Owls are one of my favourite birds to photograph. Each of them have their own personality some are tolerant and patient of a photographer and others are skittish and irritable. A couple of years ago I had the pleasure and opportunity to document the growth of a great-horned owlet. This series of photos was taken over the course of just six weeks and you can see just how incredibly fast an owl grows up.
Great horned owls are prevalent across North America and have the most diverse diet of any North American raptor which also makes them extremely adaptable. They nest in trees, in cliff crevasses, on ledges, and often take over old nests made by ravens, hawks, or squirrels.
It was really important to me to make sure I was respectful, careful and took my cues from the parents who stood watch nearby. Great horned owls will aggressively defend their nests and young. Some folks around here learned that the hard way one year when a number of people were attacked by an owl presumably because they were walking too close to her nest.
When documenting the growth of this owlet I made sure I was quiet, didn’t disturb the area near the nest, and kept a respectable distance from the nesting site so that I didn’t lead predators directly to a free meal. I usually didn’t stay very long as I wanted my presence to be as benign as possible.
The owls moved around quite a bit more once the owlet fledged. I spotted them sitting in the shade near a small pond to stay cool in the summer heat. I examined their pellets and discovered that they had been eating everything from mice and squirrels to grasshoppers and dragonflies. Once the young owl could fly it wasn’t long before they moved on from the nesting site.
It was quite a summer! I hope you enjoyed this week’s story.