Well, I reckon if you had just settled in for your bedtime and someone came and stuck a camera in your face you wouldn’t be too happy either. 😉 

My focus this past Sunday was to try to find some owls and while I didn’t have much luck, I did come across this one in a spot where I used to frequently find them.

Unfortunately, sightings of them in the area have become less frequent thanks to the county “improving” the open space over the past couple of years.

Owls, coyotes, bald eagles, foxes and more used to call this place home but concrete paths and a playground have increased people traffic and off-leash dogs, pushing out the wildlife. Now, I see they have put up a disc golf course right through the owls’ prime habitat.

What was once truly open space is now more a park and that makes me sad. Open space should be just that, open – not organized recreation which simply ruins the landscape and chases out the native creatures.

A truly extraordinary sighting yesterday while out for a hike. My primary goal was to find owls and having photographed one earlier in the morning, I was looking for more.

As I walked a path near the South Platte River, a stand of trees was to my east with the rising sun backlighting them. I find that is a handy trick to make owls easier to spot as their silhouette stands out. Sure enough, up high on the end of a broken tree branch and in the open was a perfect owl silhouette.

I stopped, snapped a quick, poorly exposed capture shooting into the sun while still at a distance. Then slowly, purposefully, I moved forward, being very careful not to scare off this owl. As I got closer, I noticed the owl wasn’t moving at all but as I was looking into the sun and couldn’t make out any detail, I assumed that it was just focused on me.

I closed to about 20 yards from the tree, put up my camera, adjusted the exposure to compensate for the lighting and… Damn!

Yup, the ever-elusive “wood owl” – see the first comment for a better look. My wife and I always joke about seeing “tree elk” and “rock bears” when on photo excursions. Now I can chalk up another, similarly elusive form of “wildlife.”  😀

Be careful out there, you never know what lurks in the shadows and is watching you.

Taken back in March on a very foggy morning along the South Platte River. The fog was so thick I couldn’t see more than 20 feet in front of me as I hiked along. I was on the lookout for owls though as they frequent this spot and turning toward the sun, I see the silhouetted, unmistakable form of one.

I’m not sure who was more surprised, it or me. With the fog, it was impossible to get a clear capture so a conversion to grainy black and white seemed to work well for today’s holiday. I hope all you ghouls and goblins have a fantastic Halloween!

Well, guess hoo hoo is coming to dinner?

Last night we had an unexpected guest at dinnertime. Just as we were sitting down to eat, I saw the unmistakable form of a great horned owl fly by the dining area window and land at the top of a pine tree in our backyard.

Of course our meal got put on hold while we checked out our visitor. Thankfully it was quite content and gave me time to grab my camera. As it was past sunset, light was at an absolute minimum but I managed a couple decent shots.

This dinner guest was quite polite as well and even brought its own food (notice the rabbit’s leg). While we enjoyed each other’s company, we did not share meals. 😉

I was long overdue for a return visit to this nest and had hoped to get pictures of the little ones before they branched out. Well, I clearly waited too long.

This morning I found the trio hanging out way up in a neighboring tree. They clearly weren’t ready to break that sibling bond just yet as they were hunkered down together against some pretty stiff winds. Thankfully, their chosen spot was pretty well-sheltered from the direction the wind was coming from.

Two of the owlets clearly were aware of me. The third, well, it clearly couldn’t have cared less and continued to sleep on its sibling’s back.

Oh, that light! Goodness, it was absolutely awesome as I photographed this beautiful owl. I am not sure if this was dad or mom (I suspect mom). As I walked along I could hear a magpie raising a huge ruckus – a telltale sign that there is some sort of raptor nearby. Sure enough, following the sound led me to the owl. The magpie didn’t hang around which was fine, this is what I was looking for.

My how big they have gotten! This not-so-little great horned owl owlet was stepping out from the nest and exploring its world this past weekend.

I’m not sure who was more surprised, me or it. I had expected to find it and its sibling still in the nest but as I walked by their tree, I found this one in the same tree but a good bit higher and out away from the home site.

While it still has a good bit of down on its chest and head, its back is showing its feathers coming in nicely. It won’t be long and it will be flying and moving out into the big world on its own.

The golden light of sunrise on these two little great horned owls yesterday morning.

Last week I posted an image of this nest showing mama sitting in it and a very well-hidden owlet underneath her. The scene was quite different on my most recent visit.

Mama was perched beside the nest and inside were these two curious owlets. I am absolutely in love with this capture. Those beautiful yellow eyes peering out, half-hidden, make for a pretty neat shot.

The adult female was initially just off to the right but decided she didn’t want her picture taken and moved behind the trunk and out of sight.

A lucky encounter this past weekend. Driving to my chosen photo destination, I happen across this gorgeous great horned owl hanging out on a wire. Behind it, the waning gibbous moon was sitting bright in the sky.

The sun wasn’t up yet and light was at a premium so it was tough to get a decent exposure of the owl. Further, knowing it wasn’t likely to hang around, I didn’t have time to play around with camera settings. I quickly fired off a few shots from my truck just before the owl flew off and surprisingly, they didn’t turn out too bad.