May 4, 2012

Great Horned Owlets

Above: Great Horned owlets (Bubo virginianus) near Morrison, Colorado.

Posted by Rob Kiser on May 4, 2012 at 11:28 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink

May 10, 2010

The Owlets Have Fledged

The owlets have flown the coop. Yesterday, when we drove by, we didn't see them. I went by today and verified they are no longer there. Assumption is that they fledged on or around Saturday, May 8th.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that, when they fledged on May 8th, the owlets would be approximately 52-55 days old. So, I'd say that they fledged at approximately 7-8 weeks of age.

Kinda weird now that they're gone. There's just a tree with a broken nest and no owls. I'll miss them, and I doubt they'll use the nest again next year as it's too torn up at this point.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on May 10, 2010 at 10:20 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

May 6, 2010

Great-horned Owlets - Day 50

Above: In this photo, both owlets have left the nest, which is in a sad state of disrepair at this point. The owls will obviously not be able to reuse the nest next year. Both owlets are now in the same tree that holds the nest where they hatched. One owlet left the tree for a day or so, and was perched in an adjacent tree about 50 yards away, but somehow he's managed to return to the tree from whence he came. I'm not clear if he flew, walked, or climbed to get to back his tree of origin, but they look to me like they could fly away any day now.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken May 6th, the owlets would be approximately 50-53 days old.

Update: According to this site: "Young owls move out of nest onto nearby branches at 6-7 weeks of age. Fully fledge at 10-11 weeks. Fledged owls remain with parents throughout most of summer, who continue to bring them occasional food items. May be seen begging for food into October, 4-5 mo after leaving nest."

So, according to this, the owls are right on track. They moved out of the nest and into nearby branches at 6-7 weeks old, so they'll probably still be around for another 3 - 4 weeks. Cool.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on May 6, 2010 at 10:07 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Great-horned Owlets - Day 48

Above: In this photo, both owlets have left the nest, which is in a sad state of disrepair at this point. They will not be able to reuse the nest next year. Both owlets are now in the same tree that holds the nest where they hatched. One owlet left the tree for a day or so, and was perched in an adjacent tree about 50 yards away, but somehow he's managed to return to the tree from whence he came. I'm not clear if he flew, walked, or climbed to get to back his tree of origin, but they look to me like they could fly away any day now.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken May 4th, the owlets would be approximately 48-51 days old.


Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on May 6, 2010 at 9:51 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

May 3, 2010

Great-horned Owlets - Day 47

Above: In this photo, both owlets have left the nest. One is still in the same tree, but one has moved to a tree about 50 yards away. I'm not clear if they flew, walked, or climbed to get to their new locations, but they're clearly ready to fledge.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken May 3rd, the owlets would be approximately 47-50 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on May 3, 2010 at 7:25 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Great-horned Owlets - Day 46

Above: In this photo, the owlets have left the nest for the first time. They're still in the same tree, but have somehow managed to gain purchase on higher ground in the tree. I'm not clear if they flew up there, or climbed. But they're very clearly close to being ready to fledge.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken May 2nd, the owlets would be approximately 46-49 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on May 3, 2010 at 6:23 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Great-horned Owlets - Day 44

Above: Both owlets in the nest, sans mom. This is the last photo I have of both birds in the nest.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken April 30th, the owlets would be approximately 44-47 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on May 3, 2010 at 6:11 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Great-horned Owlets - Day 39

Above: Both owlets were in the nest, sans mom, but I couldn't get a decent shot of both of them together. One of the pair has always been shy, reclusive, and not as photogenic. In this shot, you can only see his brother's back.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken April 25th, the owlets would be approximately 39-42 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on May 3, 2010 at 6:04 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

April 24, 2010

Great-horned Owlets - Day 37

Above: A single Great-horned owlet suffers through a late spring storm. Both owlets were in the nest, sans mom, but I couldn't get a decent shot of both of them together. They were standing facing roughly east, with their backs to the weather, as they were pelted by snow and rain.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken April 23rd, the owlets would be approximately 37-40 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 24, 2010 at 9:43 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

April 22, 2010

Great-horned Owlets - Day 36

Above: A single Great-horned owlet with mom.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken April 22ndth, the owlets would be approximately 36-39 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 22, 2010 at 9:32 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

April 20, 2010

Great-horned Owlets - Day 33

Above: Two Great-horned owlets with mom.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken April 19th, the owlets would be approximately 33-36 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 20, 2010 at 12:11 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

April 18, 2010

Great-horned Owlets - Day 31

Above: Two Great-horned owlets sans mom..

