Talk About Following Your Passion…

The other day, on the way home from gym, a large bird flew
past my car. I had to get a closer look, since we have
a neighborhood osprey, and I often see her carrying away
fish from our adjacent pond. I drove to where she landed
and to my surprise it was a Great Horned Owl that had just
caught a small mammal and was tearing at it on the branch.
Luckily, I’m always prepared with binoculars in the car, so I sat
there watching this National Geographic moment for a little
while. I turned away for a second and when I looked up she
was on another branch, but this time, standing next to her
was another large owl. How exciting is that to see two Great
Horned Owls in the wild, eating! But then I noticed that the
two owls were not a mating pair, but a Mama and her Baby
(who, by the way, was just about her size, but with a lot of
the downy feathers you find on young birds).

You can’t imagine my thrill to be watching a mother feeding her baby, right in front of me, in the wild. I called my husband to come quickly and to bring the camera (which unfortunately is just a little digital version without a zoom lens). Needless to say, we took a mountain of pictures. I came back the next day hoping to see them again and as luck would have it, Mama was there, but on another tree were her twin babies – that’s right. She had another baby and they were perched on a branch together, looking down at me.

I have been back to the site numerous times just to watch them. My husband came back with our telescope and was able to creatively take a few awesome pictures. I named the babies, Chuck and Chelsea, and Mama seems to always be there in her majestic beauty, watching over her brood.

I could spend all day, every day, watching wildlife. For some reason, when you go to the zoo and see the Great Horned Owls, it’s just not the same as when they are free in their natural habitat. I realize that nature, wildlife, and all animals have always been my secret passion, and I’m finally at the age to perhaps do something about it. While I’m still working and don’t have time, yet, to volunteer, I will look into some options for the future. Meanwhile, I set up a new blog, called The Wildlife Chronicles, where I hope other people will report their sightings so we can all share our adventures. Go to http://wildlifeobserved.blogspot.com to add your own wildlife stories or leave your comments here.