Great Horned Owl, Joshua Tree National Park

Well, this is a treat! An owl (an immature Great horned owl?) in a saltcedar (Tamarisk) tree! Fabulous shot; and is he ever giving you the evil eye! Well captured. Cheers! Chris

Yep.....great horned. This was a thrill for sure. We saw him 2 mornings, in the same place, and we were told that he was guarding the mother and babies, which were about 6 ft. to his left in the V of the tree.....never saw them though. Thanks for the tree ID, which I didn't know. I guess I need to brush up on my desert taxonomy. Now me....give me a flowering dogwood, which are in bloom here now and stunningly beautiful!

Well, if the dogwoods are bloomin', you better get out there in the Indiana countryside and get some good shots some early morning before you take off for symphony practice. BTW, do you like Morten Lauridsen's Lux Aeturna? I happen to have that on the iPod right now as I cruise through PN. Actually, it is coming to a close and it is high time to go to bed; so off to bed I go! Cheers! Chris

I'll email you about Lauridsen's piece, which is basically a requiem. Interesting that you should ask at this particular juncture....a friend of ours (age 42) just lost her long battle with cancer.

Please let me know what you think of this shot.

This is such a captive photo with that beautiful stare from the owl. The black and white of the owl is nice but the colors below of the bark and leaves add a special touch.

You must have put the focusing on a spot setting, otherwise there wouldn't be owl there at all, ha!

 

PDE

Thanks for your comments and ratings on this shot. It was the first time I had ever seen an owl up close and personal in the wild. What a thrill!

Great capture and a wonderful subject you did find!

Great shot...wonderful bird...Regards Keith

What a gorgeous capture. Love the OoF foreground, gives me the feeling of you creeping up on him.

Lovely presentation............ well done

Regards

I would be absolutely thrilled to have a shot such as this! They're around around but, alas, elusive in the areas that I frequent here in Oklahoma. I've heard their calls along with the Barred Owl but no opportunities yet!

 

It's been awhile since I've heard from you, . . . hope all is well and, I'm glad to see your name (and images) on the pages here.

 

Always,

Jim j.

 

Thanks, Jim.  Don't know if we would have seen it on our own.  The owners of the B&B where we stayed directed us to it.  I took a lot of bad shots, but since it was there for awhile I kept at it until I got something worth keeping.  And he didn't have his eyes open like this for long, so I love that he accommodated me so nicely!