Even cooler owl sighting

This time I saw three owls. One of the parents was sitting on a tree near the fledglings, though s/he took off before I could get any photos. I only took seven frames of the babies, because of the mosquitoes and because these guys don't really do anything except stare at me.

I read the owl chapter in Sibley (The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behaviour, not the field guide) and it says that great horned owls nest on or close to the ground and the chicks fledge before they can fly, so this is actually where their nest is. On the one hand, that's pretty cool, because I now have a reliable source of owl sightings until the babies learn to fly, and on the other hand, it's worrisome, because it's a very exposed high-traffic location with lots of people and dogs. Loitering near nest sites is never a good practice anyway, because it can spook the parents and attract predators. Hmmmm... Some times I hate ethics. These guys are clearly not spooked by me since they're not threatening me. Owls, especially great horned owls, are like cats: if you threaten them, they fight. Adults will attack predators, including humans, to defend their nests and young, and fledglings can assume some threatening postures and presumably do some ass-kicking of their own. So since the adults haven't attacked me and the babies haven't threatened me, even this close to their nest, they mustn't see me as a hazard. In fact, I suspect the parents are wondering if I'd be suitable for food, from the way they react to my movements.

Tinky-Winky hasn't been with me on any of my owl sightings so far, which is good because she's highly suitable for owl food, and she doesn't even know it. I'm not concerned that she'd hurt the chicks, because I've seen a raven stand up to her successfully, and these guys are much scarier than ravens, but she could stress them out and/or leave a trail for bigger dogs to follow. Or get eaten.

So, yeah. On the one hand, I know where there is an owl nest, which is good, and on the other hand, other predators might find out too, which is bad.

This reminds me, too, another reason it's become much harder to find birds to photograph is that they're brooding right now. In the spring, when they're getting territory and mating, they want to be seen, so they make a lot of noise and show themselves. Now that they have eggs or hatchlings, the last thing they want is to be seen. You can actually tell just by listening that the bird song has changed since spring. Then once the chicks are fledged, I think most species molt, at which time they'll also be trying to hide, and so they won't be easily visible again until they start getting ready for fall migration.

Back to my great horned owls, another cool thing about great horned owls is this: the eggs take about 35 days to hatch, and the hatchlings take three months to fledge, which is to say, these little dudes must have been laid no later than the last week of February, at which time, if I recall correctly, it was about -40°C in town. Pretty crazy, eh?

I love great horned owls. They're so badass.