Great Horned Owl

This is Otis the Great Horned Owl, a great wildlife ambassador, who lives at the Medicine River Wildlife Centre (north west of Calgary, and west of Innisfail). He is unable to be released because of injuries, so devotes his life to educating people. Taken indoors, which is never a strong point for me and my camera : )

The Great Horned Owl is the provincial bird of Alberta and is common all year round. I have been lucky enough to see many, including two young ones. The feather detail really is quite attractive. They feed mainly at night but in winter they also hunt in the daytime.

We came across this beautiful Great Horned Owl during our Christmas Bird Count in Nanton, south of Calgary, on 27th December. S/he was perched in a lone tree in the middle of a large grassy area in the "garden" of one of the ranches/homesteads. Fortunately, I got a few photos before the family dog decided to trot off across the snow and right under this tree. The owl flew straight towards me and then angled off, I'm glad to say. It can be an anxious moment when you realize a large bird of prey is flying towards you from just a few feet away, and I never think of trying to get a photo, until it's too late, LOL.

It was such a treat to see this Great Horned Owl on Sunday morning, high up in a Spruce tree - in awful lighting. Presumably, this is one of the same two owls that have been in the avenue of Spruce trees by Bow Valley Ranch in Fish Creek Park the last few years. These two owls are different from the Sikome Owls (the usual ones I photograph), that live just a few minutes further into the park. Some days last year, I was able to see three of these owls at Sikome plus the two by the Ranch, all within a matter of minutes. How lucky is that?!

Amazingly, there were no annoying little branches or leaves between the owl and myself. I have seen this particular pair of Great Horned Owls so many times. They live down by Sikome Lake in Fish Creek Park. Earlier this year, I saw the mother high up in their nesting tree with a baby down by her feet. Very cute.

Last winter, I so much enjoyed driving down to a local park just to check out this pair of Great Horned Owls. Without the leaves on the trees, life was much easier when trying to photograph these birds. Can't always find a spot where there are no branches in the way, though.

Watched as this baby Great Horned Owl practiced its flying down in the Weaselhead natural area. Both adults were perched in nearby trees. Just the cutest thing!

This was such a magical hour, spent quietly watching and photographing this young Great Horned Owl. A few days ago, we noticed that their nesting tree stump had fallen or been blown to the ground. Hopefully, they will choose another tree in the same area for nesting next spring. (Note to self: I used a similar photo to this one for my 2008 calendar.)

I happened to walk through a wooded area where I had previously seen a pair of Great Horned Owls, when this youngster flew into a tree near me. Its parents stayed close by, and the baby seemed quite curious by my presence, giving me plenty of opportunity to photograph it. Such a spectacular bird - and those EYES!