I hit the jackpot this morning when I visited one of the Great Horned Owl nests I had found and have been monitoring north of Tucson. I arrived just at 7 am just a few minutes after the sun cleared the mountain ridge to my east, and found both parent owls still out and hunting for hungry youngsters. The owls let me watch them for almost 15 minutes, before Dad flew to another perch. I backed off then and exited the scene. Once again, I was dumbfounded to find this Barn Owl hanging out within 50 yards of the GHO nest. Obviously the GHO’s tolerate this smaller owl’s presence.

I then proceeded to my second Great Horned Owl nest, and found both parents sleeping … Mom in the nest and Dad in a nearby tree.

Finally, I made a quick trip over to Madera Canyon yesterday where I plan to return tomorrow morning for a longer birding event. The Canyon has quite different birds as its north facing slope protects its habitat from the devastating afternoon sun.

Acorn Woodpecker

Broad-winged Hummingbird

Finally … I happened to be filming when Dad GHO finally took off. I reduced the speed by a factor of four (SloMo)(link for email subscribers)