For the past two months, we have been hearing at least two great horned owls calling to each other near our house. Usually we begin to hear them right after sunset while I am out grilling up dinner (yes, we are some of those crazy Coloradoans that barbeque in the freezing cold and snow – haha).

I had looked many times and stood out there in the dark but had not seen them – until this week. Now, three nights in a row I have spotted one of them in a neighbor’s tree, calling out to its potential mate.

As you can see, this was after sunset but the shadowy form kind of makes for cool images. Now is the time of year when these guys start pairing up, setting the stage for the spring babies. I drove around last night, hoping to find a nest but didn’t have any luck but will keep trying.

The trees have eyes! Four of them in fact. 😉 

It’s been quite a while since I have visited this pair of great horned owls. During the winter, they oftentimes spend the daytime roosted in a lone tree kind of out in the middle of nowhere. Given the location, they aren’t too comfortable with human visitors but on Thursday, they actually let me get some decent captures.

The tree is very busy and has dead leaves lingering so there is no hope of a clear shot of them but it made for a fun shot and getting both in the same frame, facing the same direction while looking at me was a bonus.

In hiking out to them, I did also get a refresher on how thin ice usually is here in Colorado and how you really shouldn’t step on it. Seems like that is a lesson I have to learn at least once a year that results in very cold and wet feet.

A bit of a lost gem of a picture I re-discovered this morning. I was trying to pick a picture of these cool raptors to post to Nextdoor as I have been trying in vain to find some great horned owls that have been hooting up a storm at night and thought maybe one of my neighbors might have information as to where they are.

Anyway, as I was looking I came across this image, taken in mid-April last year. This is the female from the coolest great horned owl nest I have ever photographed. She had three owlets and they had grown big enough that she couldn’t really sit in the nest anymore.

Oftentimes she would perch in a pine tree across the trail and keep close watch on them. On this evening, the setting sun really lit her up beautifully giving me this cool capture. You can check out a pic of the nest and her with two of her three owlets in this image I shared back then here.

Something I fully intend to do this weekend – take a nap or two! 😉 

It has been a while since I have been able to spot any great horned owls. That was not for a lack of trying – just wasn’t having any luck.

Finally on Wednesday I happened across this sleepy head, well hunkered down and enjoying a relatively warm fall day. I sat for a good half hour hoping it would open its eyes but I never got more than this shot of it just barely opening its eyes to see if I was still there.

Have a great weekend, everyone, nap or not!

You might remember recent pictures I shared of a great horned owl nest inside of a broken off tree. Well, the kids have flown the coop!

The three have hopped out of the nest and climbed a nearby tree where they were hanging out this past Saturday. The owlets though are not alone as dad and mom were perched nearby, keeping close watch on the little ones.

As you can see, the owlets have lost most of their down and will soon be taking their first flights. This may have been the last time I see them.

This is the same owl I recently posted that has a home in a magpie nest of all places. She clearly did not appreciate the camera pointed at her, a recurring theme with many of my photo targets. 😀 I hear she has at least two little ones in there so I will have to see if I can spot them soon.

Well, this was a first for me.

Great horned owls don’t build their own nests. Instead, they usually take over another raptor’s pre-existing nest or choose a cavity in a tree. This owl opted to take over a much smaller bird’s nest, that of a magpie.

As you can see, while the nest is tall, it isn’t very far across and so the owl doesn’t have much room in there. Once it has little ones that start growing, it will be pushed out.

For the time being though it is extraordinarily well hidden in there. I would have never known it was there if a friend hadn’t tipped me off to it.

You have seen me share pics of this great horned owl nest before. This time there is something new to see.

Driving home from work Friday I was happy to see mom hanging out on the edge of the nest cavity, the first time I have ever seen that. That of course required a stop so I snapped a few quick pics of her and what I thought were her two owlets.

When I got home and processed the pics what do I see? Not two but THREE little sets of eyes in there – a bonus baby! With that many in there, mom and dad won’t be spending much time in the nest anymore as they start running out of room. It will be fun to watch these three little ones as they grow up and fledge.

Check out mama and her little one! There actually was a second one to the left of mama but it was a bit hidden in this image. I never could get an angle to see both of them at once.

I have been watching this great horned owl and her mate for a few years now and two owlets usually is the magic number. They have a very cool nest as you can tell although photographing it is difficult.

The opening faces north so it is shaded in there all day which, while nice for them, makes it hard to get good light. It will be fun over the coming weeks to watch the little ones grow and eventually head off on their own.