Great-horned Owl

Latest sighting of the immature Great-horned Owl at Harrison Hills today, July 24, 2011

Pale Green Luna Moth

I'm told they are a species of increasing concern - not too common - and that I was lucky.
Well it was flying towards me, and was huge! I think it was slightly damaged by a recent storm the night before. I took the photos when he landed on a log. Later he flew off.

Great-horned Owl immature almost like adult

Young immature owls look almost like adults. Today as I approached the valley where they've been living since I first saw them in April I noticed first one then the second immature fly off from a low branch down below in the valley to a higher diagonally to the right. One decided to fly back towards me as there were a gaggle of crows in the other direction harassing the first owl. So I had a very clear chance to get this series of photos. They don't stay put if I move around.

Great-horned Owl immature almost like adult

Great-horned Owl immature almost like adult

Great-horned Owl immature almost like adult

Great-horned Owl immature almost like adult

Young immature owls look almost like adults

Great-horned Owl - the proportional eyes

From Patrick:

At Penn State on July 4th there were students there from the Shavers Creek Nature Center. They had the skull of a barn owl showing the huge socket for it's eye ball. Next to it was a softball with a "iris pupil" drawn on it with magic marker.
When our grandson asked about the ball they explained:

"That owls eyes are so big they cannot rotate in their skulls so they have to turn their heads to follow their prey. If we had eyes as big as an owl relative to our skull our eye balls would be as big as a softball."

Pretty neat analogy!

Great-horned Owl collage

Can you spot the owl?

Great-horned Owl youth with horns

Notice the horns feathers are now developing

Finally I Notice that the horns (feathers) are now developing in these young Great-horned Owls.

Sunny, but a difficult angle

It was sunny, but it was difficult to get a good angle to photograph the owls in good light.

Owls together again

Back together again.

Another one of those days when I was just about to leave without seeing the owls. And at the last moment, I heard a commotion, other birds alerted me to their presence.

So the two youngsters were back together again in this red oak tree. And it was a bright sunny day!

Sunbeams through the mist

Along the trail at Harrison Hills Park

Freedom

The spider is the ultimate individual: Depends on nothing, and is free to live his or her life. The only collectivism here is the web - it collects food.

Least Flycatcher

This is the Least Flycatcher song/call.

And here is the song of the Eastern Wood Pewee

Feather

Well, I'm thinking that this might be a 'down' early feather of the young Great-horned Owls. But I can't be sure. Anyone know?

Young owl with food.

It's all part of the cycle of life. I didn't see this when I was at Harrison Hills, but I took these photos, and now that I'm viewing them it seems to me that this young owl has a leg and part of perhaps a rabbit which it was holding onto in a tree way above my head. The owl didn't attempt to fly away as they have been doing lately. Perhaps because it had this food and was not going to be bothered by me. Click the photo for a larger size image.