Saturday morning I received a call from my dad who was in town seeing if I wanted to go birding with him. We went our for an hour or so and had a good time, we were out for just a short time and as I was watching him I learned a lot that can apply for wildlife watching or anything else. Usually when I go out, not always, I am very fast paced, I look around don’t see anything and move on. While I was with my dad he slowed me down he stopped me in a few places and really observed when he was out looking. I have seen Canadian Geese a hundred times this year and did not think much of them when I saw them. On the other my dad pointed out some geese and noticed that she was nesting on goslings which soon got up and waddled around. If you are out and about enjoy yourself take time to observe and learn something, make it a goal to not move on until you have seen something new, because something new is out there.
I took this in to practice yesterday I was out looking for a great Gray Owl, hooting for it and quite a few Great Horned Owls respond. Some ended up being really close so I went and was able to take some decent pictures of them. After they had flown off I wandered around a little bit and notice a nest with a giant fir ball in it. After observing for a few minutes I saw that they were two Great Horned Owl Chicks. Had I seen the owls, and then just left I would have missed the owl chicks not only this time but in the future as I revisit this area.
Great Horned Owl, 05-08-2011, Rexburg, ID, Canon 60D, 500mm.
Great Horned Owl Chicks, 05-08-2011, Rexburg, ID, Canon 60D, 500mm.
As I was looking at the owl chicks I also noticed this osprey in the tree, knowing that the owl chicks were not going anywhere I took a second to snap a few shots. I am glad I did for a couple of reasons 1 I have never been close enough to an osprey to recognize details.Like the eyes they seem huge it is almost like it was raised by owls I would guess this helps in seeing into the water.
Osprey, 05-08-2011, Rexburg, ID, Canon 60D, 500mm.
Osprey, 05-08-2011, Rexburg, ID, Canon 60D, 500mm.
At the end of the day I saw this Western Grebe letting the current take it down stream. It is to bad that my abilities did not allow me to capture what this scene really looked like as the sunset.
Western Grebe, 05-08-2011, Rexburg, ID, Canon 60D, 500mm.
Adam, I had a great time with you the other morning birding. You have a great eye for spotting birds in their habitat. Thanks for the tour.
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Those are great pictures Adam. Your pictures are very good especially not being edited at all. I have never seen baby Owl chicks that was really fun!! If you ever get a chance to go up to St. Anthony there is a couple of different spots on in town and another on the old Silver bridge east of St. Anthony, where there are nest of Osprey. They have been there for years. Often you can see them flying over the river catching fish. Its amazing to watch them and watch them train their young.
ReplyDeleteAdam, your pictures are awesome. I hadn't see your blog until now, but you are so talented and I love the baby owls
ReplyDeleteI am jealous as always!
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