Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Great Horned Owls - Market Lake

This evening I ran out to Market Lake Wildlife Management Area to see if I could find the Great-horned owls that usually nest there.  They were easy to find as the magpies were attacking them.  The pair were roosting on the same limb, but the male quickly attack only to pull up short, but came within a couple of feet of me.  He was not a happy camper.
Here is the male after the attack.  He would try to ignore me and then would fly away.-h

Here is the smaller female.  She never flew but watched me very closely.

                                        
Here she is as the sun was setting.


                                                  

Here is a Rough-legged hawk that kept buzzing the male Great-horned owl.

                                         

Just the end of another wild day in Idaho.

24 comments:

Monts said...

Great post Bill I love these birds, and I find it amazing how you can find them so easily. Here in the UK they are the most difficult species to find. Keep them coming.

Frostbite and Sunburn said...

Aren't they gorgeous - and she was definitely fixing you with a careful stare!

Anonymous said...

That female owl looked like she was giving you the evil eye!

DaveABirding said...

Great shots and blog. I look forward to checking out some of the archives and future posts.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

I love seeing Owls... Their eyes are just so gorgeous. Hope the hawk didn't go after the owl!!!!!

Have a great day. It's snowing like crazy here today.
Betsy

Bob Bushell said...

A really nice blog, and the birds are great, especially the female owl.

Martha Z said...

Great captures. Owls keep eluding me.

Dagmar said...

You and your amazing birds keep making me smile all the time. Thanks so so so much for sharing your wonderful wildlive Bill.

NatureFootstep said...

owls always seem to be looking at you. :)

Mary Howell Cromer said...

Wow what excitement and so happy that you located the pair. I would love so much to see them up close like this, but no one seems to know where they nest around here....yet~

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

Those are really nice pictures.

Sunny said...

You certainly find the most wonderful birds to photograph, these owls are terrific.
Sunny :)

Birding is Fun! said...

great shots of those GHOs! We get lots of them here, but they're haven't been that photogenic yet!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Bill: Your so blessed to see those owls, I've never seen one in the wild.

Anonymous said...

Arn't Owls fun! We heard a barred owl last night and we got to see a short eared owl yesterday while we were out strolling on Semiahmoo Spit up on the border with Canada.

Fun Memories for both you and I. Thanks for sharing your owls Bill.

Kilauea Poetry said...

Well this was sure a treat! What powerful shots! The eyes..they penetrate..I can see why she'd be keeping an eye on you!! I had no idea magpies would try to attack them! Fantastic Bill!

Cloudia said...

Wow!
Your adventures and camera-wonders amaze and delight, Bill.



Aloha, Friend


Comfort Spiral

eileeninmd said...

Great shots of the owls and the hawk. That is how I found the owl near me, other birds were going nuts over their presence.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Wonderful pictures Bill. It's always odd to me to see smaller birds attack the larger ones, but guess it works. Thank ayou for sharing

KaHolly said...

What a lucky guy! I've only heard these owls, never seen them! Oh, but I've tried!! Won't you come visit my other blog at: http://kaholly.blogspot.com? I have a barred owl post. ~karen

Larry said...

Excellent shots of the Great Horned Owls Bill. They are indeed masters of their domain.

Janie said...

Great shots of the owls. Interesting that you know just where to find them. Lovely shot of the hawk, too, against the blue sky.

doro said...

It's great pleasure to see it!!!
greetings

LauraHinNJ said...

Gorgeous pics!

I'm pretty sure that in hawks and owls, it's the female that's the larger (and fiercer!) of the pair.

Great captures.