Chasing the Owl

Yesterday I was feeling like a bum but I decided that I would go out and take pictures after dinner.  I figured that I would go over to Island Park to try and get some pictures of the owl.

 I headed back to the spot where I saw the owl the last time.  As I was walking, I saw this bird land on the fence.   It turns out that this is a starling and I believe that it is an invasive bird that was brought over from Europe.  Despite that, it is a pretty neat looking bird.

 This is a turkey vulture, it is an ugly but neat looking bird.

 I couldn't pass up on getting another picture.

 I was about to give up on catching a picture of the owl and as I was heading back I looked up in the trees and saw him (or her).  I think this is one of the owlets that was in the nest not too long ago.

 He kept following me as I walked around below him.  I was happy to get a clear picture.

 I just wish I could have had a better angle on him.  I also wish I could find one of the parents again.

 It's amazing how intense these birds look.

 One more shot before heading back to the parking lot.

 As I was heading back to the parking lot, I decided to see if I could get some pictures of other birds.  They weren't being cooperative but this duck was.

 So was this goose.

One more picture of the goose before heading home.

Catching the Owl and an Oriole

After I caught the Blue Angels, the weather was less that cooperative but it cleared up a little bit.  I decided to head over to Island Park because I was hoping to find the owl.

 When I first got to the park, I noticed this cherry blossom.  I had to get some pictures of it.

 I think i like this one.

 I would have liked this one more with more light.

 I saw a couple other people heading to the part that is next door to Island Park.  I watched them and saw that they were pointing their cameras at a tree.  Figuring there must be something there, I headed over that way.  With a little bit of searching, I was able to find one of the younger owls.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good angle on him but  I still like the picture.

 So I headed back to the cherry blossoms because one of the people told me there was an oriole that hung out there.

 the light was just about right for me.

 Except the blossoms were leaving me.

 I really like this shot.

 I asked about this one and somebody said it was a common yellowthroat.  It matches the picture that they showed, so I think it is that.

 Someone else said it was a Nashville warbler.  Based on pictures of both, I think I have to go with yellowthroat.

 I know this is a Baltimore oriole.

 He stuck around the tree, so I got quite a few pictures of him.

 Sadly, I was losing my light.

 But I still got some nice shots.

 I think this one might be my favorite.

 As I was leaving the park, I saw this heron.

 He moved to a better spot for me.

 When I got home, I saw this 747.  I had to get a picture of it.

I think it is a Kalitta 747 but I'm not sure.

Trying to Get the Owl

I decided to head over to the owls tonight.  I needed to get out of the house for a bit and it was fairly nice although a little on the chilly side.

When I got to the park tonight, there wasn't the usual group of photographers, so I figured that meant that the owls had moved from their nest.  When I looked at the usual spot, my fears were confirmed but as I looked across the river, I saw something taking pictures of a tree.   So I headed over there, I spotted the owl but as you can see, I couldn't get a great picture of it.  Oh well, maybe next time.

A Stop at the Owls

It was a weird weather day.  It was snowing in the morning.  Then it was sunny.  Then it snowed enough to give the ground a light dusty.  It was sunny again.  So after dinner, I decided to head over to the park to see if I could see the owls.

 There was only one of the young owls in the tree.  Apparently the other one had flown out.  I would imagine it was learning to fly some where.

While it was cool to see the one young owl, I wasn't getting different pictures so I moved on.

the Owls Again

So I went to Island Park again on Friday night.  With the lockdown going on, it kind of limits where I can go.  I would like to go photograph ships but that would be pushing the "outdoor activity thing".  Granted, I go to a park to watch them but that park is up in either Port Huron which is one and a half hours away or Detroit which is currently Michigan's hot zone.  Granted, Belle Isle lends itself pretty well to social distancing but I'm not even sure it is open right now.
While I'm not a big fan of this, I understand why it is being done.  Covid-19 is more transmittable than the flu and I think it is about as deadly.  It is also transmittable while the person is not showing symptoms.  Since it takes about 1 to 2 weeks for the symptoms to show up, that makes for a pretty nasty little virus.  But I think there is good new, I've been tracking the virus in Michigan since it started and it seems like the curve may be flattening.  I'm not sure if that means this will end nor do I know what it means when it does end.  I have a feeling that we might have to do this again.  I hope not but I guess we'll do what we must.

 So as I said, I went over to Island Park again on Friday night.  It was a little on the sunny side but a little on the cold side.  I think this is the father owl, and he was out again.

 One of the babies was out of the net.

 Unfortunately, I couldn't get a great angle because of the other people.

 I still think I got some pretty good pictures.

 It almost looks like he is about ready to fly.

 The owl in the nest.

And a Canada goose.

A New Camera and the Owls

I've been looking to get a new camera for a while.  My camera was sometimes having issues with the lens connecting and every so often the shutter sounded like it was going in slow mode.  I had a feeling that I was going to have to get a camera at some point.  I've been looking for a while and then I decided on the Canon 90D.

 So I decided to head over to Island Park in Ann Arbor to play with it.  I was hoping to get some decent pictures of the owl tonight.  It seems that the father owl granted me my wish.

 The babies weren't being as cooperative as they were the other night.  They pretty much stayed in the nest.

 I couldn't find the other owl but this guy was staying fairly visible and looking around.

 The babies were fairly animated though.

 Another view of the adult.

 I think I like this view the best.

 He still looks around even though is eyes are closed.  Something tells me these guys have pretty good hearing.

 One more shot of him.

One more shot of the babies.

I will have to say that this camera is nicer than my last one and I was pretty happy with my last one.  Since my last one didn't actually die, I will be able to use it as my secondary camera for football games and what not.  One thing I think that I'm going to like about my new camera is that it has a higher resolution and that will allow me to crop my pictures more.  Even though I have a 600 mm lens, it sometimes isn't enough.  So this will help.

Owl Be Back

So I decided to head back to the owls tonight after dinner.  I was hoping that I would get a better glimpse of the adult owls.

 I didn't get my wish but the younger owls were more active tonight.  It seemed like this one was stretching his wings.

 But then again, so was this one.

 This one went up and started to balance.

 He wasn't quite kiting like I saw the eagles do last year, but he was spreading his wings.

 I kind of like this shot as he jumped down into the nest.

 He might have been picking at food.

 And then he jumped up again.

 I kind of like this photo because it almost looks like he is ready to take off.

 One of the folks there pointed out where the mom was, so I went out to seek her.  I had to crop this one a bit but I managed to get her.

 I kind of like this shot.

 And she was surveying the area.

 I saw this squirrel and I was hoping.

And I got one more picture of the young owls.  I'll have to say that they are pretty cute.

And a side note, I was practicing social distancing by staying away from the other folks.  And I was alone for the shot of the mother owl.