Owls... Share Your Owl Photos

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Decent light this afternoon so visited our local Great Horned Owl's nest again. Found the chick alone on the nest for the first time with the Adult maybe forty feet away in heavy timber keeping an eye on things.

Nikon Z6 II (DX Crop Mode), 600mm f/4 + TC-14 iii, f/5.6, 1/200", ISO 1250
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After downpours the last few days the rain finally let up a bit this afternoon so I took a hike up to see how the owl chick was coming along. Found the nest empty but knowing they don't tend to go far when they first fledge I looked around for a while to find the chick about a hundred yards away and perched on a fairly low branch. Was very happy when clouds diffused the sun for shots like this.

Nikon Z6 II, 600mm f/4, 1/125", ISO 640
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After downpours the last few days the rain finally let up a bit this afternoon so I took a hike up to see how the owl chick was coming along. Found the nest empty but knowing they don't tend to go far when they first fledge I looked around for a while to find the chick about a hundred yards away and perched on a fairly low branch. Was very happy when clouds diffused the sun for shots like this.

Nikon Z6 II, 600mm f/4, 1/125", ISO 640
View attachment 19563
Great Shot Dave!👍👍
 
After downpours the last few days the rain finally let up a bit this afternoon so I took a hike up to see how the owl chick was coming along. Found the nest empty but knowing they don't tend to go far when they first fledge I looked around for a while to find the chick about a hundred yards away and perched on a fairly low branch. Was very happy when clouds diffused the sun for shots like this.

Nikon Z6 II, 600mm f/4, 1/125", ISO 640
View attachment 19563
Very nice, DRwyoming! How old is the owl chick?
 
Thanks!

I'd guess about six weeks old now. I first saw the chick peek out from under its mom's wing about five weeks ago, it was little but had probably hatched about a week earlier.
Thank you very much for your information; the reason of my question: there is a Great Horned owl family in a public garden not far from where I live...I have seen many times the adults harassed by american crows; the park manager told me that there was a chick in a nest difficult to see from the ground; this chick recently fell from the nest and stay now hidden in the lush vegetation; I didn't see the chick because I don't want to disturb it; he calls regulary it's mother and I ask myself if she will continue to feed it on the forest floor. A few days ago, I saw one adult in the area, so I hope that this chick will not die of starvation or eaten by a fox.
 
Thank you very much for your information; the reason of my question: there is a Great Horned owl family in a public garden not far from where I live...I have seen many times the adults harassed by american crows; the park manager told me that there was a chick in a nest difficult to see from the ground; this chick recently fell from the nest and stay now hidden in the lush vegetation; I didn't see the chick because I don't want to disturb it; he calls regulary it's mother and I ask myself if she will continue to feed it on the forest floor. A few days ago, I saw one adult in the area, so I hope that this chick will not die of starvation or eaten by a fox.
Eaten by a predator is a definite risk, but it's not unusual for owls to fledge early and then hang around on the ground, in the shrubbery or on leaning deadfall and low branches. The parents will typically keep feeding them and likely provide protection from common predators but they're certainly more vulnerable down on the ground than up in the nest. This is actually really common with Great Gray Owls where the chicks just tumble out of the nest one day and then hop around to low leaning snags and low branches for up to a couple of weeks before they can fly.
 
On the road for a bit and stopped in Oregon's Blue Mountains to look for some Great Gray Owls. It's early in the nesting season here and mostly watched parents sit on the nest but was lucky to see this one out hunting. Had been shooting portraits with the Z6 II when she leaned forward and stared intensely at something down on the ground. I figured she'd fly in a moment so I spun the shutter speed up and quickly switched from Single Point AF to Dynamic and sure enough she launched into flight and pounced on an unsuspecting Chipmunk. Very happy with the way the Z6 II handled this quick burst of action.

Quick LR processing on the laptop in my hotel room so hope this edit looks half decent :)

Nikon Z6 II, 600mm f/4, f/6.3, 1/2500", ISO 4000 Dynamic AF Area Mode
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On the road for a bit and stopped in Oregon's Blue Mountains to look for some Great Gray Owls. It's early in the nesting season here and mostly watched parents sit on the nest but was lucky to see this one out hunting. Had been shooting portraits with the Z6 II when she leaned forward and stared intensely at something down on the ground. I figured she'd fly in a moment so I spun the shutter speed up and quickly switched from Single Point AF to Dynamic and sure enough she launched into flight and pounced on an unsuspecting Chipmunk. Very happy with the way the Z6 II handled this quick burst of action.

Quick LR processing on the laptop in my hotel room so hope this edit looks half decent :)

Nikon Z6 II, 600mm f/4, f/6.3, 1/2500", ISO 4000 Dynamic AF Area Mode
View attachment 19710
Nice prep for the flight shot. It looks great. Love photographing these guys.
 
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