Owls, Owls, and More Owls

This has been a great spring for owls. I've seen them all over. Here is a baby great horned owl sitting in the large nest. It still has its fuffy feathers.

Baby owls are rather large, so I can only imagine all the work that must go into feeding them. It has been a very good rodent year, so perhaps that's why we're seeing so many owls. I wouldn't mind a few more around my house!

Fifteen miles away from the first owl nest we found these two owls hiding out in a tree. Do you see both of them? The one on the lower right is partially obscured by the branch.

This tree is right outside our house and there are four owls on it. Do you see them all?

On the lower branch on the right is the mama and a young one.

On the left about half way up is this fluffy juvenile.

And near the top on the left is this juvenile. Can you see the talons?

I think mama owl is winking at me! And the baby has its beak open, telling me to beat it.

So it's time to head to a different habitat to look at an owl species I haven't seen in years.

This is a burrowing owl. Instead of making a nest in a tree, it raises its young in a burrow. This is probably the male, keeping an active lookout while the female incubates the eggs.

I didn't go very close because I didn't want to disturb it, but I think you can still tell from the photo that it's a really cool owl. I hope the young do well and they return next year.