While understanding bird habitat is a must, having good scouts is really nice when a birder. My son and daughter-in-law are both marathon runners. At least once per Spring while on their long evening runs they discover the locations of owls and let me know where to find the birds! Such was the case this past weekend, and I spent an hour both at dawn and dusk with the Great Horned Owls chicks. These birds are almost ready to fledge. Owls have their chicks early in the season in that it allows them plenty of time to learn how to hunt during the summer. Young owls are clumsy hunters at first.
One other item worth noting. It is supremely important to be quiet in the woods. During the hour I watched the chicks at sunrise, they mostly snoozed, but when some animal stepped upon a branch and I heard a resounding crack of breaking wood, the owls were instantly awake. The birds knew this was not normal noise and went on alert. If you make much of a racket while hiking in the woods, you will give yourself away and all the animals and birds will easily avoid you. This means you will not see much wildlife.
Dawn Photographs
Dusk Photographs
