The Other Baby Owl

I think I mentioned the myriad of photographers that were on the ground with me shooting pictures of the great horned owls at the Venice Rookery on Saturday. Well, one of the topics of conversation was other nests and that led to the location of this second great horned owl nest near Ruskin on Cockroach Bay Road. We trekked up there Sunday under gray skies, but managed to find the nest. Again, it used to be an osprey nest, but the owls took it over this year. It was in pretty bad shape, and if someone hadn't said there were owls there I wouldn't have given it a second look. But sure enough, there was a baby owl.

He was nice enough to stick his head up for a few shots, but we never did spot either parent. There weren't any other photographers around, but many cars on the road slowed down and looked as they drove by. I guess the owls are sort of local celebrities.

This photo shows the whole nest, and makes it look a little better than it actually was. It's not going to survive if they get much of a windstorm up there.

They're so cute when they're young!