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.

This pretty lady is sitting inside this broken off tree, the second year in a row she has made it her home. Any day now, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a little white, fuzzy head or two in there with her.

Great horned owls, while very common, do a fantastic job of hiding, just like this. This is a pretty public spot but she goes largely unnoticed. It helps that you can only see it looking south and into the sun so the cavity is in shadows most of the time. Good for them, not the best for photographs though.

A little bit of action from this awesome raptor. I took these pics some time ago but forgot to ever share them so here you go!

After work I had gone for a hike and came across this owl in a densely wooded area. It gave me some nice poses and was quite comfortable with me being there.

However, when someone else came walking through, it decided it had enough of the attention. The owl quickly turned and launched, heading off for a more private spot.

These guys rarely give you a chance to get a flight shot so I was pretty danged happy to get them. The last shot in the sequence I really like as the backlighting does a nice job on its wings.

Great horned owl takes flight - 1 of 5

Great horned owl takes flight - 2 of 5

Great horned owl takes flight - 3 of 5

Great horned owl takes flight - 4 of 5

Great horned owl takes flight - 5 of 5

Now this was something I hadn’t seen before. I spotted this gorgeous great horned owl this past weekend. It gave me a nice batch of pictures as it stood guard in the early morning sun.

What I did not realize at the time was that it had a fish in its talons! It was only when I got home and downloaded the pictures to my computer that I saw it.

Certainly owls are meat-eaters but their normal preference is for mice, voles and other more terrestrial food sources. I don’t expect the #owl actually caught the fish. More likely is that the fish was dropped by one of the bald eagles in the area and the owl wasn’t too proud to grab the leftovers.

Ever feel like you are being watched? It could be a creature like this great horned owl staying well-concealed but fully aware of you.

Such was the case for me yesterday on my photo walk. I was having a less than ideal morning with few worthy subjects. I decided to hike through some very thick trees along the South Platte River, knowing I have spotted owls there before.

As I am stepping over a log, I look up and happen to be lucky enough to spot this guy / gal looking right at me. I snapped a couple of quick shots of it before it took off. This image really pleases me as it shows just how we oftentimes have no idea what is right there, hiding and watching us.

Taken in Adams County, Colorado. 

A friend tipped me off to a spot not far from home where a great horned owl pair has been hanging out (thank you!).

This past Saturday I went to have a look and after a good while searching a stand of trees, I happened across one of them. It actually didn’t mind me one bit and let me take tons of pics of it sleeping.

However, some magpies soon discovered its hiding space and that did not go over so well. The owl woke up and stood ready, keeping close watch on the annoying noisemakers. It soon fled for a more sheltered spot, out of view of the magpies and I am sure enjoyed the quiet. 

By the way, in looking at this image, be sure to check out those talons. Wow!

Taken in  Thornton, Colorado.