Birds

Cute Baby Owl

May 2, 2010 by Corey 8 Comments

In Queens, which is, as I may have mentioned before, the best borough in New York City, there is a park that has hosted breeding Great Horned Owls Bubo virginianus for several years running.  That is as specific as I am willing to be about the location of the nest simply because too many people knowing where the nest is would invariably lead to too many people visiting and putting undue stress on the birds.  But, seeing as I do know where the nest is, I couldn’t resist bringing my own little nestling, Desi, to visit the owl nestlings, along with our friend, Kerry (who long-time 10,000 Birds readers will remember).  Only one nestling was in sight at the nest and neither mom nor dad owl could be found, so we made due with the one nestling we could see.  We maintained a respectful distance and viewed and photographed through the scope to avoid freaking out the owl family.

The nestling Great Horned Owl is above and the nest tree, with the nestling peaking out on the left side of the top of the broken-off tree, barely visible, is below, followed by some more nestling shots.

Of course, while we are on the topic of cute nestlings, here is my own little Desi-nestling, helpfully adjusting the scope so Kerry could get a better look at a Tricolored Heron.

This post has been submitted to Bird Photography Weekly #88. Go check it out!

Written by Corey
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.