steve sutton
New member
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2010
- Messages
- 61
Turkey hunting in SE Washington in early May I had encounters with this Owl on three consecutive mornings.....thought I was seeing more than one but wasn't seeing them both at the same time.....after the bird I was working gave me the slip on the third morning I was walking out and chose a different path around a low wet spot......the adult immediately flew to the area and started calling bringing the other adult in....lots of beak snapping and hissing and I knew that there had to be a nest nearby.....
Searched for a few minutes and was just getting ready to give up when I realized that the birds were concentrating on not the trees in the swamp but a big low cottonwood on the edge of the pasture...less than 10 feet from wherre I was standing....checked that and found the nest at about 10 feet off the ground.....the nestlings laying low and just peeking over the lip of the nest.....
I climbed up into the tree and the boldest, and oldest, of the nestlings displayed his displeasure at the intrusion...
The hissing and bill snapping of the Owlet brought the female into the tree and just above me....at that point she was just barely outside the minimum focal length of the lens and not only was she behind lots of limbs I was not able to move enough on the limb I was on to be able to get a clear shot of her....if I had to do it all over again I would have switched to manual focus but didn't think of it at the time....did manage this one "decent" shot of her expressing her displeasure at my presence.
That fired up the Owlets and brought the male into the tree with us...a couple of close passes near my head and I figured that even though these Owlls are only about half the size of Great-Horneds, and not nearly as aggressive, that it was still best to leave the tree rather than end up with a set of hooks in my scalp....
Steve
Searched for a few minutes and was just getting ready to give up when I realized that the birds were concentrating on not the trees in the swamp but a big low cottonwood on the edge of the pasture...less than 10 feet from wherre I was standing....checked that and found the nest at about 10 feet off the ground.....the nestlings laying low and just peeking over the lip of the nest.....
I climbed up into the tree and the boldest, and oldest, of the nestlings displayed his displeasure at the intrusion...
The hissing and bill snapping of the Owlet brought the female into the tree and just above me....at that point she was just barely outside the minimum focal length of the lens and not only was she behind lots of limbs I was not able to move enough on the limb I was on to be able to get a clear shot of her....if I had to do it all over again I would have switched to manual focus but didn't think of it at the time....did manage this one "decent" shot of her expressing her displeasure at my presence.
That fired up the Owlets and brought the male into the tree with us...a couple of close passes near my head and I figured that even though these Owlls are only about half the size of Great-Horneds, and not nearly as aggressive, that it was still best to leave the tree rather than end up with a set of hooks in my scalp....
Steve
