While birding with a small group of friends a few weeks ago, we were lucky to spend time watching these Great Horned Owls in Raleigh, NC. Owls are sensitive to the presence of people in their nesting territory so I was using my 600mm lens so I was far enough away as not to disturb the birds.

I’d never seen an owlet before and was absolutely thrilled to see his little white fluffy head poking up from under his sleeping mother.
Nearby, we found the father Owl snoozing in a nearby pine tree.
Aren’t they lovely?

With a breeding season that starts in December, Great Horned Owls are one of the earliest species of birds to lay eggs here in North Carolina. Interestingly, they don’t build their own nests, rather they will take over the vacant nests of crows, hawks, Ospreys and other raptors as needed.
Incubation takes around 33 days and by 7 weeks of age, the Owlets are capable of taking their first short flights out of the nest.

Finding a Great Horned Owl can be challenging but the best way to spot one is to look for them in dry habitats like long leaf pine forests at dusk or very early in the morning.
When searching for these impressive raptors, it pays to look down at the ground too!
This is because Owls regurgitate the indigestible hair and bones of their prey: called owl pellets. You can often find a number of these pellets below their preferred perching trees.

Although they are a year round resident of NC, as a nocturnal bird, they tend to be more vocal at night during the wintertime months and can be best located by sound from November through February. Look for their distinctive, large football-shaped silhouettes on the top of bare tree top snags or telephone poles at the edges of fields.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame @canonusa
#5Ds