| Sorry for the long download, but Ward appears so rarely
that I could not bring myself to shrink his portrait. It was taken on
April 7th, as he roosted high in a pine tree near the nest box. He and
June are fully into the nesting routine now and he has averaged better
than three food deliveries per night for the last three nights. About half
of them have been delivered directly to the doorway, while the others were
handed off on perches near the nest. It's still unseasonably cold so that
June must limit her outings to less than five minutes. A coyote passed
directly under her nest last night and howled so loudly that I fully
expected her to bolt up into the doorway. She was, however, unimpressed
and simply sat on the floor looking up at the full moon. She is not easily
moved from her eggs.
Technical note: For the photography bugs out there, Ward's portrait is a frame from a Canon XL-1 video that was shot at 100 feet using an EOS converter with a 600mm/f4 EOS lens. This produces a 35mm equivalent focal length of 4,260 mm. Even at this range, I must shoot from behind a curtain as he is a very shy owl and will not hang around if he is being watched. |
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Back TO: April 2001 Calendar
