Thank you
very much for the comments....they're hard to come by around here.
Yes, I realize how lucky I am to have found this. It is hard enough to find owls in the wild, but to find their nest is a real treasure.
I did notice the focus seems to be sharpest on the tree, not the owls faces - was this intentional?
No, this was not intentional, and I caught that when I was going throught the downloaded pictures. I checked my camera, thinking I had left it in dynamic focusing because I was attempting some in-flight shots of some other birds earlier in the day. I had indeed changed it back to single focal point, and I know I had them square in that box, so all I can attribute this to was the wind. It was blowing pretty good while I was out, and their feathers are more fuzz than anything else right now, so I think it was that movement that softened them up a bit.
I think I would have to climb a nearby tree and camp for a while.
Funny, you read my mind. There is a tree about 15' away from these guys, and it is about 2' in diameter, but no good place to sit. So what did I do...I just went and bought a tree stand to strap to the tree, and I have the camo netting from my bird blind. My wife thought I was nuts, "But, Honey, this
is a rather rare opportunity...." I haven't tried it out yet, as these guys are still just sitting in the nest, not doing much but looking around, and won't be "branchers" for a little while yet.