Owl Update
Beautiful day today, temperature in the 70's, clear sky, light breeze. The babies are getting bigger, almost outgrowing the nest. They haven't branched yet but I'm expecting them to any day now. O-2, on the right, is the shy one peeking around the corner at the action down on the ground.
O-1 is on the left, O-2 on the right.
Life is Good
Perfect day, temperature in the 70's, wind calm, sky crystal clear. All is well in the owl world today. Mom could hardly keep her eyes open.
O-1 on the left and O-2.
Owl Update
Got some better photos of the babies today around noon. Looks like there are just two this year. Click on the images for a larger version.
Mom and two babies...
Mom seemed pretty relaxed with me taking photos, I think she must be getting used to it after several years now. It amazes me that the flash doesn't seem to bother them at all. It really lights up their retinas and I have to process for red-eye, especially for the adults. She was mostly dozing off or just ignoring me.
Great Horned Owlets
Mom got off her nest for a while around 4 this afternoon and for the first time I was able to see two chicks peeking out over the rim of the hollow. So I was able to get a couple of shots on the fly and not disturb them too much.
Two young owlets take their first peeks at the world around them.
Mom was on a branch just above the nest keeping a wary eye on me:
Female Great Horned Owl
Not much going on this evening. Just mom sitting on her eggs. She looked very relaxed and tranquil as if she is near the end of her long wait. The male was not around, at least I couldn't see him.
Female Great Horned sitting on her eggs.
This was taken in RAW at 300mm, 1/200 sec., f/6.3, ISO 800. The light was very good at a little after 5 p.m. and about 20 minutes before sunset. There were clouds in the west which tended to diffuse the light—I used a little flash fill via the Better Beamer, about 3 stops below ambient. I use the SB-600 flash in manual and adjust the strobe until the image on the monitor looks about right. Final adjustments made in Photoshop. Click on the image for the large version.