BOPIMBY (birds of prey in my backyard)

[Johnny OrganDonor]

Got a pair of red-tails nesting outside our bedroom window.
First baby pic


Mama and three younguns in the nest


Here's two of 'em yesterday


Breakfast


Mama on the lookout

[swampduc]

Oh, that's just too make the beast with two backsin' cool! Where in the country are you?

[JBubble]

Wonder if they're related to the family that have territory at my parents house in Charlotte.





http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=6275.0

Awesome pics man.

[Johnny OrganDonor]

Oh, that's just too make the beast with two backsin' cool! Where in the country are you?

Tropical Montana (Bozeman)

added:  Side benefit is that I get out of mowing a part of the lawn - don't wanna disturb the little family....or get my eyes plucked out.

[Kopfjäger]

Nice pics. Keep us posted.

[swampduc]

Tropical Montana (Bozeman)

added:  Side benefit is that I get out of mowing a part of the lawn - don't wanna disturb the little family....or get my eyes plucked out.

Won't have to worry about snakes or mice for a while, either.

[Langanobob]

Those are some of the best bird pictures I've ever seen.     Thanks for posting them.  We have a neighborhood raptor nest and the tenants seem to rotate every year or so between redtails and great horned owls.   We put up a webcam in the tree and got some pictures that I'll try and post later on.  But both years we put up the cam, the owls moved in.  Interesting how active mom owl is during the daytime.  She only had two babies but was very attentive to them, almost like a mother dog or cat.  So much for stereotypes.

[eichh]

That is awsome. This guy has a home in our backyard and I saw him out during the day last year. Every time he turned his head I took a few steps closer, I got about 8 feet from him then he started to lift his wings so I backed off. I really need a camera with a better zoom.

[Johnny OrganDonor]

Won't have to worry about snakes or mice for a while, either.

No gophers around either and the magpies are leaving too.  The hawks have been nesting here for a few years.  Last year, one of the adult hawks snatched up a fledgling magpie in front of us. We watched the little magpie leave the nest and hop around on the ground for less that a minute before it was a meal.  The adult magpies took off after the hawk and another magpie joined the chase but they eventually lost.  Not as lucky as JB's bunnies.

............Interesting how active mom owl is during the daytime.  She only had two babies but was very attentive to them, almost like a mother dog or cat.  So much for stereotypes.

In the first picture you can see how ruffled and beat up the mother had gotten.  We think the eggs were laid around Easter and maybe hatched around Memorial Day.  We had a tough spring - some late snowstorms, high winds, and hail.  We'd look out during the harsh weather and there she'd be hunkering down on the nest sometimes with wings spread to protect the nest.

Here's a shot (sorry for the poor quality) of both parents shortly after the eggs hatched.  You see how beat up the one sitting the nest had gotten by comparison.  I assume it's the mother but I read somewhere that the father may also sit the nest and that the mother is a better hunter.

[superjohn]

Looks like mama yelling at the paparazzi 

[Kopfjäger]

The female will be noticeable larger than the male.

[Buckethead]

The female will be noticeable larger than the male.

Don't let HER hear you say such things.

[Statler]

truly awesome pictures.  thank you.

[Langanobob]

Here's a picture of a great horned owl sitting on eggs.  We put the camera up the tree before the owls moved in and they got used to it after a short time.  



Here is a baby from the same nest, but taken two years ago via telephoto lens.

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z312/Langanobob/BabyLR.jpg

In the upper right you can see the first webcam setup.  We built a 60' tower from EMT conduit to hold the camera.  This was two  years ago and this year we climbed the tree in late fall and put the camera in the tree above the nest.

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z312/Langanobob/CameraLR.jpg

[Johnny OrganDonor]

Cool shot in the owl's nest.  I'd like to set up something like that this fall (after the hawks are gone) but they're pretty wary and I wouldn't want to alter things around the nest that would drive them away.  The camera set-up would have to survive a Montana winter too. 

I encountered three baby owls at a decommisioned radar base where we were working a few years ago.  Cute little critters.  As we were watching them, one of the parents swooped right past our heads.  We had no clue it was bearing down on us til it went by.  It was absolutely silent but we sure felt the air rush as it passed.