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Bubo virginianus
My lucky spotting of the week! I have been watching several nesting pairs of great horned owls near my house over the last month and a half. On Sunday, I went to check in on one of them. Just as I pulled up, I saw the female land on one of the low lying branches with a huge snake in her mouth. I snapped off several pictures as she flew to the nest to feed her two chicks. Pretty rare to see GHO in the daylight hours hunting. (Although I know that when they have chicks they hunt through out the day and night.) Most of my pictures didn't come out, even though I spent an hour watcher her feed her babies. However, I did get a few good ones of her in the nest as well. I will post the other pics as soon as I get a chance.
58 Comments (1–25)
Thank you again Stanislav Greš!
excellent ... +1
Thank you littlelokelani!
Haha! Thank you Adarsha B S! It might be my favorite moment I've captured on PN thus far!
Epic capture :)
Nice story :)
No doubt James! Thank you for the kind words! This owl ended up having 3 babies, all of which fledged!
Amazing picture, right spot at the right time.....
Thank you mcaul6515 and thank you narcoss! I was super lucky! I'm a little sad, I went back to the nest just yesterday and it was abandoned. The adults and babies are gone. I guess it's more of a bitter sweet because that is what they are supposed to do. The babies fledge and the parents take them somewhere safe. Fingers crossed to them making it!
What a shot!!! Right place at the right time. Beautiful owl too, and enjoyed reading the notes.
Amazing action shot!
Thank you Arun!
fabulous ...
Thank you Jakubko! I feel lucky to have captured the moment!
Fantastic!! What an awesome shot! I loved the story, too!
Thank you Cheryl and Maria! It was a treat to watch her care for her young chicks! She is a great Mother. However, my friends that also observe her says that the father is lazy and rarely takes part in hunting. He can often be seen sleeping in a near by tree!
Wonderful capture and what a cool experience to be able to watch her feed the young!
Absolutely amazing, what a magnificent shot! Well done and thanks for sharing!
I'll work on the other pics tonight! ...I've been lazy...or busy...one of the two! ;)
wonderful, cannot wait to see more :)
Thank you EnvUnlimited! I'll try and get the other pics posted this weekend!
Thank you Alice! It definitely feels like Spring when the baby owls start popping up!
Wonderful story and picture!
Thank you Sandra, Jerry and Joshua! All the kind words today have truly made my day!
HOLY HECK!! i am lost for words. "absolutely amazing" doesn't quite do it. congratulations what a winner!
Wow ..this is an amazing picture