A Wet, Winking Great Horned Owl Fledgling

This image gives me the warm fuzzies for some reason.

I was on my family farm in Montana and it had been raining hard.  When the rain stopped (it was still heavily overcast and relatively dark) I decided to go outside and peek around the corner of an old granary to see if one of the adult Great Horned Owls was perched in its favorite spot – a high cutout on the end of a different granary.   So I very slowly sneaked up until I could see around the corner but the owl wasn’t there so I decided to wait and see if it showed up.

After a few minutes I gave up (it was cold and wet) and started to put my gear away when I just happened to look almost straight up the side of the granary I was hiding behind and there was a young Great Horned Owl looking down at me from so close I could barely focus on it.  It was wet from the rain and it showed no fear – only sleepy curiosity.

 

great horned owl 5726c ron dudley

1/60, f/9, ISO 250 (a mistake), 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, called in or set up

I love the half-closed, fuzzy eyelid and the ear tufts or “horns” that are just beginning to form on this young owl.

The eyelids of birds are not used for blinking – the nictitating membrane serves that lubricating purpose.  And most birds, when sleeping, raise the lower eyelid to cover the eye.  But the horned owls, including the Great Horned Owl, lower the upper eyelid instead.

Not a great image in this light but I thought the subject made up for it.

Ron

26 Comments

  1. Count me in as another that gets the warm fuzzies from this image. Thank you.

  2. Lucky you! And what an adorable youngster. Thanks for the info about the eyelids, too.

  3. A close up. I love it!

  4. I love this photo so much. I just want to tuck the little owl into bed and give him a teddy bear. Thanks for sharing.

  5. Not great,Ron, wonder full.
    And I have volunteered with raptors a while and really did not understand the function of the nictitating membrane as clearly as you stated it.
    Double thanks.

  6. Aw, beautiful baby, and image!

  7. Abby Brown-Watson

    Please add me to the list of folks to whom you bring joy and knowledge. Thanks so much.

  8. Thanks! Your site continues to bring joy to me each day.

  9. VERRRRY COOOL!!

  10. Charlotte Norton

    Love it! And…..I learned something! Thanks as always!
    Charlotte Norton

  11. How wonderful to be that close to the owl! I love this photo – both the sleepiness and the fact that you can see the bird is wet.

  12. priceless!!! love it!!

  13. I love it!!

  14. “Not a great image”…..??? You’ve GOT to be kidding!!!

  15. I think it is a Great shot Ron!!
    Yes, I can see why you might not, but the pose is terrific and
    you captured it well!!

  16. Easy to see where old illustrators got their ideas of “schoolmaster” pose!

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