A friend told me where a group of Great Horned Owls lived just northeast of Brighton. There were four babies in the nest, but only one of them was brave enough for the camera. The tree was about 30 feet off the edge of the road and mama was injured and protecting her young from the ground.
Real nice closeup and defocused background. Love the 'she's pissed!' expression!
You might consider 'losing' the stem that arises from her head near her ear.
Posted by D J Kuklinski on April 18, 2010 at 9:11 PM
Nice catch, John. I was so focused on the detail on the owl I didn't even bother looking beyond.
Okay. After noticing the mother could not fly away, which is how I got the closeup with my 200mm, I called a rescue to come help her. When I returned to the tree the mother was gone and a passerby told us the dad was hit by a car several days prior. I remember seeing a coyote roaming around as I was leaving that morning, so we assumed the injured mother was lunch for the coyote. Since the babies were abandoned and the Wildlife officer gave us approval we removed the owlets from their nest and they are now chowing down on some mice at the rescue in Broomfield. I got some pictures of the fuzzy little guys at the rescue, I'll have to upload those soon.
Posted by Kurt Bowman on April 19, 2010 at 9:47 AM
Thanks for sharing the images Charley....like the last shots of mom before she was Coyote lunch. BTW, very cool story about getting the owlets to the rescue. Glad you called and got them help.
The expression is great and the dof is dead on. Nice work, and welcome, Charles!
Posted by Brian Jackson on April 19, 2010 at 11:36 AM
Great shots. I always like these guys.
Posted by Bill Brennan on April 19, 2010 at 10:37 PM
Nice photographic work and better wildlife protction and preservation. Hope you get to shoot the little guys when they mature and maybe choose the same place for a nest.
Discussion
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You might consider 'losing' the stem that arises from her head near her ear.
Okay. After noticing the mother could not fly away, which is how I got the closeup with my 200mm, I called a rescue to come help her. When I returned to the tree the mother was gone and a passerby told us the dad was hit by a car several days prior. I remember seeing a coyote roaming around as I was leaving that morning, so we assumed the injured mother was lunch for the coyote. Since the babies were abandoned and the Wildlife officer gave us approval we removed the owlets from their nest and they are now chowing down on some mice at the rescue in Broomfield. I got some pictures of the fuzzy little guys at the rescue, I'll have to upload those soon.
Bill Brennan