Great Horned Owls

[Geoffrey Montagu]

This is a rather long story, but I'll keep it as brief as possible. Thanks to a gentleman who discovered this nest with one parent and two young Great Horned Owls on his property for contacting a photographer who in turn contacted Grace Scalzo, who was just a bit to far, so she called Bill Dix who ultimately called me, Thanks very much, Bill. How great is our network of photographers. Bill, his wife and I drove there to meet the gentleman and subsequently were able to get some images of the youngsters. The parent did not show up. The twigs in the left owls face were unavoidable. This is a lifer for me. C&C welcome.

D4s, Nikon 500mm + 1.4 tc, 1/800, F 9.0, ISO 800, Gitzo tripod, Wimberley Gimbal head.


Geoffrey

[Joseph Przybyla]

Interesting story, nice image, beautiful owlets. Thank you for sharing.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Congratulations on the lifer...and a double one at that. There is always that one stray twig eh! Still a nice setting, and good that the sunlight was splashing on the youngsters. I like the double staring pose. A bit noisier than I would prefer (most noticeable on the eyes). Sounds like you guys had fun!

[Karl Egressy]

Congratulation on a lifer, it rarely happens for me anymore and I miss the thrill going with it. Great find and nice image.

[Grace Scalzo]

So glad that you and Bill were able to make the trip. Really, if that left owl had just moved over a little......but I will say that the stick does not ruin the image for me, makes him look impish. Love the eye contact...I'd just burn in the pupils.

[Bill Dewey]

Wow, two great stories in one thread, very nice network going on here.

I hope that you will have the opportunity to return and monitor their growth over the season. It is such a joy to watch the young grow, and that way you will be able to catch them without the distractions.

Well done, they certainly are so cute.

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice view of the nest, I wish the left owlet's eye was not blocked by the branch... the IQ is not great, image is soft and noisy. opening up the aperture and increasing the shutter speed will allow you to get a sharper frame.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Thanks for your comments and suggestions everyone, and a special thanks again to Grace for contacting Bill. We did get to return yesterday to see and photograph both owlets out of the nest. The smaller of the two was half hopping and flying from branch to branch giving its wings a good workout. The heftier one was content standing on a branch and catching some early morning sun, and an occasional snooze with one eye partially open. Quite an amazing and wonderful experience.



Geoffrey