Last Friday, I awoke to steady rain. The forecast was calling for showers and thunderstorms into the afternoon so birding that day wasn’t on my radar. I was moving pretty slow enjoying my coffee and still in my pajamas. By mid-morning, the rain had stopped and the sun was out. I quickly got dressed, grabbed my camera and binoculars, and headed out the door. I planned to check an area close to home for warblers as birding immediately following rain can be highly rewarding as the showers tend to push birds close to the ground resulting in amazing views. Some of my best days birding have been during similar conditions.
Shortly after arriving, I tallied a multitude of warblers moving through the low trees and shrubs slightly higher than eye level. Blackburnian, Magnolia, and Bay-breasted were all observed within a matter of minutes. As I made my way into a clearing in the forest, I heard a flock of Blue Jays calling aggressively. To my delight, I saw a Great Horned Owl perched in a tree being mobbed by the jays.
Raising my camera, I captured a few images of the owl perched in a large tree. All of a sudden, something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. It was a young owl flying past eventually landing in a nearby tree. As the young owl again took flight, the adult followed making their way to another tree. Looking with my binoculars I saw a second adult and young owl deeper in the forest. I was pretty excited to have stumbled upon this family of owls.
As I watched the family of owls it appeared the young ones were possibly learning to fly or hunt. I stood motionless under a tree and watched as the owlets made short flights from tree to tree while the parents watched carefully. One of the adult owls stayed close to each juvenile at all times never taking their eyes off them.
Watching the eyes and heads of the adult owls move in unison as the owlets flew around was almost comical. This spectacle reminded me of the emphatic motions of synchronized swimmers performing a well-choreographed routine.
Not wanting to put added stress on the adults or young owls during what was seemingly a vital life lesson, I carried on after watching for only a few minutes while quickly capturing photos. Despite being a brief encounter, it is one I will always remember. Out of respect for the birds, I do not share owl locations but I will say these are not any of our over publicized owls here in the city.
As I carried on through the forest, my focus once again turned to warblers. As more and more of these colorful songbirds came into view, I kept thinking about the amazing encounter I had just had with these Great Horned Owls. This is one of the elements of birding I love the most, you never know what you are going to see. I look forward to getting out again this week for more adventures and the endless possibilities they may bring and sharing my experiences in nature with each of you.
Good birding,
Paul
Love this!!! What a delight for you and great photos for us to enjoy! Thanks Paul!
Thanks Joanne, I am happy to know you love this. It certainly was an awesome experience.
What a great experience…I went paddling in my kayak last week and twice a Great Horned Owl flew from the trees along the shoreline just in front of me and the second time I could hear it calling (I think there may have been more than one). Unfortunately, I couldn’t get any pictures but as they seemingly came out of nowhere and there was no time to pull up the camera and take a picture. Thanks for the posting.
It certainly was Mario. It sounds like you had a great encounter too. The silent flight of an owl makes it impossible to know when they are approaching making seeing and photographing them a real challenge.
Hi Paul,
I’ve been a subscriber for a few years, always enjoying your birding tips and your excellent photographs. I’ve never commented on how much I appreciate both, until now…just have to complement you on your pictures of the Great Horned Owl family…wonderful!
I think that the dullness of the day must bring out the rich colours of the owls’ feathering, more so than direct light on a brighter day…am I right on this?
Also thanks for reminding me of this tip about the rain pushing the warblers down lower…I’ve had some good birding luck on similar days myself in the past.
Rob Turner,
London
Thanks Rob I really appreciate your kind words. I am glad you always enjoy my tips and photos. You are correct, overcast days help bring out the birds colour more and images have more contrast. Under bright sunny skies the light can almost reflect off of the bird’s feathers and you loose detail and contrast. Sometimes I underexpose on sunny days by 1/3 of a stop or even 2/3 to compensate for this resulting in better images. That being said, I always check my histogram to make sure I have a proper exposure.
Wow, what an experience. You always seem to stumble across such great birding action, almost as if you’ve paid them all to be there!😂
Do you ever do birding guides? I know I’d sure love to head out with you on such a trip to learn some tips and spot some birds.
Keep up the great work.
Happy birding.
Ps. New to our yard this week is the house finch and black capped chickadee. That makes 21 species spotted in the yard with a turkey vulture making a fly over for 22 species spotted. I have had a visit from a bird (number 23) that I am yet to identify. A small grey bird with a thin beak! Hopefully it returns again for another siting so i can identify it.
Thanks Jon. I wish I could pay birds to appear! There are definitely a few species I’d be curious as to what they would charge to present themselves in front of my lens. I’m happy to hear your yard count keeps increasing, that is fantastic. I have done guided birding hikes in the past and a couple I was asked to lead earlier this month unfortunately but understandably had to be cancelled. The group organizing the hikes is hoping to reschedule but obviously that is all up in the air. When I am leading hikes I always share it on my website and social media so you won’t miss out.
A group guided trip sounds great. I look forward to the next one you host. Have you ever done 1on1 trips?
Yeah I’m pleased with the variety of birds, just wish the numbers per species would increase. At the moment it is just one of these and one of those etc!!
I have done guided one on one hikes in the past too. I think with a little more time the numbers will increase especially given the number of species you already have visiting.
Thank you once again Paul, for the brilliant photos and insight. I always look forward to your posts and have learned so much from you. It’s another gloomy day but the rain has stopped so I am following in your footsteps and heading out to my local patches. Happy birding😊🦉🐦
Thanks Sharon! I am happy to hear you look forward to my posts and have learned from them. Sometimes what we deem as less than ideal conditions are the best to go birding in, I hope you have a great day.
Thanks again Paul for your wonderful pictures of the owls. I really enjoy your blogs and wish I could get
out to see them in person. Keep up the good work.\
Thank you very much Peggy! I am happy knowing you enjoy my blogs and am glad I can bring the birds to you through my images.
Magical!
Thank you very much, it sure was!
What a nice surprise to see the owls, Paul!..I love owls! Great photos!
It certainly was Susan. Thank you very much!
What a great experience birding! Thank you for sharing it with us through your your blog and photos. They are spectacular looking birds!
My pleasure Kathy. It definitely was an amazing experience one I won’t forget. I agree they are a spectacular looking bird.
Amazing photos of the owls Paul! You were so lucky to see the young ones as well! I have never been lucky enough to find owls in the wild myself. I love your blog! You always have such great photos and tips such as the one about birding after a rain. I will definitely have to try that! I have always done patch birding, going back to local parks with wooded areas or ponds in my area. The migratory warblers have now seem to have left but I enjoy seeing local birds all year. And yesterday I saw a completely new bird to me – 2 sora rails! I they were making a nest in the reeds by the pond! Thanks again Paul! I look forward to more of your photos and videos!! Stephanie
Thank you very much Stephanie! I was pretty fortunate to see those owls it was definitely a great experience. I am really happy to hear you love my blog and look forward to more of my photos and videos. It sounds like you have some great patches near you and finding those soras is incredible! They are not an easy bird to see. I’ve got some new adventures planned coming up soon and look forward to sharing the images and videos from them.