My cousin Ken Dudley, whose generous gift eventually allowed me to buy my first high quality birding lens, tragically passed away in January of 2007. I used to visit Ken on the family farm in Montana at least once each summer (we were very close, like brothers) and on those visits I became enamored by the resident Great Horned Owls living in all the old granaries. I tried to photograph the adult owls as best I could with the inadequate lens I had at the time and even though my results were poor I became absolutely enchanted by those owls. But because for many years I was still teaching I couldn’t get up there until late June at the earliest so I always missed seeing the chicks until they were much older.<\/p>\n
Four months after Ken passed away I made a trip to the farm in late May (by then I was retired so I could go whenever I wanted to). I made it up there to see him during Christmas vacation when he was very ill but I couldn’t make it to his funeral because of classroom related responsibilities. This trip in May was my belated attempt to find closure. I stayed in the huge farmhouse but other than me it was empty and lonely and very sad. I was a bit of a mess.<\/p>\n
But after a few days of wandering around the farm Ken’s older brother Jim showed up from out of town and showed me where that year’s Great Horned Owl chicks were. Those youngsters changed my entire attitude from despair to one of hope and moving forward.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/great-horned-owl-8569-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"great-horned-owl-8569-ron-dudley\\"")
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But damn were they ever in an ugly place, the bottom of a very old and abandoned granary that had been used to store junk for decades. I presume they were hatched higher up among the rafters and were in their early “branching” stage so they had recently worked their way down to the floor. They were very clingy with each other but they were curious and unafraid. Their food staple was the omnipresent “gophers” that their parents delivered to them each night. The dark spot on the wood in front of the chick on the left is gopher blood.<\/p>\n
Even at this very early stage of my bird photography “career” I knew to give the chicks plenty of space and spend very little time near that granary but just knowing they were there changed my focus and my attitude. I began to spend much more time trying to photograph other birds on the farm with my inadequate lens and less time moping and grieving. I began to give serious thought to someday being able to afford my dream lens, the Canon 500 f\/4, so I could take my bird photography to new heights.<\/p>\n
And then a few weeks after I arrived back home in Utah I received an unexpected check in the mail from Ken’s estate. I strongly believe that Ken’s intention was for me to finally be able to afford the lens that I’d been talking about for so long. So a few weeks after receiving Ken’s gift I purchased the lens and I was off to the races.<\/p>\n
So that’s why I have a giant soft spot for these young owls, trashy setting or not.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Inspiration can come from the strangest places.<\/p>\n