I have heard crows complaining on hikes. Sometimes it is good to check it out as it might be a bird of prey that are fussing about. Surprise! A great horned juvenile was there.
I knew it was a great horned, but a friend messaged me it was a juvenile after I took a picture with my phone of the back of my camera. It is still fuzzy on the head and the ears are not quite like an adult’s ears yet.
It was unexpected for a few reasons, but I was happy to spot it. It was dark in this part of the woods and it was before sunset, so I could not increase the shutter speed, hence the crows are blurred a bit. This is the first time I have seen a juvenile great horned owl after it fledged. Expect the unexpected.
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Thank you Sharon for sharing your travelling joy with us through your photography!
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Nice shot with those crows. They aren’t happy about it, are they?
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They are definitely not happy campers. Usually the crows are high up in the vegetation and are obscured, so you can’t always tell what the cause of the fuss is. I had to bush whack to see.
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Hmm
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He’s adorable but the crows certainly are not happy. He probably doesn’t even know what’s going on, since he is so young. Great shots.
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I am wondering if he is hunting on his own now with some parent help. Sometimes they do that. They catch something’s on their own and the parents bring them some things.
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Certainly “cool under fire” and nonplussed. The owl seems more interested in that large eye staring at it.
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I think it actually moved a couple of times after this, before they chased it farther away. The crows were not having it with this juvenile great horned owl there. The crows and other birds leave the young owls alone it seems until they start hunting a little for themselves.
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Right time, right moment – I am sure it was still at an age it could call in reinforcements if the Crows got out of hand and NO[BIRD]Y wants that to happen!
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Great shot, fuzzy or not Sharon. I had a similar experience with noisy crows. A juvenile Merlin Falcon was creating a bit of a fuss in my back yard one night. I think it had just fledged and was not at all confident in its flying abilities. The crows were harrying it mercilessly and all it could do was sit there. I scared the crows away and the merlin eventually managed to fly up to a fence and then into a tree. Happy Sunday. Allan
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The other birds seem to leave in young barred owls alone after they fledge. Maybe it is because a parent is always close by, and maybe they know it is not a threat yet because it cannot hunt. I did hear an adult owl hoot nearby, but I think it was a barred adult. This great horned seemed a bit older than the barred young that fledged so it is possible it was already attempting to hunt. Sometimes you really feel sorry for the predator birds it situations like this, but the other birds are prey for them so you cannot blame them. I know the biggest threat to owls seems to be collisions with cars. I always wonder if these group attacks result in death for birds of prey.
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