A friend let me know of a spot that has 3 baby owls that have recently started “branching”. So just in case any of you are like me, and didn’t know what branching was, it’s a common behavior where birds move from the nest to a branch, and start flapping their wings to strengthen the flight muscles.
Now, when I said it, even though I had never heard it before, you can almost guess what it is especially when you see it happen. It all makes sense.
These baby owls have definitely been at it for a while because they flew from branch to branch pretty easily with a few mis-steps here and there. The light was pretty good when I got there, but then clouds came in and it just got “blah”. It was dark and I had to crank up the ISO and everything was just flat with a white sky behind it. But hey, this was my first baby owl photo, so I couldn’t go home until I had something worth sharing. And I thought this photo of the owl “branching” was a great start.
But Matt… how do you not know what “Branching” is?
Here’s the deal. I’m going to reveal something. I like bird photography. But I don’t consider myself a birder. I simply enjoy the challenge and enjoy getting out and using my camera. Truth be told, it pretty much ends there. Now, that doesn’t mean that won’t change for me later in life. I think we all develop various appreciations and hobbies as life goes on. But for me, I honestly don’t care what the name of the bird is, what species it is, what the different terms are, etc… I just enjoy the challenge of photographing and editing wildlife.
So when people use lingo, and names of birds, etc… I usually have no idea what they’re talking about. I get better each month just by the nature of doing it – but I don’t actively study this stuff and I don’t have the desire to (right now in my life). Case in point… to me, this is an owl. What kind you ask? I have no idea 😉 Well, now I do. It’s a baby Great Horned Owl but I only know that because I googled it because I had to write this post.
So there you have it. For better or worse, this is just another example of just how little I know 😉
Enjoy!
I love teaching and photography... In that order. I feel that enjoying photography, and photo editing can get WAY too complicated. So my personal mission (and favorite thing to do), is to create education that simplifies the process of taking great photos, and how to edit them to get the results you’ve always wanted.
That’s just the way I used to feel about Lightroom and Photoshop You have changed that for me, thanks. I now know a bit more about processing.
That’s a cool photo. I’ve never had the opportunity for that type of shot.
It’s so interesting to see how our interests in one area will connect us with other things we then enjoy. That is what happened to me with photography and birding. I ended up learning much more about birds than I ever anticipated and enjoying it.
Sincerely,
Kyle Reynolds
https://krnaturalphoto.com/
Thank you for sharing. Beautiful Owl. I dream of the day when I ´ll encounter one. One of my favorite bird. What kind of lens did you use? 600 mm?
Hi Matt,
Maybe you can help. The baby Owls that u photographed I know this spot very well are being fed poisonous rats from the mom n dad Great Horned Owl because everyone puts out poison to kill the rats the momma owl picks up the rat and feeds it to her young also putting herself and dad in danger. the Owls were Huey Dewy n Louie and Emily is a gorgeous Great Horned owl I fly in from Pa to get her photo she is magnificent .So maybe we as humans need to find a better solution only 50 percent of the young owlettes make it due to the poisons.. I love this nest .. Hope you can help This needs attention on how to kill the rats safely but not harm the owls
Hi Robin. Thanks for the message. Very sad about the baby. I agree and hope people find something different. I guess the one thing I would say is education by local authorities. I personally had no idea about this, so my guess is people that live around there don’t either. I have owls in the conservation area around my home – I would have had no idea this was a problem, and I’m sure people who live around here have used rat poison. Before a few years ago, I had no idea that you were supposed to clean bird feeders every week or two. I don’t think it’s people “wanting” to do bad, I just think people don’t know. Sad either way. Thanks!
Oh no!!!! This is very sad. I didn’t know about that. Thank you for opening our eyes. I agree we need more awareness and education. I feel really bad for the Snowy owl we had near the capitol this winter, in DC and all the other birds who are victims of our behavior.
Great shot! Being in love with wildlife photography myself, I would love to shoot some owls but it is so difficult to find them, unless through a tip-off, as in your case. The owl I usually get to shoot most is the Brown Fish Owl. As far as I am aware, the Great Horned Owl is not seen in my part of the world (Sri Lanka). Thanks for sharing. Best Regards.
Great approach to birding Matt. That’s how I do it. Get the shots and then google what kind of bird it is.
Semper Fi,
Joe W.
Me too
Hey Matt, you will become a birder! I started out with photography and birding completely separate. But as cameras and lenses got better for birding, I naturally started doing bird photography. I’ve also branched (see, humans branch also) out to bird watercolors, building bird nest boxes, and bird wood-carving. I guess I’m a real bird nerd!
Good info. Hope to see these owls (or owlets) next week. Thanks
Love the expanded wings
Good for you!
I was in the Park shooting next to you Matt. Glad that you enjoyed our annual thrilling few weeks with the Great Horned Owls and their owlets. Unfortunately I learned today that one of the 3 owlets passed away, reportedly from rat poison! A very sad end to our story.
That pretty much sums up me too. Although I do know some of the birds I shoot. And I live the challenge of it all.
very nice! Whether it is birds or flowers I like to figure out what it is. The correct name goes in my keywords and in any public post I make. It makes the picture feel complete for me.
That makes sense Michael. Everyone is different right? At this point in my life finding out what it is and what it’s doing is an extra step of hassle for me 🙂 But I’m typically going 1000 miles a minute with work, so I’m sure as time goes on and things settle down, doing some of those things will become more interesting for me. Best!
Now imagine you’re a baby Great-horned Owl, btanching in a Pacific redwood, and you miss the landing… The only option is to climb the 300ft back to the nest. This is going to take a while…
Could be worse, though. You could be a Barnacle Goose leaving the nest. (you decide if you want to look that one up… ?)