Breeding Season – Circadianreflections Blog

Whatever Weds. Owls

April 24, 2024April 23, 2024Posted in Birding in Nevada, Nature Photography, Owls and Owlets, PhotographyTagged Birds in the Wild, Breeding Season, D850, Great Horned Owls, Nest, Nevada, Nikkor 500mm Pf-E, Nikon61 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

The first week of March I started hiking out to see if a Great Horned Owl had returned to a nest she has used many times in the past. She wasn’t there. March 9th I returned and she was there!

It was time to start looking for the Owlets. I returned on the 19th, 25th, and 26th of March and saw no owlets but, hoped Mama was sitting on eggs.

I returned on April 4th, 14th, and on April 20th a birding girlfriend sent me an email telling me she went by and there were two Owlets! I went the following day, the 21st. When I arrived I only saw Mama no Owlets. So I birded the area and waited and waited. After an hour or so I saw a little white fuzzy head stirring behind Mama then not too long after that the cutest 2 Owlets you’ve ever seen popped up to see what was happening in their new world. They must have just hatched days before by the looks of them.

*Great Horned Owl Female with her Owlets in the nest.*

They barely could keep their eyes open. They were so tired. Mama had one eye on me the whole time though.

I’ll be making regular trips over to watch them grow, and hopefully this year will be the year I see them branching. I’ve never seen the previous year’s owlets do that here, and I’ve also never seen the Male GH Owl who I know has to be nearby.

Spring is here so I put out the outdoor cushions Monday morning and wouldn’t you know it Tuesday morning it rained. 🤣

I hope your week is going well.

Nikon D850| Nikkor 500mm PF-e| PS CC

more to come…

Good Fences make Good Neighbors

April 20, 2012April 20, 2012Posted in Birds, California, Nature, Nikon, Photography, WildlifeTagged Breeding Season, California, Cattle Egret, Great Heron, Nature Photography, Nikkor, Nikon, Nikon D300S2 Comments

More photos of the Great Heron, and Cattle Egrets in breeding plumage, and nesting.

The Cattle Egret doesn’t look impressed by the Great Heron’s nest-building.

Yin and Yang

A Graceful landing

All photos taken with a Nikon D300s mounted with a Nikkor 70-300mm VR lens| Hand-held

Spring, Nature,and the Great Egret

April 16, 2012April 16, 2012Posted in Birds, California, Nature, Nikon, Photography, Travel, WildlifeTagged Birds, Breeding Season, CA, D300s, Great Egret, Heron, Nature Photography, Nikon, Photography, Santa Rosa, WildlifeLeave a comment

I spent a morning last week in Santa Rosa watching Egrets, and Herons, building nests, tending nests, and trying to attract a mate at a Rookery right in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. Mothers walked their children to school right under them, and traffic flowed on both sides of the street, and the Egrets and Herons were largely oblivious to all but themselves. Great Egrets nest in colonies so there are many, many birds in the trees.

The city is trying to give them some space so they blocked off one lane on each side of the street for a block or so sparing passing cars from being pelted with falling debris, and guano. The street under the Eucalyptus trees they’re nesting in is messy.

In the past when I’ve watch a Great Egret they’ve been very still, quite, and focused on hunting their prey, or I’ve startled them and they’ve flown away. That wasn’t the case on this morning though. The activity scarcely stopped.

Neither did the noise. In breeding season there is quite a lot of squawking, and screeching, and talking. In fact I found them very funny, and amusing. I laughed out loud many times listening to them.

There were many sorties by the male to gather just the right branch to build and strengthen the nest. He will seriously work on attracting a mate once this task is complete. The female lays 4-5 pale blue eggs which take 3-4 weeks to incubate. Both the male and female parents incubate the eggs, and feed the chicks.

During the breeding season the male Great Egret grows long tail feathers which he raises and spreads out . I’ve read their plumes were once prized for making ladies hats and they were nearly hunted to extinction.

…and he undulates his long neck, and lifts his head toward the sky to try to attract a mate.

It was a wonderful experience observing this behavior up close, and I have more photos to share in the coming days of Great Egrets, Cattle Egrets, and Night Herons.

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 70-300mm VR

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