Yellowstone's Great Horned Owl Babies

It really pays to network at Yellowstone. I got in the habit of chatting with the people around me when we were stopped either viewing or photographing. I would not have seen the two sets of great horned owl babies if kind people had not told me where to look.

One of the nests was too far to photograph, but easy to spot. From the parking lot of Tower Falls, there was a dead, broken tree trunk. WIth either binoculars or a good scope, you could see the two babies sitting at the top of the broken tree in the empty cavity. Each time we stopped at the store for a snack or cold drinks, we would look for them. By the end of our stay, I suspect they had fledged.

The second nest was near Mammoth-easy to find from the information other visitors gave me.

The first day I went to check out the nest and try to photograph the owl family, the sun's angle was working against me. To get the owls properly exposed, the sky was totally blown out. I could tell I was getting memory photos rather than photos I could use.

Since we were staying at Fishing Bridge, the drive to Mammoth is about an hour and a half. I determined to set the alarm and get over there hoping that morning light would help me get some good shots. Poor Henry, I had him out of bed before dawn. While we passed up some interesting things, I just had to make a beeline for those owls.

We got over there between 7:00 and 8:00 and yes, the lighting was better. The first challenge: mother owl was sitting on one branch, the babies below . . . but they all kept looking different directions. Plus mother owl really wanted to sleep, she must have been out hunting all night. The other challenge - depth of field. I'm down on the ground with my big lens pointed up at a pretty steep angle. The three birds are not on the same plane of focus. When the sun is out I can do a higher f/stop to get a deeper depth of field. But mom moved while I was shooting and when the sun was out, she was in the shade. I did have a convenient cloud that gave me the lighting for the photos that seem to have "worked."



The other exciting thing that morning. These owl babies were ready to fledge. I may have gotten to see the first flight from the nesting tree to the tree next to it. Only one of the babies was brave enough to make the leap. But it was fun to watch. And getting to watch the interaction between the siblings when it returned was amazing as well.

Due to the crop factor to get the owls close in the frame, I don't know whether these will be high enough quality for large prints, but it sure was fun getting to see these owl babies.

Bluebird babies

Well, we had bluebird babies. After opening up the nesting box to see what was going on, we found 2 dead babies and 2 small eggs. The babies were pretty young (although MUCH larger than the eggs). They were still downy and undeveloped. I did not see signs of injury, so I have to assume that the bitter unseasonable cold weather was too much for them.

I debated with myself, but decided to remove the nesting materials. The babies were beginning to smell and I thought that might make the adults reluctant to enter.

I still have mealy worms. Since the bluebirds are still hanging around, maybe they'll try again.

P.S. I've heard back from one of the people I've questioned about this situation. In case you were feeling sorry for those house sparrows . . . house sparrows have been known to kill a bluebird mother sitting on her nest. They've been known to kill the babies and build their nest on top of the dead bodies. Pretty vicious, huh?

P.P.S. I just checked one of the bluebird websites . . . sounds like removing the nest might stimulate them to rebuild. I'm glad my instinct was good. I really was hesitant as to whether to remove the old nest.