Baby Owls

I tried to make this post about a week ago, but was having some computer troubles. Figures, getting a new(er) computer doesn't fix all that. Of course, it could be that this computer is Windows-based and my laptop was a Macbook. At any rate, it seems to be working out okay now. This post will have to be short because I promised a couple of dogs I'd take them for a walk this evening.

In addition to all the lovely blossoms that spring has brought, there have been some adorable baby birds spotted at work. Specifically, three little baby owls in the nest over the parking lot. It's hard to get all three to pop their heads up at once and both days that I lugged along my digital camera in hopes of spotting them, only one or two were visible. I definitely wanted to get a couple shots with a better zoom before they flew away.

Hard to see in this picture taken with my cellphone camera, but if you enlarge it, you should be able to see momma and three fluffy babies.

This is the least cautious of the three babies as it sits up most of the day and doesn't hide from me

Look closely and you'll note both parents sitting on a branch (one of whom watched me closely as I snapped pictures)

"Who are you looking at?"

A second sibling briefly popped their head up to see me

I'm fairly certain that the owls in question are great horned owls, but don't hold me to that in court because I'm not an ornithologist. Both of the parents definitely have the defined 'horns' though, so that seems pretty likely to me that's what they are. We are all enjoying seeing these owls grow up and I suspect it won't be too much longer before the babies take off on their own.

In addition to the owls, we have some red-tailed hawks that hang out in the area. There are two big, open fields on either side of our location with lots of big mature trees as well. It seems to make for a great location for these birds of prey to hunt and raise their young in.