Great Horned Owl

[Dee]

How could I miss? The owl was about 3 feet away no less! This is how you can miss. Dim light under the eaves. Owl perched on woman's arm. Woman is very enthusiastically talking about said owl. Woman moves entire body while talking enthusiastically. Owl finally goes to sleep! (Heard it all before). So I managed to get one or two that appear to be sharp and in focus. Never dreamed I might be "too" close to the owl to use the entire zoom length of my F828!

http://DeeGolden.smugmug.com/photos/36360549-L.jpg

http://DeeGolden.smugmug.com/photos/36360550-L.jpg

[bfjr]

Dee real good, really good :thumb
great eyes :wow

Was it a pet ??

[Dee]

Dee real good, really good :thumb
great eyes :wow

Was it a pet ??

Someone in another local forum posted a thread about Palo Alto Airport Day and when I checked last years photo gallery I saw some birds. Sure enough they were back.

The group: Sky Hunters (http://www.sky-hunters.org/)

Here's the blurb about the great horned owl: "The heaviest and most common of our local owl species dominates the night skies. This non-releasable Great Horned Owl was born in 1991 and is on the permit with Wildlife Rescue, Inc. He suffers from brain damage caused by secondary poisoning received as a young bird. Adults and children alike are awed by this beautiful bird with his calm presence and very important lesson on putting poison into our environment."

[Khaos]

Such mesmerizing eyes.

[Harryb]

Outstanding shots Dee. :clap

[jwear]

great shots Dee :thumb like your challenge shot also:clap

[Dee]

great shots Dee :thumb like your challenge shot also:clap

My hubby thinks the challenge shot is great, my daughter's horrified, a friend loves my smile!

At my age, the heck with it! I had to use a high ISO cause it was do gray and dreary and the window is high giving me that halloween flashlight under the chin look. Being an October baby, what the heck! And I love trees! :rofl :rofl :rofl

[Dee]

I was beside myself! My poor hubby was getting so bored waiting for me to finish or run out of memory whichever came first! What an opportunity to see this magnificent owl out in the open, instead of behind bars or glass! He was very well behaved too!

The Kestrel kind of freaked out when I raised the camera, and the person holding it warned me the bird would be a little upset, but it settled down. The owl just gave me this "look." Then decided, ho hum, another Sony...

[ginger_55]

Cool owl. I have yet to see one. I can't stand to sit through those talks.

I will have to look at your challenge photo!

ginger

[Trish323]

I love 'em:thumb Great shots...the only one I ever saw was in my yard way up high..at dusk...so the shot was lousy.. nice to see those beautiful eyes up close!

[Rohirrim]

Beautiful shots Dee. The second one is especially nice, very sharp:thumb

[iceman17]

Fantastic shots,clear,crisp,sharp,and close.Wonderful capture on the eyes.Ive only got close to the Great horned Owl at a zoo.The rest of my Great horned,Great Gray and Northern Hawk Owl shots have been in the wild and were at such a distance that ive had to use full zoom and then crop to 50 or 100% just to get a good look at them.

It's good to see one up close and personal:clap :clap ..ice