Meet the Hooter Family :)
Another amazing adventure with sister-in-law Tami also involves Tami’s brother-in-law Bryle. While I was still in Florida visiting , Bryle let Tami and I know that he knew of where a Great Horned Owl nest was! I asked where it was and he said it was at Benderson Park. I had no idea where Benderson was or what kind of a park it was. Well, it was not around the corner but Tami said she was up for taking me and Bryle said he would meet us in order to show us the nesting site - you know how excited I was to have this opportunity. As usual we left very early - it was a very dark, foggy and cloudy morning. I think it took us about 40 minutes to get to the parking area that Bryle said to meet him at. About 2 minutes after we arrived Bryle pulled up coming from the other direction - perfect timing. Benderson Park is not a wildlife park - it is a recreational park with a huge 400 acre lake surrounded by a walking/biking trail. The handful of people who were there when we arrived were biking or walking with headlamps on - it was very dark. Anyway, I kept thinking… where the heck are going to walk to find the owls. As soon as I had my gear out of the car Bryle walked over to us. After we all said good morning to each other I said where are we heading to??? He didn’t say a word but instead turned slightly to his right and pointed way up into a tree that we were parked across from! I said - you have got to be kidding me! He said - the hooters are up there! I said - No way! He said - yes!! Tami and I could not believe it- how could this be???
I kept squinting while looking up into that tree and could not see any signs of any owls. I set up my camera exactly where Bryle said that I should and he set up his next to mine. Bryle has an even bigger lens than mine. I kept struggling with such low light conditions while scanning the tree - no luck. Bryle said - Cheryl and Tami come look through my camera… and guess what we saw - an owlet!! I love the term owlet for a baby owl.. it is a perfect word. This was like a dream for me! I immediately went back to my camera and continued to struggle to see the owlet through my lens. I kept looking back over my shoulder only to see darker and darker clouds on the horizon… exactly where the sun should have been coming up. I kept telling myself - just figure these conditions out and find that family way up in that tree!
And then about 2/3rds way up in the tree many minutes later - bingo!
I zoomed in even more -
I sensed eyes on me and turned slightly to my left…. are you kidding me?? One of the parents -
I immediately moved my tripod and camera slightly to the left to get a little different angle. Looking back to my right I spotted the other parent with one owlet standing up and the other with its back to me.
I quickly looked to my left again - as if my heart wasn’t melting enough I saw this parent take a moments rest.
Moving even a little more to my left as I kept trying to find the best angle to see the babies -
A few moments later a flash of movement to my left caught my eye! I couldn’t keep up with it in flight but the parent that had been resting clearly had taken flight to go find breakfast - and was successful! This high tension wire was to the left of the nest as there was a huge high tension pole behind the tree with the nest. The sky was still very cloudy so I just kept doing the best I could while trying to watch the nest and this parent -
Looking to my right because I wanted to see if they were watching - the little ones were definitely on alert. I no longer saw the parent that had been in the nest -
A quick flap of wings up to my left got my instant attention - I was able to snap this very quickly as this parent was bringing breakfast in bed to the kiddos!
I know these next two shots are hard to make out but I had to include them for you…. Here comes the parent while the owlets anxiously wait for breakfast!
I blew this shot but I hope that you can make out that the parent is beak to beak with one of the owlets to give it breakfast while the other one watches.
I looked up quickly because I kept wondering where the other parent was - spotted it!
For an instant - finally the best second of light happened for the following 2 shots - how magnificent is this entire family?!
What I realized after taking this shot was that the one looking towards me had had its fill and had just dropped the rest of breakfast in front of the other one - who immediately bent down to have its breakfast.
Quite some time went by while they had their backs to me - I waited and waited and waited…..and finally they turned around….:)
After I took the shot above they both went down deeper into the nest and out of view…. I waited and waited.
And thankfully I waited!
As soon as I took the shot above I could see movement in the back of the nest. I quickly picked up my gear and went around to the backside of the tree and this precious moment happened!
As quickly as it had popped up to look my way it quickly went back down into the nest. I picked up my gear and hustled back to the other side of the tree again….
This is the last shot before they both settled down deep into the nest to take a good long rest after breakfast. We waited a very long time and finally had to call it quits to head back -
Once again this was a team effort! Thank you Tami and Bryle - this beautiful experience will be with me forever…