Bird Migration and Misc Birding Thread
- Thread starter Kinch
- Start date
Finally got a good clear look at one of the local Great Horned Owl owlets. I started calling it The Woods of a Thousands Twigs because every view of the owls was obstructed by branches and twigs. Until yesterday when the last of the owlets to fledge posed briefly before taking flight. Was also nice enough to come down to a lower branch. Pretty downy looking yet but it flew well and check out the size of those claws, those aren't baby paws.
600mm lens so I was not real close and this is an urban park so they are used to people, still, I did limit my time for each trip over so as to not disturb them too much. The owlets are curious and will watch you, the parents, not so much. Dad would pretty much just snooze through my visits. Even a Cooper's Hawk landing nearby and squawking at him a few days ago didn't get much of a rise from him.
600mm lens so I was not real close and this is an urban park so they are used to people, still, I did limit my time for each trip over so as to not disturb them too much. The owlets are curious and will watch you, the parents, not so much. Dad would pretty much just snooze through my visits. Even a Cooper's Hawk landing nearby and squawking at him a few days ago didn't get much of a rise from him.
That’s a tough one. I’ve had cardinals attack side mirrors and simply putting a plastic bag over them prevented it. But large multiple? I assume windows I am not sure. Somehow the light is casting a reflection. What do you mean by block? You could try rubbing some bar soap on them to make it less reflective for a few weeks
I was driving to work in the 1980s. An owlet looking like that tried to fly from the roadside on a county gravel road we lived on. It hit the fence and went down, as it was a novice at flying. I felt sorry for the poor thing. I stopped and went to see if it was ok. I reached down for the cute down covered baby, as I reach for it to help, the owlet rolled over on its back and one of its talons penetrated completely through my finger. It pissed me off and I left it. Silly me thinking it was defenseless. Look at those talons in the picture!!!
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apparently they have to grow into their claws like dogs into their feet. Good photo.
I was a Lake Phalen when an owlet fell out of the nest cavity in 2023. Was too little to climb back up so we kept the peeps walking their dogs away from it and waited for the U of M Raptor Center folks to show up. The guy was wearing a helmet for a reason and asked us to keep an eye out for mom or dad who might dive bomb him. His ladder was too short to reach the cavity so he put it on a branch in tree 20 feet away where the parents could feed it and it would be away from all of the dogs in this park.
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I got to see three different saguaro nests when I was in Arizona a couple of weeks ago. Quite a treat from a Minnesota boy used to seeing them in old hawk nests or broken off tree trunks.
Is this a shareable location and one that's "known"? Asking because the super kind gals that showed me the three nests go down each year to photo owls and I'd love to give them a tip to a locale to pay them back some. I owe them. Really like those gals, REALLY good birders and photographers and also really ethical about not getting too close or bothering the owls. They sort of keep the sites quiet so it doesn't attract a lot of people so I was surprised to get guided to some birds by them. Made friends with some grand people since I took up this hobby.
