Are my Great Horned Owl family posts getting repetitive? Sorry (not really). By tonight the bad weather moves in again, and my birding opportunities will be curtailed. Duluth actually had 2.4 inches of snow on Sunday. However, yesterday and today have lots of sun, and I have made the most of my opportunity.

I arrived at the nesting tree about twenty minutes after sunrise (5:50 am). Even with knowing which tree would be most likely to have the owls, it still took me over 15 minutes to find the birds. It then took me another 20 minutes to find an angle which allowed me to take photographs through all the branches.

Much to my glee, shortly after I set up the Mom returned to the tree and posed for me in the only open gap available. It ‘s great to be good, but luck always helps!

Mom Great Horned Owl at Sunrise

Eventually Mom joined her twins on the same branch about ten feet below her on the White Pine. The trio was kind enough to pose for a family portrait. Actually, most of the time the owls just slept. At 7:30 the Mom flew off to hunt. Young owls of this size require the parents to hunt during early morning and evening, not just after dark. I could hear Dad being attacked by crows somewhere off in the distance. I am rather convinced the Dad pulls the crows away from the nesting tree of purpose. He is a good parent.

Great Horned Owl Family Portrait (minus Dad … the experience was a bit like taking family photographs of my family. It is really hard to get five young grandchildren to all look at the camera at the same time)