It was warmer today, so mom took off and left the owlets to fend for themselves.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken April 17th, the owlets would be approximately 31-34 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 18, 2010 at 10:10 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

April 16, 2010

Great-horned Owlets - Day 30

Above: Two Great-horned owlets with mom.

It was cooler today, so mom came back to help the owlets stay warm. They're large enough now that, on warm days, she leaves them alone. For some reason, the hawks leave them alone. I don't know why, really. I've seen hawks flying over the field and I'm sure they're aware of the nest. The only thing I can think is that the owls would put up a vicious fight at this point and the hawks don't want to risk attacking them.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken April 16th, the owlets would be approximately 30-33 days old.

I ran into a local guy shooting the owlets today named James Garrison. I've seen him down there before, and as it turns out, he's from Morrison also. He's shooting a Canon EOS 5D full-frame sensor with the Canon 100-400mm lens on a tripod with some sort of pistol grip head on it. I talked to him for a bit and he's a pretty cool guy. He has a website at http://www.jim3584.smugmug.com.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 16, 2010 at 6:37 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

April 15, 2010

Great-horned Owlets - Day 29

Above: Two Great-horned owlets.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken April 15th, the owlets would be approximately 29-32 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 15, 2010 at 11:00 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

April 14, 2010

Great-horned Owlets - Day 28

Above: Two Great-horned owlets.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken April 14th, the owlets would be approximately 28-31 days old.

When I was shooting today, I ran into a guy named Richard Seeley. He was shooting a Canon 7D, with the Canon 600mm f/4 lens and some generic teleconverter. He had the rig set up on a Wimberly mount and a generic carbon fiber tripod. He was shooting my setup as his backup frame (a Canon 50D w/ a Canon 100-400mm lens). He'd actually never seen the owls before, as he lives up in Summit county. I checked out his website at www.richardseeleyphotography.com. He's got some pretty decent shots out there.

Update: He was shooting a Canon 500mm f/4 with a Tamron 1.4x extender. He has a blog at www.richardseeleyphotography.wordpress.com. He's also a member of the Mile High Wildlife Photography Club which meets in Parker, monthly.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 14, 2010 at 8:52 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Great-horned Owlets - Day 26

Above: A Great-horned owlet.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken April 12th, the owlets would be approximately 26-29 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 14, 2010 at 4:35 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

April 10, 2010

Great-horned Owlets - Day 23

Above: Both Great-horned owlets sans mom.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken April 9th, the owlets would be approximately 23-26 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls


Posted by Rob Kiser on April 10, 2010 at 11:27 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

April 8, 2010

Great-horned Owlets - Day 22

There is only one owlet in this photo, but there are two in the nest. The other owlet appears to be shy, and tends to hide beneath mom or in the bottom of the nest.

Above: Here's the rarely photographed reclusive sibling that hates to be in the spotlight. I found him on the back side of the nest, crouching down and peering out through the twigs. Hilarious.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken April 8th, the owlets would be approximately 22-25 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 8, 2010 at 8:50 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

April 7, 2010

Great-horned Owlets - Day 21

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken April 7th, the owlets would be approximately 21-24 days old.

Note that, in this image, for the first time, you can see the camouflage pattern of dark brown/buff stripes on the feathers, similar to the mother owl. So it appears the these owlets are rapidly progressing past the initial "down" feather stage.

Also, I only see one owlet in this photo. I'm not clear where the other owlet is. I can only assume he is beneath his mother's wing and is much more shy than his sibling.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 7, 2010 at 3:28 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

April 6, 2010

Great-horned Owlets - Day 20

Although the owlets are now old enough that their mother leaves them to hunt for food when the weather is nice, in this photo, the mother Great-horned owl is blocking her two owlets from strong winds as a nasty snowstorm pushes in from the west.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken April 6th, the owlets would be approximately 20-23 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 6, 2010 at 2:50 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Great-horned Owlets - Day 19

Wendy and I got back from Moab on Sunday and yesterday (Monday), I went down the hill to check on the owlet because I'd not seen him for a few days. What a difference a few days makes. Not only is he growing like a weed, but he now has a sister, apparently. I had no clue that there were two owlets.

Actually, I was always surprised that there was only one owlet, as this would be an unusually small clutch size. (There are normally 2-3, I believe.)

But still, I was floored when I looked through the lens and saw two enormous owlets. I say they're brother and sister, but I have no clue what sex they are.

For the first time this year, both parents were absent from the nest. I believe that, at this point, the chicks are able to stay warm on their own. It was much warmer yesterday (about 58 °F), and they both have grown a significant amount of down/feathers.

