Tag Archives: birds

Have Some Nice Rabbit Ear, M’Dear

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A few seasons ago I was fortunate (read really lucky) to find an open Great Horned Owls nest that was mostly unobstructed by branches, leaves or other things put there by the photo gods to make a photographers’ life miserable. The owlets are good-sized by now, it is early April, and they still need food to be brought in by their Mother. She works hard for her living (my apologies to Ms. Summers) and brings a variety of offerings to the nest. This morning they were extremely lucky because she brought in a nice fat rabbit. Their usual fare is mice or voles, sometimes a snake and on the rarest of occasions a small peasant child. No wait, I made that up, this was supposed to be the April 1st posting.  She is very careful around the young ones and feeds them in a delicate almost refined manner. Not like the hawks and Eagles which look like they used a chainsaw to prepare their prey. The young however aren’t quite as refined and will grab a portion like this and force the whole thing down their gullet in one big gulp. It doesn’t take long for the rabbit to be totally consumed and after the owlets have stuffed themselves silly they settle down for a nap. It isn’t long before they’re up and at ’em again but Mother is done for the day. They’ll have to make due with whatever leftovers they find around the nest because she isn’t leaving again until dark.

Vigilance

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Wild turkeys live in out here in Northern Colorado and are regularly seen as you travel about in our rural settings. In the spring there will be large flocks with many hens and numerous chicks. It is not unusual to see flocks with as many as three or four dozen birds in them. That’s in the spring, right after the hatch, and before they begin moving around too much. Then nature begins to make adjustments. Coyotes are probably the turkeys biggest threat as they can easily run down the chicks who aren’t able to fly well, if at all. Sometimes the chicks will be taken by hawks or owls but mostly it is coyotes who are the main predators and sometimes unfortunately, by dogs running loose. This picture was taken in mid-August and though the large flocks of spring have by now broken up into smaller groups, there is only one chick left in this brood. If this chick is to make it to an age where she can have chicks of her own, every step she or the rest of the flock takes must be taken with caution and they will have to exercise one of their most important skills, Vigilance.

Cliff Dweller

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Most people are used to seeing Great Horned owls sitting on branches or in a hollow tree or even perched on a church steeple against a full moon if you’re in a Halloween frame of mind, but out here in the west we sometimes see them sitting in the small caves high up in a redstone cliff, like this female. The red stone outcropping above her head is being lit by the setting sun. Sunset comes early to the bottom of these deep canyons and although it is mid-afternoon the rich warm light of the setting sun is already present. When you look around the cave you can see the geode like formations on the wall. The whole cliff in this area is covered with them. Owls must like good design because these are pretty plush digs she has chosen.

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This owl family consists of the female and two owlets she has raised to young owlhood. When you look closely you can see that they have not grown their “horns” yet and are still a little gawky and unsure of themselves.

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That all changes when they fly however. They have all the grace and confidence of an adult when they’re in the air. The female takes note of this one’s style as it glides by

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and lands on a small ledge near the cave. They appear to be quite comfortable in this environment and the steep cliffs with it’s small footholds don’t pose any problems at all.

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The young owls were flying constantly as if they were making sure of their skills and as it turned out it was because this was their last day here on the cliff. Although I checked back on them every day for several weeks they were never seen here again. It has been a couple of seasons now and they still haven’t returned but since this spot has been used for years I have high hopes that I’ll see another owl family join the ranks of the Cliff Dwellers.