Great Horned Owl

Our friends Fred and Becky drove up in their golf cart. They were excited as they had found the park’s great horned owl. Another photographer had posted pictures of it on our parks Facebook page and Fred had gotten pictures of it sleeping. He showed us the pics on his camera and gave us detailed directions on how and where to find it. Getting our camera gear ready we opted to walk over, we needed the exercise, but after carrying the heavy gear I started to complain as we got mixed up and took a couple of wrong turns, Renita looked it up on Google Maps and we found the reported location.

We looked at the wrong tree and couldn’t see the huge owl until a kind lady came out of her house and pointed at the owl. They have such great camouflage! It was sleeping and had its back to us. She told us that the owl had been there all day. She also said there were two others, but we never spotted them. As we took pictures of its back it woke up and started to preen.

She also told us that everyone had great feathers from its previous preening, (I didn’t have the heart to tell her that collecting feathers was against the law). Renita meanwhile found a great vantage point and motioned for me to come over as she could see its eyes. As usual she had found the best spot and directed me to where I could take a good full body shot. It had its eyes open and was watching us!

As we continued to watch, another lady came over with her small dog and asked what we were looking at. The owl then crouched and stared at us, or should I say it stared at the small dog. It was probably trying to decide if the dog would make a great breakfast treat!

Luck was with the dog as the Great Horned Owl decided that its intended prey was protected, and it didn’t swoop down. Losing interest in the dog, it turned away from us and we decided to head home. It was a nice break from rock work. Thanks Fred and Becky! Clear skies