Birds in Nature - images of wild birds by Richard Ditch

Subject: Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)
Place: Phoenix, AZ, USA
Date: June 2002
Equipment: Nikon N90S, Nikkor AF-S 300/2.8 & TC20E (= 600/5.6), tripod
Film: Fujichrome Sensia 100
Exposure: aperture priority matrix metered
Scan: Minolta Dimage, 100% of frame

Commentary: Taken within a half mile of our house, and within a quarter mile of the White-winged Doves on this site. We've watched these owls court on the hill top nearby in April, listened to them call in the early morning hours, and even had one on the street lamp in front of our house one Christmas night. But I only discovered this daytime roost recently when I spotted whitewash on the crest near my White-winged Dove location. That evening I got to watch a juvenile bird in the immediate area, and the following day I found this location, occupied by a single adult bird. Two evenings later when I took my wife to see the adult, we found these three juveniles instead. At dusk they flew down and waited for an adult to feed them.

This roost is on the shaded side of this hill, but even then it is extremely hot when temps reach 110 degrees, and it was hard to watch these birds panting through my 30x spotting scope. This is as close as I could get - the property is fenced and very rugged as can be seen. Although a tight shot (such as this adult) of the three birds would be nice, I think this overview is just as interesting as it shows the rugged locale and tells a lot about the life style of these impressive birds.