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.

As I was wrapping up my morning at my favorite bald eagle nest, I swung by this great horned owl nest. There, I saw mama and shot a couple quick shots of her. As I was shooting into the sun and she was pretty well buried, I knew any pics wouldn’t be all that great so I moved on quickly.

Much to my surprise, when I got home and processed the pictures, I spotted an extra set of eyes looking at me! The first owlet of the season for me.

This owl nest is extremely close to the bald eagle nest which is kind of unusual. I have seen video of owls attacking eagle nests at night so I just hope these guys leave the eagles alone.

We have been hearing a pair of great horned owls in our neighborhood for weeks. Only twice have I gotten a shadowy glimpse of them.

Recently, leaving the house for an early morning photo drive I spotted an owl perfectly perched on the corner of a house up the street. Finally my chance and I was excited!

I kept going a ways so as not to scare it off, quietly turned around, unpacked my camera and got ready to capture pics of this awesome bird. Once I had a clear view, I aimed, focused and fired off a bunch of shots. Umm. Yeah. Not quite what I was thinking it was. 😀

It has been a while since I have seen the owls at this particular spot in suburbia but I figured it would happen any day now. I assume this is the male and that the female is in the nest behind him.

This is not an easy spot to photograph so I rarely do as the nest is 40+ feet up in a very busy tree with few clear spots to get pictures. This morning as I was wrapping up my photo drive I happened to spot his silhouette so of course had to stop.

He wasn’t too concerned about having been seen though as he only managed to barely crack his eyes open to look at me.

This was a pleasant surprise. I was running errands after work yesterday and spotted a couple of bald eagles. Naturally I had to follow and try to get pictures. I ended up losing track of them somewhere over an area open space.

Rather than pack it in, I decided to go for a walk through the area as I have seen some cool things there and wanted to try to clear my head. In a stand of trees, I spotted a great horned owl. This isn’t unusual as I have seen them there before however I have never found any sort of a nest.

Since I wasn’t in any rush, I took the time to go tree by tree, trying to see if I could find their home. Sure enough, after about 20 minutes I spotted it, in a broken off tree about 15 feet above the ground. Best of all, there she was, mama hunkered down and likely laying on eggs.

One pic shows dad when I spotted him, the other mom in the nest cavity. Should the nest be successful and young ones emerge in a couple months, this will be an awesome photo spot. This is the start of nesting season so I will definitely be on the lookout for more.