Happy Valentines Day
I shot this today and it seemed like an appropriate Valentine's day photo. I was shooting with my buddy, Frank, and the light kind of went sour on us for the owls, so this was the best of the not-so-good.
Female Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Family Portrait Day
Happy & Grumpy
Sleepy gives us a look at her incomplete right wing below. Not quite airworthy yet. Missing a few control surfaces.
Sleepy Stretching Her Wings - Look Ma!
Hold Still. Smile. Gotcha!
Sleepy just couldn't hold it any longer and had to take a potty break. At least they appear to be housebroken!
Potty Break!
Female by Her Nest – Red-Bellied Woodpecker
These were taken in the same oak tree that the owls are in. There appear to be two species nesting in this oak tree, the Pileated and the Red-Bellied seen here. Right after I took the photo above, this female popped right into her hole (nest) and disappeared.
Taking a Break from Owls…a Pileated Woodpecker
Woody is one brave woodpecker.
Mr. Woody here just flew in with mama owl while I was shooting today. Mrs. Woody is holed up in the same tree as the owls and I have been noticing that whenever the female owl is around so is Woody. We know that small birds are one of the owl's prey, so these guys are pretty brave to have their nest in the same tree as the owls. I'll try to get a photo of the female coming out of her woodpecker hole soon.
Owls, Owls, Owls
This is Grumpy. She is definitely the alpha of the bunch and very much the star of the show. She is in charge when mom is gone, which happens more frequently now. These were taken last evening and the light was very good.
Grumpy
Yawn. This one is the largest, I call her Grumpy, Sleepy in the background.
Grumpy, Sleepy, & Happy
Happy, Sleepy & Grumpy
The one I call Grumpy is the largest of the three and thus I believe to be a female. The other two are probably males. They are really changing fast now. Almost every day there are dramatic changes in their plumage. The nest is really getting crowded!
Happy, Sleepy, Grumpy