Great Horned Owl (fledgling).

[britishbandit]

I took this last year just after the babies left the nest. Ran into this little one completely by accident and was likley a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. The first 20 shots or so were complete junk. LOL I was so excited I was shaking, and at the time was using the Tamron 70-300mm with no IS.

The owl was pretty unconcerned about my presence until others noticed what I was photographing and moved in closer. It got defensive so I clicked a few more times (couldn't resist with the wings spread like that) and left the area. It appears one person wasn't a threat......3 people was a different story.

The mother owl chose the same nest site this year so I'll be back again, this time with a better lens (100-400 Canon), but I'm skeptical I'll get another opportunity like last year. Couldn't have asked for better lighting/location as that day. The owl was literally 15-20 feet away from me and on a branch about 4 feet off of the ground.

 

[altitude604]

#2! striking shot! love it!

 

[EricD]

Nice captures...they are so cute~

 

[Miladymimi]

Wonderful! Beautiful capture!

 

[rjackjames]

wonderful capture, #2 is striking

 

[Art Photographers]

Always great to see these and # 2 is a Fabulous shot! NICE!

 

[Marc-Etienne]

Cool! I have a hard time with owls. Last time I went for owls shooting, half of my shots were backs or taken from way below. Four foot from the ground and looking at you!! Wow, I would be shaking and saturating my camera buffer big time!!! #2 is just too amazing! Once in a life time maybe... But I hope you'll have that chance again!

 

[JBArts]

Nice capture. These shots are amazing. My favorite is the second image. Looks like the owl's ready to attack. Hope you'll be able to take photos of them this year. Keep on posting.

 

[Davor]

Lovely set! i really enjoy photos of owls, #2 especially.

 

[Airwolf1]

OMG, that's marvelous! What my little girl (who's 5 and loves owls) would give if I could bring one back like that! I had my chance....but we won't go there. Great pics!--love the Big Scary Bird one. )

 

[grandpawrichard]

Karen, those shots are Fantastic! I have always wanted to get some Owl photos like those, but I have never been Lucky enough to do so. That Canon 100-400 L will do you proud! Good Luck finding the Owls at home and wanting to be photographed!

Dick

 

[BlackSheep]

Wow! Every single shot is stunning. I especially like the second-to-last one. Hope you are able get more this year, I'd love to see them if you do.

 

[britishbandit]

Thanks everyone. I've been to the nest a few times this year and it appears there are once again 2 chicks in the nest. Mama owl was sitting up there with them today but they're still pretty young and tucked down low still. They fledged May 19th last year so I assume I have a few weeks before the potential for these kind of shots could happen again. I also found another nest this year which is totally awesome! Mama and papa were around last time I went and as far as I can tell, just the one chick. It's about 20 feet off of the road in the middle of nowhere where that doesn't have protected plants and rules on where you can and cannot go. The park the pics in this thread are at does have protected plants and rules about going into the brush, which is why I may not get a chance for photos like this at that nest again. Just so happened that last year the one chick fledged out to the edge of the brush by the beach.

I'll post some more pics hopefully soon (when I finally get them all up on the computer) of both nesting areas. It's tough right now being birding season....I'm usually out all day taking pics.......don't get much time to actually upload and sort through them these days. LOL

 

[Frequency]

#2,#3 and #4simply terrific....and #2 may remain your masterpiece, because this pose might be rare, i feel.
Is it because owls are nocturnal and has weak day-vision, that they appear less fearful about human presence? this is my doubt

Regards