judging by the look on his face, he might not have really wanted his picture taken right then.
During the summer burrowing #owls can be found across much of the western United States. At more southern latitudes closer to Mexico and in Florida they stay in place year round. Unlike most owls, Burrowing Owls are diurnal (versus nocturnal) so it is quite common to find them out and about during the day.
This beautiful, dark burrowing owl has chosen a rather conspicuous spot for a home next to a busy road. However, it has also gotten to be quite good at hunkering down and staying out of sight. This is zoomed in and cropped but to the naked eye, you would be hard-pressed to spot it if you didn’t know where to look.
This guy was very keen on guarding his burrow, presumably with his mate hidden within. The morning sun was gorgeous and lit him up nicely.
I always have a ton of fun photographing these summertime visitors to the Colorado plains. This year though, all but one of my usual ‘hot spots’ has come up dry and I haven’t had much luck finding more. They are out there, I hope! Just going to have to put some miles on my truck to find them
My first sighting of these awesome little guys this year.
A friend let me know he had eyes on some east of Denver but at the time I was well north of the area photographing a different subject. I wrapped that up and raced down to see. While there will be plenty of time and opportunities to get pics later this year, the first of the season is always a bit exciting.
By the time I got there, it was mid-morning, the light was harsh and the somewhat heavy traffic at this particular spot seemed to have the owls a bit shy so the pics aren’t anything extraordinary. Nevertheless, it is fun to have these summertime residents back.
Another one of the summertime critters that I am looking forward to seeing soon.
Usually I see the burrowing owls return to the Colorado plains during the first couple of weeks of April. That time of year, snow is not out of the question here and I suspect that sometimes that catches the little guys off guard.
This image was taken last year and was the first owl of the season I had seen. We had just received a nice shot of snow and as I was driving, I see it hanging out right next to the road. It was quite patient and not the least bit bothered by me. The owl even gave me some nice calls which is what it was doing when this image was taken.
Going back to the beginning of July for this image of a male Burrowing Owl near Denver International Airport. It seemed pretty clear the guy didn’t really appreciate having a camera pointed at him. 😉
A friend had turned me onto a spot that had a number of families of these cool little dudes hanging out and while I didn’t get to spend much time with them, I did have fun when I did.
In Colorado, Burrowing Owls are here during the spring and summer. By now, most, if not all, have started their migration south to warmer environs for the winter. I will be anxiously awaiting their return.
“I’m telling you, that Prairie Dog was THIS big!”
These four Burrowing Owl owlets were quite animated on this morning a couple weeks ago. No, they weren’t really chatting about the neighboring rodents. They were however getting very close to flying and there was a lot of wing flapping going on. Here, one was testing out those wings while three of its siblings looked on.
