I was so grateful when I was shown the location of this great horned owl nest. Unfortunately, what started out as an amazing experience and a great opportunity to photograph the owlets and adult birds, soon transformed into a rather sad story.
I am very thankful that Kim showed me the nest. Photographers tend to guard such information closely, whereas I am told that "birders" are apparently a little more free with sharing such information with likeminded people. Both groups, I believe, are motivated by the desire to protect the owls from undue human disturbance. We always kept a respectful distance and all photos were taken using a Canon 100-400mm lens with a 1.5 extender (and then heavily cropped).
I ventured out on several occasions to check in on the birds. On the first trip we only saw one young bird in the nest. The next trip I saw a second owlet not far from the nest, about four feet above ground level on a fallen tree. Both adults were close by and watching over the bird that had apparently fallen out of the nest. Seeing both adults in relative close proximity to each other it was easy to identify the female owl as she was noticeable larger than the male. Both owlets appeared healthy and safe.
The nest that the owls had occupied (they don't build their own) appeared to be an old magpie nest. It wasn't much bigger in diameter than the steering wheel on my truck and it didn't look like it had much room for two young birds. As I looked up at it I wondered why the owls would chose such a small flimsy nest.
Sadly, on our last trip out, after a spring snow storm, the nest and all the birds were gone. The nest had been completely wiped out of the tree by the heavy wet snow and we don't know the fate of the birds. It was such a wonderful experience to see these birds and we were looking forward to watching them grow and interact with each other, but clearly Mother Nature had different plans...
댓글