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American kestrel chases a great horned owl

March 15, 2023 by Tony

American kestrel chases a great horned owl
A female American kestrel chases a great horned owl that had intruded on her territory. (© Tony’s Takes)

One of those pics I call ‘content over quality’ as the story behind the pic is way better that the actual image.

I visited my local great horned owls and thankfully, easily found dad in one of his favorite trees. As usual, he pretty much ignored me, continuing his morning nap. In the background, I was hearing the area kestrels making some noise but didn’t think much of it.

Well, I wish I had been paying closer attention because they were apparently not too happy with dad great horned owl being near their home. Out of the blue, mama kestrel dives in at the owl! In an instant, he launches into the air, fleeing his diminutive assailant.

Next thing I know, the chase is on. It all happened so fast, I wasn’t ready and my camera settings weren’t right to capture fast-movers but I snapped away anyway as the owl fled to another stand of trees with the kestrel in hot pursuit. This is the best pic of the series that at least shows the fun bit of action. In he end, the owl found himself a different hiding place and mama kestrel settled down.

Great horned owl is all eyes

March 8, 2023 by Tony

Great horned owl is all eyes
A great horned owl is focused on the photographer. (© Tony’s Takes)

Somehow I don’t think dad was too happy I found him. Mama was hunkered down in the nest and all I could see were tail feathers so I began the hunt for dad. It took me a good while but I did finally find him in one of his favorite hiding spots.

He was actually far more well-hidden than this picture indicates as I had to lay down on the ground to get below the intervening brush to get a clear view. So worth it.

Mama great horned owl hunkered down next to the highway

February 27, 2023 by Tony

Mama great horned owl hunkered down next to the highway
A female great horned owl hunkers down in her nest next to a busy highway in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Driving home from my photo excursion yesterday I spotted a large nest and the unmistakable “ears” of a great horned owl sticking up. That, of course, required investigation. I went to the next exit then backtracked along the frontage road. There I found mama sitting in her home and likely on eggs or with little ones under her. Being only 150 feet from a busy interstate probably doesn’t allow her much rest.

Well, hello there, dad!

February 4, 2023 by Tony

Well, hello there, dad!
A male great horned owl hangs out near the family home. (© Tony’s Takes)

The follow up picture to the image of mom I shared this morning. As I mentioned, I hadn’t seen this pair in quite a while so was happy to spot them yesterday. While mom was easy to find since she was in the nest, this guy took a good bit more work.

I spent more than a half hour walking through the trees, stopping every 10 feet and studying the branches, trying to find him. I was just about to give up when I finally saw him. As usual with these guys, there weren’t too many options for getting pics with only one or two angles.

I like this shot as it does a nice job showing how amazingly well they blend in with the environment – the pattern of his back nearly perfectly matches the tree.

Well, hello there, mama!

February 4, 2023 by Tony

Well, hello there, mama!
A female great horned owl stays hunkered down in her nest. (© Tony’s Takes)

Finally! Over a half dozen visits in recent months to this spot and I had not seen my great horned owl friends. I was growing concerned.

Knowing owls are starting to sit on their nests, I went back yesterday and thankfully, there she was, hunkered down and certainly on eggs. As usual, she put on her happy face, no doubt pleased to see me. 😀

I’ll be looking forward to seeing more of her and her little ones in the coming months. Want to see dad? Check back this afternoon and I’ll share his pic too.

Video slideshow – Top Shots 2022: Owls

December 26, 2022 by Tony Leave a Comment

As I do every year, I close things out with recap videos of some of the cool photo subjects I have photographed during my photo year (Oct – Sep). Kicking things off, let’s go with a subject everyone loves – owls! I was fortunate to photograph five species of owls during the period from the diminutive burrowing owl and eastern screech owl to bigger long eared owls, a short eared owl (captive) and great horned owls. Enjoy the show and keep an eye out for a new slideshow each day through the end of the year.

Happy h-OWL-oween!

October 31, 2022 by Tony Leave a Comment

A great horned owl owlet’s eyes glow yellow in a black and white image for Halloween. (© Tony’s Takes)

Beware those yellow eyes peering at you in the dark. You never know what they might belong to. Actually you probably don’t have much to fear from this great horned owl owlet that I got a picture of back in April but tonight your imagination may run wild if you see something like this. It does kind of have an evil look. 😉

Peek-a-boo with a great horned owl owlet

June 1, 2022 by Tony Leave a Comment

Peek-a-boo with a great horned owl owlet
A great horned owl owlet peers out from its perch. (© Tony’s Takes)

This little one seemed to think it had a pretty good hiding place. Clearly not. 😉 

This past Sunday I checked on the last, lingering owlets of the nests that I watch and found the family all doing well.

The young ones were hanging out in two different spots of the same tree while mama was in an adjacent tree. All gave me some pretty neat shots but this was by far my favorite. So cute and those big eyes were awesome!

Great horned owl owlets seem less than pleased with our late spring snow

May 22, 2022 by Tony Leave a Comment

Great horned owl owlets seem less than pleased with our late spring snow
Great horned owl owlets looking grumpy. (© Tony’s Takes)

Looking a bit damp and definitely giving a grumpy look, these two owlets looked like they would have preferred some drier conditions. Ha!

These are about the last, lingering owlets from any of the nests I watch. They are still pretty young and while not flying yet, they have migrated from the nest tree to one with a bit more cover.

Great horned owl owlets will leave the nest, usually in a less than graceful fall, then move to neighboring trees, walking across the ground and then climbing the other tree. Dad and Mom will continue to feed them but, eventually, start coaxing them to try to fly to them to get their meals.

Another great horned owl nest

May 5, 2022 by Tony 1 Comment

Another great horned owl nest
A great horned owl owlet peers out from its nest in Thornton, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

One of those lucky finds. A couple of weeks ago I was scouting some area open spaces looking for foxes when I spotted this nest.

At the time, I could see one owlet with mama in it. This past weekend I went by again and saw two golden eyes peering over the rim. It seems like there might be another owlet in front of the one but I can’t tell for sure.

After snapping some pics of the little one I said, “I wonder where mama is?” Well, as it turns out she was perched in the tree directly above where I stopped my truck.

A great horned owl standing watch near its nest. (© Tony's Takes)
A great horned owl standing watch near its nest. (© Tony’s Takes)
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