Northern Hawk Owl

A first for me! And had terrible light.
Since not everyone gets to see these terrific birds, I thought I'd share a couple. Hoping the weather gets better and it sticks around, I'd love a re-shoot!

Great shots Ken, like the inflight shot best. Good luck on the re-shoot

Cool shots

Very nice set, like that one in flight a lot

Beautiful!

Nice set Ken. We had one visit our area here in NH a few years back (a rare occurrence) and he stuck around for a week. I got some nice images of him then. They are very approchable. That being said, they do not tolerate being mobbed by other birds. There was a large group of bird watchers and photographers watching as a Blue Jay dive bombed the NHO a couple of times; then in a flash the NHO lit out after him and we all saw him kill the Jay in mid-air and then he stashed the body in a nearby tree and returned to his former pearch as if nothing had happened. They are no nonsense birds.

Good for you, Ken; they are great owls and generally very approachable. Two years ago, we saw six in one day; last year only one or two were reported in the whole state.
Al

Wow-were these shot in "Lincolnland"? I've never seen an owl(well, not since I was a kid). Couple of times I've heard one at night here in Peoria-scared my wife. Thanks for sharing.

m52 wrote in post #15368435
Great shots Ken, like the inflight shot best. Good luck on the
re-shoot

Thanks, and I hope it stays!

peregrineflier wrote in post #15368460
Cool shots

Thank you!

rick_reno wrote in post #15368462
Very nice set, like that one in flight a lot

Thanks Rick!

kellyrmc wrote in post #15368493
Beautiful!

Thank you Kelly!

Airedale1 wrote in post #15368977
Nice set Ken. We had one visit our area here in NH a few years back (a rare occurrence) and he stuck around for a week. I got some nice images of him then. They are very approchable. That being said, they do not tolerate being mobbed by other birds. There was a large group of bird watchers and photographers watching as a Blue Jay dive bombed the NHO a couple of times; then in a flash the NHO lit out after him and we all saw him kill the Jay in mid-air and then he stashed the body in a nearby tree and returned to his former pearch as if nothing had happened. They are no nonsense birds.

Quickly became one of my favorites for reasons that you mentioned. It's hard not to love the attitude this bird possessed. Watch it kill a mouse and stash it in a tree. So cool!

CDMOOSE wrote in post #15369445
Good for you, Ken; they are great owls and generally very approachable. Two years ago, we saw six in one day; last year only one or two were reported in the whole state.
Al

Thanks Al! 6 in one day had to be something! I keep an eye on the Minnesota boards for Great Greys, (which I've never seen) but hadn't though much about this one. My wife had to go to Green Bay for a meeting so I headed up to Door County to get this one. It was an awesome experience.

ardeekay wrote in post #15369773
Wow-were these shot in "Lincolnland"? I've never seen an owl(well, not since I was a kid). Couple of times I've heard one at night here in Peoria-scared my wife. Thanks for sharing.

These were taken up in Wisconsin, I haven't heard of a Hawk Owl in Illinois, however now that Snowies are showing up - who knows? I've hit Peoria quite a bit, and you've got a good variety of owls there. Great Horned are probably the easiest to go find as they are pretty abundant.

nice set ken.

Very nice series!

Beautiful Ken, I hope you find this one again on a nice sunny day, Great set!