Additionally, leaving the nest unattended frees up both parents to hunt for food for the baby owls. Needless to say, they appear to be well fed.

My best estimate as to when the owlets were born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken April 5th, the owlets would be approximately 19-22 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 6, 2010 at 9:04 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

March 31, 2010

Great-horned Owlet - Day 13

In this photo, the mother owl has her head turned around backward, and the wind is blowing her feathers into the peculiar color pattern displayed on the breast.

Note that the owlet has begun to change colors from the initial white/gray morph to a color more closely matching the mother. Also, although the chick is squinting in this photo due to the bright sunlight, the chick can fully open its eyes at this point.

My best estimate as to when the owlet was born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken March 30th, the owlet would be approximately 13-16 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on March 31, 2010 at 3:15 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

March 27, 2010

Great-horned Owlet - Day 9

I went down yesterday to try to get some photos of the owlet. Mostly, they were sort of "UFO-Bigfoot quality photos", unfortunately. What I see is an owlet, that appears to be fairly mobile, living mainly beneath the mother's wing, but coming out to feed occasionally. I suspect that the father hunts at night for prey, brings it by and drops it off. Probably he does this all night. Then, around dawn, he flies off somewhere to perch and sleep through the day.

From the food the male brings, the mom eats some, but keeps a portion in the nest for the baby to munch on during the day. So, I think this is what I'm seeing...the baby coming out, getting a bit to eat from last night's kill, and then retreating to the warmth of the mother's wing. And it must be warm. Let there be no doubt about that. It's snowing outside, and somehow she keeps that baby warm as toast. I'm sure he's happy with the arrangement, so far as he understands it, anyway.

My best estimate as to when the owlet was born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken March 26th, the owlet would be approximately 9-12 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on March 27, 2010 at 11:12 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

March 23, 2010

Great-horned Owlet - Day 6

As best as I can tell, the mother only hatched one owlet this year. (Compared to 3 in 2009, and 2 in 2008). The eyes are possibly beginning to open somewhat at this point.

My best estimate as to when the owlet was born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken March 23rd, the owlet would be approximately 6-9 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on March 23, 2010 at 4:25 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

March 21, 2010

Great-horned Owlet - Day 4

Best guess at age clutch size this year is 1.

My best estimate as to when the owlet was born is March 14-17, meaning that in this photo taken March 21st, the owlet would be approximately 4-7 days old.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on March 21, 2010 at 2:52 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

March 7, 2010

Owlie

Jennifer said she thought she saw baby owls when she went by the nest, so I ran down and got this shot, but I have not seen any owlets yet.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on March 7, 2010 at 6:18 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

March 2, 2010

Owlie

Above: Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) incubating clutch of eggs near Morrison, Colorado.

I stopped by to check on "Owlie". He/she seems to be healthy, happy, and warm, but no sign of the owlets yet.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on March 2, 2010 at 9:40 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 26, 2010

Canon Extender EF 1.4X II (Teleconverter)

My new toy came today via UPS. Woohoo! I'm going to try to get some shots of owlie when I go to pick up Jennifer today. Hopefully, I'll get better shots of owlie. We'll see.

I'm trying to get some rough depth-of-field calculations, this is always tricky with smaller-than-full-frame sensors. My sensor has a 1.6X "crop factor". But the lens is a 100mm - 400mm L-series lens designed for a full frame sensor. You can tell this silly DOF calculator that you're shooting a Canon EOS 50D, so it knows to accomodate for the 1.6X "crop factor", but then there are two different types of lenses you can use for this frame, the EF, and the EFS. The EFS lenses are designed for the smaller sensor, the EF lenses are not. So, this is sort of a crap shoot.

Update: So, the autofocus doesn't work at all with the extender. I had thought that this might be a possibility. Not very convenient, but I figured I should be able to manually focus my camera, although I readily admit it's not something I have a lot of practice with.

Update: I tricked the camera and now the autofocus works. :)

Above: Great-horned Owl (Bubo virginianus).

Above: The American Kestrel (Falco sparverius).

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls, Falcons

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 26, 2010 at 2:21 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 18, 2010

Owlie in the snow

Above: Here, we see the Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) patiently incubating a clutch of eggs in a Red-Tailed Hawk's nest in the snow. If you look closely, you'll see that the back of the owl's neck is covered with a bit of snow. These birds are obviously well insulated.

