Poor Squirrel 07-13-21

Great Horned Owlet... 05-09-21

 

Great Horned Owlet

 

When I went out on Sunday, 05-09-21, I only found one of the owlets. It was perched in the same spot as on 05-06-21 when it was perched next to the other one. 

 

I checked the surrounding areas for Hoot, the female, and the other owlet, but couldn’t find them. Although, the leaves are making it very difficult to locate them I thought I looked pretty good, but I could have easily missed them. 

 

While walking back from looking for Hoot and the other owlet this one had changed its position so I was able to get some unobstructed shots of it. I scanned the area just in case this was the other owlet and I might have originally missed it. 

 

Tomorrow, I hope to go back out and see if this one is still in the same spot.

 

I went back out on Monday, 05-10-21, and spent 2.5 hours looking for Hoot and the owlets, but didn't find them. The leaves on the trees make it difficult to see the owls from a distance. I went back out on Thursday, 05-13-21 and I still didn't locate them.

 

 

Hoot, the female, and the Owlets (Great Horned Owls)... 05-06-21

 

Hoot, the female, and the Owlets

 

Great Horned Owls

 

On Thursday, 05-06-21, I went out to check on the Great Horned Owls. I didn’t see the owlets where I found them a couple days ago, but I located Hoot, the female. While taking some photos of her I kept looking around for the little ones. I knew they had to be close by, but I didn’t want to walk around looking for them after I found Hoot. 

 

The crows were making Hoot very nervous as they circled above us. I got one photo of her looking up at them. Just before Hoot flew off I saw the reason she seemed to be especially nervous. The owlets were close by perched in a nearby tree.

 

Once Hoot left the area I was able to get into a better position to photograph the owlets.

 

Give a Hoot, the male, and the Owlets (Great Horned Owls) 05-03-21

 

Give a Hoot, the male, and the Owlets

 

Great Horned Owls

 

This past week-end was the first time I didn’t go out and at least check on the owls, since I found Hoot, the female, on the nest on 03-09-21. Many days I have spend around 3 hours with them. I do a lot of biking and this week-end I had a couple longer rides out of Hudson, WI, so I didn’t go out to check on them after I got home. Saturday night it was very warm and there was some rain Sunday night.

 

Earlier today, Monday, 05-03-21, I looked from a distance and I didn’t see the owlets on the nest or nearby. Later on in the afternoon with my gear in my backpack I went looking for the Great Horned Owls. First, I checked around the nest and didn’t see Hoot or the owlets around. 

 

Then it was time to take a little walk. I found Give a Hoot perched in a tree where I have found him in the past. It was an extremely windy day and he was getting blown around. In fact he lost his balance at one point which I was able to get a shot.

 

I thought if Give a Hoot was in this area that Hoot and the owlets had to be somewhere nearby. While I was photographing him I would look around. I eventually spotted the owlets off in the distance. I moved my tripod a few feet to get some long shots of them. After I got a few photos I moved the tripod closer to them while only 10 yards from Give a Hoot. He went about his business of trying to stay upright on the branch while I photograph the owlets.

 

The owlets were also having issues staying upright in the strong winds. I spent 1 1/2 hours with the owls this afternoon. Once I was done photographing I packed up my camera gear into my backpack. I was just about ready to leave when I saw Give a Hoot look to his left. I looked that direction when I saw Hoot, the female, flying low coming between us. She flew no more than 5 yards from me, but she kept going. I never saw her while I was out in the woods, but there were some people in the general area that caused her to fly off.

 

Here are my images…some of the images were shot with my 500mm f/4 lens with my 1.4x teleconverter (700mm) and to get both owlets in the frame when they were perched on different branches I used only the 500 mm lens.

 

Give a Hoot, the male Great Horned Owl... 04-29-21

 

On Thursday, 04-29-21, I went out to look for either Hoot, the female, or Give a Hoot, the male, Great Horned Owl to photograph. I wasn’t planning to sit out and watch the owlets tonight, but first I would check to see if Hoot was perched near the nest and to take a daily photo of the owlets. Hoot was perched next to the owlets, so that meant that I was only looking for Give a Hoot.

 

I located Give a Hoot perched behind some branches. I took some photos from that vantage point, then packed up my gear to walk to another area to get a better view. I made a very wide semi-circle around him so that I could photograph him from the front.

 

It was a very windy day and Give a Hoot was leaning into the wind most of the time I was with him.

I had been out about a half hour when I saw Give a Hoot become alert and he look to his right. While I was taking some video of him, Hoot flew to a tree only 10 yards away. She was perched behind some branches so I swung the camera to her while recording the video. She stayed for a couple minutes before flying off. I saw the general area where she flew to, but there were too many leaves on the trees that I couldn’t see exactly where she landed so I stayed and photographed Give a Hoot. I was with him for 3 hours. After Give a Hoot fully woke up he turned around on the branch and went through a short wake up routine. Eventually, I realized he wasn’t going anywhere soon, so I packed up my camera gear and left.

While I walked out I looked for Hoot, but I didn’t find her. 

 

Here are some images of Give a Hoot…