Busy parent

It never fails to amaze me how a camera (especially a point-and-shoot) can photograph something like an owl that is perched on a very high branch of a tall tree, and yet make the bird look as if it was sitting more or less at eye level and close. Clever! According to the EXIF data, this was taken at Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm (48x zoom).

On 4 May 2016, I had a volunteer shift and then thought I might call in at the Reader Rock Garden. Changed my mind when I discovered that new road construction was taking place at the very first corner I was going to take, so I couldn't turn right. Instead, I called in at Fish Creek Park to check on the family of Great Horned Owls. Both young ones were still in the nest tree, but I could only see one of the owlets properly and there was no activity at all while I was there - a friend did see both after I left. Isn't that always the way, lol?

When I called in at the park two days later, I discovered that both owlets had fledged and one was on the ground. I wasn't expecting that to happen so quickly, so I never did get a chance to see or photograph both owlets in the nest cavity or balancing on the rim of the tree trunk. I didn't post a photo of the owlet on top of a fallen log, as I was waiting to hear from someone that it had successfully climbed high up into a tree. There were enough people around it when it was on the ground when I was there - I didn't want to encourage a whole pile of others coming down to the park in case the owlet was on the ground for days, like happened a few years ago at a different location in the park. Apparently, it climbed the tree quite quickly, so wasn't on the ground for long, thank goodness. Now I will feel comfortable posting a photo of the little owl standing on the log, so will do so in the next few days.

I think the adult in this photo was Mom. She was sitting upright for a while and then shifted position slightly, so I did manage to get a few slightly different shots of her.

After the owls, I walked over to a creek where I was lucky enough to see a beautiful pair of Wood Ducks and a pair of American Wigeon. A treat to see them closer than I usually see them. Haven't seen them there since, so I was lucky that day.

"With its long, earlike tufts, intimidating yellow-eyed stare, and deep hooting voice, the Great Horned Owl is the quintessential owl of storybooks. This powerful predator can take down birds and mammals even larger than itself, but it also dines on daintier fare such as tiny scorpions, mice, and frogs. It’s one of the most common owls in North America, equally at home in deserts, wetlands, forests, grasslands, backyards, cities, and almost any other semi-open habitat between the Arctic and the tropics.

Great Horned Owls are nocturnal. You may see them at dusk sitting on fence posts or tree limbs at the edges of open areas, or flying across roads or fields with stiff, deep beats of their rounded wings. Their call is a deep, stuttering series of four to five hoots." From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Horned_Owl/id

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_horned_owl