I drove around for a bit this afternoon as I wanted to see what the raptors did in a snowstorm. Surprisingly, they didn't seem to behave any differently than they do on any other day. I saw some hawks flying around, presumably scouting for a meal. Saw a few hawks perching on trees in the snow. Saw the owl in the nest incubating the eggs. Basically, the raptors that I observed acted exactly the same as if it were clear and sunny, so far as I could tell.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 18, 2010 at 10:15 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 16, 2010

The Daily Raptors

Above: Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) incubating a clutch of eggs near Morrison, Colorado.

Above: Mature Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) near Morrison, Colorado.

Above: Mature Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) near Morrison, Colorado.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 16, 2010 at 5:38 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 15, 2010

Great Horned Owl Incubating Eggs

Above: Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) incubates a clutch of eggs. My guestimation is that they will hatch on or around March 11th.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 15, 2010 at 6:48 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

February 10, 2010

Owlie's Back :)

I thought I saw that the owl was back last week, and then Wendy told me on Sunday for sure that there was definitely an owl back in the nest. I'm not sure how long they have been nesting. My guess is that they have been there for about a week. Wendy says she saw them 3 weeks ago.

The incubation period for a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) is reportedly 28-35 days, with 33 being the average. The owlets will then reportedly fledge at 35 days. Of course, I have no idea where we are in the process.

I'm led to believe that both male and female incubate the eggs. The Great Horned Owls do not exhibit sexual dimorphism in their plumage, but the females may be slightly larger than males.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Continue reading "Owlie's Back :)"

Posted by Rob Kiser on February 10, 2010 at 6:36 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

June 5, 2009

Daily Photos (Updated)

Finally, a photo of the Great Horned owlets with a parent in the nest for perspective.

Update: Haha. I'm sitting here drinking a beer and looking at my website and I looked at this photo again and I was like....Holy Sh1t, Batman...there's three baby owls in this photo. Apparently, their average clutch size is 2.3 owlets. So, in this case, we got 3. Haha. Cracks me up. I've been shooting these owlets for some time, and I suspected that there might be more than two, as, if you go back and look at some of the older photos, I did notice shapes that were hard to explain. But this is classic. Three baby owlets with a parent and all four of them looking into the frame. Luck counts. I'll take it.

The House Wren has laid yet another egg for a total of eight. She's been laying an egg a day now for as long as I can remember.

Jennifer checking one of the nests. We take the four wheeler because it's the easiest way to gain access to the nests. It's basically a rolling ladder. We just stand up on the game rack on the front.

Photos of the flowers at the local country club. No clue what they are. Update: Chick Voice points out that these are Lupines. Thanks CV.

More photos of the flowers at the local country club. No clue what they are. Update: Chick Voice points out that these are Pink Columbines. Thanks CV.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on June 5, 2009 at 7:16 PM : Comments (2) | Permalink

June 3, 2009

Daily Bird Photos

The House Wren added yet another egg to her clutch. I have to think she'll stop laying eggs and start incubating them in the next day or so. Both Western Bluebird moms are incubating their eggs.

The owlets look a little dryer today than yesterday.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird on Mountain Lilac. Walking outside is pretty much like taking your life in your own hands. These things dogfight all day and they've buzzed me a few times which is pretty scary. They come buzzing about 12" from your face going about 30 mph. It's pretty intense.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on June 3, 2009 at 8:17 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

June 2, 2009

Great Horned Owlets in a Rain Storm

I went down to check in on the owlets this morning. After the rain we got last night, I bet the owlets were wishing they had a roof. They're soaking wet in this photo. Parents were not in sight.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on June 2, 2009 at 2:57 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

May 23, 2009

Great Horned Owlets

Two Great Horned owlets (Bubo virginianus). This is the best photo of baby owls I've taken this year. They're so big that the mother stays in an adjacent tree. My guess is that they'll fledge pretty soon.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on May 23, 2009 at 5:26 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

May 17, 2009

Great Horned Owlet

Here's a photo of the Great Horned Owlet that I shot today. This one looks a little better than the last one, but not by a great margin. You can see one of the owlet's eyes, and his (or her) beak. I'm surprised by how quickly the bird is maturing.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on May 17, 2009 at 11:00 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink

May 10, 2009

Great Horned Owlet

Yesterday, when I brought Jennifer home from the airport, we stopped to check on the Great Horned Owl nest and, for the first time this year, I spotted a baby owl. The owlet is snow white and appears to be covered in down. The baby was eating something when I spotted him. I snapped a few Bigfoot/UFO quality photos of the baby, but you can see the little bugger if you look closely. It's the white little furry thing behind the momma owl.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on May 10, 2009 at 11:00 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink

April 11, 2009

Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) incubating eggs near Morrison, Colorado.

Categories: Photos, Birds, Owls

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 11, 2009 at 6:45 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink