Happy Independence Day from Hoot, the Great Horned Owl!
I was planning on watching the full moon rise this evening, but clouds rolled in … thus Hoot was my evening entertainment. Saw her catch one robin.
Last night I happened to wake up at 3:30 am, and heard two of the owlets begging to be fed … right outside my bedroom window (i.e. the trees in our yard). That was very cool.
My evening with Hoot!
And a video (link for email subscribers)
It is a great day for birding when one hits two very different locations, and is still home by 9:30 am having had a fantastic time. I left the house at 5:30 am and drove over to Cloverland , Wisconsin. The grasslands allow for viewing opportunities not seen in the Boreal Forest where I live in northeastern Minnesota. In under 40 minutes I am birding. This morning I enjoyed a rare treat, an Upland Sandpiper. This bird migrates all the way from central South American. It will start the winter migration back south within a few weeks (before August 1st). As I said … I was thrilled to see this bird. My video includes a short clip of it singing.
Upland Sandpiper
Upland Sandpiper Video (link for email subscribers)
After birding NW Wisconsin I returned home and took a hike over to my “owling grounds”. By following some chirping robins I found two of the triplets. I have found that these Great Horned Owl juveniles will often do a “quick hunt” around 9 am before retiring to sleep for the day. This assumes no pesky crows are around to make life difficult. My owls take a snooze starting around 5:30 am … wake up about 8:30 am, and then sleeeeep.
Hoot on the Hunt!
Finally here is a “flight shot failure”. My Great Horned Owl friend had telegraphed that it was about to fly. I changed my settings in an attempt to capture the owl in flight. No go! My camera was not up to taking a photograph in deep shade. I have often talked about my camera, a Canon SX70. I like the camera but it has problems in low light situations like this morning (i.e. if I need fast exposures). I think it is important to show failures on occasion. I still love the SX70. It is lightweight and easy to take on my hikes and bike rides where a DSLR with a long lens would be impractical. Hiking “off trail” and over deadfall is a challenge. I was often high stepping.
Still Image Owl Photo Settings: ISO 100, Exposure 1/100th second, Aperture 5.6
Flight Shot Failure Settings: ISO 1,000, Exposure 1/800th second, Aperture 5.6
Note: I reduced the quality level of the image over 3x in an attempt to get a fast shutter speed.
Bad Image (camera was not able to properly focus … I had four other images in this sequence starting with preparation for take-off.
Yup … today is July 1st, and as of this morning I have now been privileged to watch Hoot and her Great Horned Owl family during six different months. I first spied “Mom” on the nest back on February 8th. Thus, while not yet six months in total duration … in six different months. Investing the time during the the dark cold nights of January when I hiked through knee deep snow triangulating their nest has really paid off. It has been a treat.
These first set of images were taken last night. I am becoming convinced that “the duo” which I often seen together are “boys”. These two owls are slightly smaller (indicative of male Great Horned Owls), and rarely hang out with Hoot … the biggest of the triplets, which should indicate a female owl.
June 30th … Sunset with the Guys!
Movies! (video links for email subscribers: one | two)
July 1st … Sunrise with Hoot! (watching crows in second image)
