SUNDAY SURPRISE

Female Great Horned Owl

One of the things I love about being a birder is, that it really doesn't matter how long you've been doing it, there is always the opportunity to experience another first. 

Last night Rob and I visited a nearby park as we knew about a pair of Great Horned Owls nesting there. It didn't matter to either of us if we saw them, we were hoping to hear them call, as it has been years since we have heard wild Great Horns calling.

We arrived probably in the last 30 minutes of sunset and walked around the area we knew them to be. We hadn't heard anything, but suddenly Rob said he saw a "big bird" fly, so we walked that way. It wasn't long til we heard the call, and we were happy. We stayed for a couple minutes just listening to him, and we could now see where he was sitting. As we were leaving, I just happened to turn around and I spotted the female. The male had brought in food, flew off, then flew back and they had a "romantic" moment, and he flew off again. What an exciting thing to witness!

We were just hoping to hear them, and we did, but watching the courting ritual for the very first time made for a very memorable outing.

A mating pair of Great Horn Owls.