Great Gray Owl Fledged
Great Gray Owl Chick Fledged on tree
The great gray owl chick fledged and I had the privilege of showing up a few minutes after the event and then spending the better part of two days with him/her. What a great time that was. The chick seemed pretty confident and not really fearful. He definitely wanted to climb things and get on top of snags and stumps. His feathers were not developed enough to get any air really but he hopped along well. Moma owl kept a keen eye on her chick and was very tolerant of our presence. These birds have a reputation of being very tame and that was very conducive to getting our photographs. The adults would come in and feed the chick without any hesitation regarding us watching the whole thing. It was a powerful experience to share that with these guys. Eventually the little guy made it up the hill and he started to move too fast throughout the day to locate him. Here’s to hoping he has a great life!
Great Gray Owls Feeding Chick
Great Gray Owl with week old chick
Well the DSLR video capabilities finally proved itself of value. I was looking for but not necessarily seeing it. We were out making photographs of a Great Gray Owl pair on the nest with chick and we had been working this project all morning. It was getting late in the morning and the light was definitely getting harsh so it was just about wrap up time when the female started hooting up a storm on the nest. We had not yet seen the male that day but I had feeling and so did Dee. We knew something was up and I got on point with my rig and Dee instinctively hit the RECORD button on her camera. The resulting video is awesome. The male flies in and hands off a vole and then turns around and flies out and then the female serves up the meal to the little chick. The chick was only a week old at the time but you can see him going right at it. He was definitely hungry. All I can say is Wow, what an experience. This one is really special though because I got to see it, I get to keep seeing it, and now I get to share the experience in motion with you. Times…. they are a chang’n. Enjoy and thanks for watching Fall River Photography TV :-).
Great Gray Owl
What a GREAT Christmas gift we got this year. On Christmas Eve day I was out and about and a little voice in my head told me to go down this road near our house. As I was approaching a curve the truck in front of me scared up a large bird and immediately I thought OWL! I also immediately hoped it was a gray owl as I have not yet seen one. So I carefully turned around and slowly headed back to the tree and there he was, a Great Gray Owl. What a magnificent bird, just stunningly beautiful. I reached over carefully for the camera, not taking my eyes off of him, and grabbed…nothing. No camera. Arrgg. Always Carry a Camera. So I watched him for a couple of minutes and headed home. The good news is that I knew where he was now and I expected to be able to find him again. So Christmas Day we headed out for some owling. We looked for him for a good hour or so and we were getting ready to leave when Dee spotted him. We got to photograph and observe him for about ten or fifteen minutes. Totally topped off my day and made it an absolutely great Christmas. I hope you and yours had a great Christmas too!