Great Horned Owl And A Ghostly Apparition

On a recent post about these Great Horned Owls I said I’d soon explain “the rest of the story” about the birds. This is it.

 

great horned owl 0200 ron dudley

 1/200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

I photographed this owl nine days ago at a cutout in an old granary on the family farm in Montana. This is one of two adult birds and a single surviving juvenile from this years nesting season. Because of the notch made in the wood at the bottom for a grain auger this cutout is kind of an unattractive one so I was happy with this particular pose because we see nearly all of the bird and part of its body obscures some of the notch.

Soon after this image was taken something interesting happened but in order to illustrate (sort of) the event I have to include two terribly blurry shots and an embarrassing explanation. As I was watching the owl through my lens there was a sudden explosive commotion that filled my viewfinder with wings and feathers and it startled me enough that I flinched and the resulting shots were extremely blurry (it doesn’t take much of a flinch to have this effect when you’re shooting at an effective 1120 mm). At the time I thought that another owl had flown in from the right and attempted to land on the cutout next to this bird – it wasn’t until I arrived home days later and reviewed my images that I pieced together what really happened.

Ok, prepare yourself for two very blurry images…

 

 

great horned owl 0202 ron dudley

The commotion wasn’t caused by another owl flying in from the outside, instead it happened when the juvenile (seen in the cutout at lower left) flew up to the cutout from inside the granary. When that happened the adult took off backwards in the opposite direction in an apparent attempt to make room for the still-awkward youngster at the cutout – if the young bird had fallen it could have been injured because it’s a good distance to the floor of the granary.

 

 

great horned owl 0203 ron dudley

In this next even softer shot we see the juvenile landing on the cutout as the adult falls away and begins to open its wings a second time before flying downward at an angle to our left. I was impressed that the parent bird was apparently protective enough of its offspring to instinctively react this way and this quickly to the situation. These two blurry images are full frame.

 

 

great horned owl 0204 ron dudley

 1/250, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

By the time I reacquired focus on the juvenile the young bird had just landed and was beginning to fold its wings as it watched its parent below.

 

 

great horned owl 0240 ron dudley

 1/320, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

After the parent was out of sight the youngster then focused on me as I “hid” behind the corner of another old granary and pointed my huge lens its way.

 

But wait, what about the “ghostly apparition” mentioned in my title? If you didn’t notice it the first time, go back to the first image and look very carefully at the lower left hand area of the black cutout and you’ll (barely) see the juvenile hiding deep in the shadows and watching me with one yellow eye as it perched on one of the granary rafters (this bird may be more easily seen on some monitors than on others). I didn’t even know it was there when I was photographing the adult in the cutout.

I’m not really sure why I flinched when the commotion began. I was hand holding the 500mm lens and bracing it against the side of another granary when it happened and that may be part of it but either way it’s a bad habit to have when one of your primary photographic goals is to capture bird behaviors which usually go down very quickly. Hopefully this isn’t the beginning of a pattern…

Ron

 

 

 

25 Comments

  1. charlotte Norton

    Wow! What amazing shots and action Ron!

    Charlotte

  2. Beautiful photos of beautiful creatures!!!

  3. The ghost image had me scrolling back up to see it, and yes, there it is! I didn’t notice it at first until you mentioned it. All very fascinating!

  4. Echoing Patty and Susan again.
    Perfectly focussed photos wouldn’t reflect the moment – which was no doubt blurred for the participants too. Split section decisions/reactions always are.
    Love this series. And the ghost bird.

  5. Ron:
    I enjoyed the story and the images. It is surprising how often interesting aspects about the scene show up on the computer screen that did not reach the level of conscious awareness when taking the photo. I suppose one lesson is to not delete too quickly.

    • Exactly, Dave. And that’s one of several reasons why I never “chimp” (inspect and delete images from my camera) in the field. I always wait until I’ve seen them on my big screen at home.

  6. These shots are both tender and fun….we so, so, SO underestimate the feelings, caring and thinking of birds and ALL other fellow residents of this finite universe!!!

  7. Ron, your blurry shots make me feel better about all the blurry shots I take with my point-and-shoot camera… 🙂 Despite the blurs, it is still very interesting behavior. The youngster in the first shot shows up just fine – if you know it’s there. And I really like the way the next to last shot shows the feather patterns. I could probably study those for hours and not get tired of them.

    • I’m glad to know you could see the “ghost” bird, Susan. I wasn’t sure how many would be able to because it sure isn’t very distinct. I like the subtlety of that fact though…

  8. This was a great story set. We had mystery. We had action. We had resolution. 🙂

  9. My reaction to the first shot was there must be a reflective surface to the side as it looks like a mirror image. Terrific capture of an amazing sequence, Ron! I’m always blown away by some bird behaviors which are instinctual.

  10. Great drama, and the blurry shot reflects the flurry of rapid accommodation on the part of the parent. What spectacular birds! A thrill to wake up to this post…

    • “the blurry shot reflects the flurry of rapid accommodation on the part of the parent”

      Yes, it does, Alison. But it also reflects my photographic screw-up. Thank you.

      • Do you realize that the blurriness of those shots, and the action implied, is what imparts the reality of the situation in a way that, crisp, clear, perfectly focused images could not?

  11. Blurry or not, its a good story.

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