Both photos were made about the same time, 7pm, just a day apart from each other. Yesterday we had ideal weather conditions for bird photography in Mud Lake Park at the Mississippi River. Almost no wind and warm and crisp sun light. The only problem was the little owl who did not cooperate with me. It hardly peeked out of the nest and most of the time the eyes were covered by some of the sticks from the nest. Just seconds before the last sun was on the nest it came up a little higher and I was able to make a clean shot as you can see here.
Today was totally different. The great news is that the juvenile owl was outside of the nest and was sitting in a neighbor tree. Making a picture was quite a challenge. Strong wind moved everything. The branches were shaking, the feathers of the owl looked like in a wind tunnel, and the light just sucked because dark clouds were moving in. What a difference the quality of light and a little more wind can make!
It is amazing how big this juvenile Great Horned Owl already is. I learned from a retired lady, who is at the nest more often than me and who made photos of the owl as well, that the bird was born in March. As you can see pretty soon the leaves will be out and I wonder if it will be even possible to get an unobstructed view to the bird. The trees are at the edge of a small campground and the season started today. It isn't a busy place but I hope the birds will tolerate the increase of traffic.
