Cooper’s Cry

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Cooper’s Hawk crying

We where walking on the levee well after sundown, when we heard a cry that sounded somewhat like a monkey. We looked in the trees, but could not see who was crying. Then we saw a bird jump from branch to branch. Finally a Copper’s Hawk settled on a branch where we had a better view, and I was able to get photos of it through the branches and leaves. It jumped to another branch where it was mostly hidden, but then a much larger bird, flapped it’s wings closer to the Cooper’s Hawk; but it remained hidden behind branches and leaves. The Cooper’s Hawk flew back to another branch where I was able to get another photo of it before it took off into the bosque. A Great Horned Owl (possibly Virginia) flew out from behind the branches and leaves into the bosque a few moments later. I presume the owl was after the Cooper’s Hawk’s chicks and the Cooper’s Hawk was trying to distract the owl with it’s crying. Great horned owls are three to four times larger than Cooper’s Hawks, and could easily make a meal of an adult Cooper’s Hawk, which is probably why the Copper’s Hawk was not attacking the owl.

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Looking determined
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Checking out the paparazzo or the owl or both of us.

Owlet Update

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I think I get get out of this hole.

At first we thought that there was only one owlet in the cottonwood in the neighbor’s yard just south of us. Turns out there are three owlets again this year. One of the oldest owlets was trying to get out of the nest last night.

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@#&$! Can’t quite do it.
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Dang!
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You all didn’t see that. OK?
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Stretching its wings.
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The runt popped its head up when the other owl took a break from its attempt to get out of the nest.
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The third owl getting a wing in edgewise.
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There is something interesting in the branches above.
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Only one owl popped its head up this morning.

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Moving on north to Virginia. You can refresh your memory about who Virginia is at https://wp.me/p1yQyy-4dG. Another resident owler said she had seen a second owlet with Virginia, but we have not seen the second owlet. Virginia is older than the three owlets down south, and she has been getting out of the nest for a couple of weeks (she was out of the nest the next day after the photos I did of her on the 14th). This morning she and Mama owl were sitting on a branch outside the nest. Virginia is developing horns.

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Virginia is adorable. She looks small next to Mama owl, but when she’s by herself she looks big.

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A view from the back side of the tree.

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Come Out Virginia

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Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)

The first line of Only The Good Dye Young, by Billy Joel, is “Come out, Virginia, don’t let me wait”. When I checked on this mama owl that has a nest in a cottonwood about a 3/4 of a mile north of us last week, it was cold and the owlet was trying to get under its Mama; therefore, all I got were photos of its fluffy tail end.  This afternoon Mama was sitting on the edge of the nest, and I could see the tip top of the owlet’s fuzzy head. Since the binomial name for Great Horned Owls is Bubo virginianus, I borrowed the line from Billy Joel and said “Come out, Virginia, don’t make me wait.” As I changed my position under the cottonwood, I saw an eye peak out from one side of the “V” at the edge of the nest. From there, the owlet and Mama got into a variety of cute poses for me. They we quite animated in the bright, hot sun.

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Sitting

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Female owl sitting on her eggs.

I didn’t think Great Horned Owls used the same nesting spot two years in a row, but this pair of owls proved me wrong.

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Male owl standing guard.

Owl Season’s Underway

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A couple we often see in the bosque, told me they had just discovered the nesting place of a pair of owls last night. When I got to the nesting area a few minutes later, there were two owls to be seen — a larger owl in a cottonwood, and another, smaller owl, in an elm tree next to the cottonwood.  The larger female was out taking a break, I presumed.  She was hooting up a storm on her perch in the cottonwood. The smaller owl was perched on a limb, a silent sentry, very alert, guarding the area.   The sun had been down for fifteen minutes or so, forcing me to bump up my ISO to 3200 to get a somewhat sensible shutter speed. As I was photographing the owls, a chorus of coyotes started howling from the undergrowth all around where I was standing beneath the owls. The scene became surreal as I was standing in a small clearing, darkness falling all around, the owl hooting from above, and coyotes yipping and howling in surround sound.

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Hooting. I wonder if you pushed up on the tail feathers of a Great Horned Owl if it would hoot.
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She spies something in the distance.
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Ready. Set…
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¡Hasta la vista!

Upchuck and Personal

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“Hey paparazzo! What the hoot is up? It’s been awhile?
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“Who’s that with you? Oh! Of course. Hi paparazza!”
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“Ak! Hold on a minute. Ak Ak Ak Ak…”
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“AAaaakK!”
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“Sorry. I had to upchuck a pellet. Pretty after glow. Carry on. Where were we?”

 

Takes Two Pterodactyls To Tango

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I wasn’t expecting Mr. pT. (Great Blue Heron Pterodactyl) at the beginning of our walk. I had my ISO set at 400, which is a little slow against dark trees at sunset.  It’s one thing not to expect the Mr. pT., which I should know better, since I see him almost every night. But I really wasn’t expecting to see Ms pT., so imagine my surprise and excitement when Mr. pT. swooped down and flushed Ms pT. out of the clearwater ditch to do a pterodactyl tango on their way over the bosque to the rio Grande.  Part of the challenge is to see if you can find Mr. pT. against the tangle of bare cottonwood branches in the first six photos; and then see if you can find Mr. pT. and Ms pT. in the 7th photo and the last photo.

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Trees for Resa

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Snow through the window

After raining for about an hour this afternoon, the rain suddenly changed to giant snowflakes that were coming down thick in the waning light. I ran out and got photos of the falling snow. In the process I got photos of three cottonwood trees I photograph quite often as conditions change. Resa, who has two blogs I follow, Art Gowns and Graffiti Lux Art & More, thinks Mia is lucky to have her own tree. I told Resa she can have a tree if she would like, so I’m putting up four possible candidates. The first three cottonwoods are on our property, and the fourth is by our cattle ramp. The cattle ramp is on our property but the cottonwood is not, and I don’t photograph that whole tree very often. However, it’s a cool looking cottonwood and is situated so it gets good backlighting in the morning and the afternoon. Plus it has a cattle ramp next to it. But Resa can decide if she like any of these trees or wants to look through previous posts to see if she can find a tree that calls to her. Below are a few links to previous posts that include photos of the first three trees:

https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2018/12/first-snow-on-the-2nd

https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2017/10/soft-white

https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2018/8/misty-morning-spotlights-at-sunrise

https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2016/4/medieval-morning

https://offcenternoteven.com/2014/04/23/water-my-world/

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