An Owl Question.

[Jim Jensen]

Last night as I was trying to get some sleep and I could hear an owl hooting. I was thinking to myself I sure would like to get a picture of this Owl. I told myself I should go on this form and ask what would be the best way to track this Owl down in the early evening when there would be enough light to get a picture of it. There is a lake near my house that basically is a park all the way around it. I figured the Owl would be in that area, not knowing how far the sound of a hoot can travel in the night air. Remembering my laziness and thinking about trudging through the snow trying to find an Owl didn't sound like something I would ever have the ambition to do I forgot about the Owl. Well tonight I went out to shovel some of the snow off of my sidewalk. Over the sound of my shovel dragging across the cement I hear "who who, who who, who hoot". I pause, look up and see in the tree almost directly over my head the silhouette of an Owl. I guess the hoots were to let me know that I was messing up his hunting. Thrilled that the Owl has decided to come versus me looking for it, I ran to the house for my camera. I aimed my point and shoot at the Owl, zoomed as far as the camera would go, snapped a picture and got a perfect picture of black. I swiftly kicked myself for not learning how to use my camera for anything other than the automatic settings. I tried some of the built in night settings on the camera but didn’t have any luck getting a picture of anything that resembled an Owl. I then remembered my handheld spotlight. I was pretty sure that once I hit the Owl with 750,000 candle power spotlight it would take flight but I thought maybe if I was fast enough I could snap a picture of it before it left. As it turns out this Owl couldn’t care less if a person shines a spotlight on it in the middle of the night. I often look at the pictures posted in this and the photography form with amazement. I think the pictures are awesome but for me it is the experience and the snapping of a picture is just to let me relive that memory. It doesn’t matter to me if it is a good picture or a bad picture because it is my picture and my memory. Ten years from now I can look at my picture and remember the time I was shoveling my sidewalk while an Owl was hooting at me. Sure I would appreciate a high quality picture but I will take what I can get with what I have to work with and be glad for it. That’s my story and here is my questions. First do you think from what you can see, is this a Great Horned Owl? When I zoom in on the picture It looks like I can see “horns”. It was looking at me but when I shinned the light he turned his head. From the sound of the hoots it sounds like a Great Horned Owl but I don’t know if their hoots are unique to other Owls. Second question, are there in fact camera settings that would allow a better quality picture at night? The Owl was to high in the tree for a flash to be effective. Third if I did want try to find this Owl in the early evening where would I look? I only hear the hoots after midnight. Where do they spend their days?

[Steve Foss]

Great story, Jim.

Yes, you've got a great horned owl there.

Some owls tend to search out heavy cover for daytime roosting, but great horneds are not necessarily among them. I often see them (well, I used to when I lived in GHO country) roosting on the branches of large trees in daytime, sometimes close to the trunk, where they are harder to make out.

With a P&S and flash that's not adequate for distant photography, you've passed beyond the limitations of the camera, IMO, when it comes to photographing that owl, unless you can happen upon it while it's still light out, and can get close. GHOs typically do not let people come right in close to them during daylight hours, however.

To maximize your chances, I'd spend the last hour of daylight walking through the woods very slowly, carefully examining the larger trees. You also can listen for crows. If you hear lots and lots of frenzied crow calling, you can guess they've found a GHO and are pestering it. The two species do not get along.

[IL Res]

It's mating season for Great Horned Owls. I've observed similar behavior at this time of year. Lots of hooting after midnight. Most begin preparing their nests in late Jan. and will be sitting on their clutches of eggs in Feb. Awesome birds IMO. You've got a real treat for the next few months. I'd be willing to bet that that owl's nest is close to your property. I've read that the late night winter hooting is a means of advertising one's territory to the others in the area.