Great Horned Owl

I feel just a little uncomfortable posting the picture of this great Horned Owl as this owl has been the center of a  lot of concern and controversy recently among members  of the birding population  .. The owl is nesting on an old Osprey nest and several members of the public have learned of her presence there and have been approaching its nest attempting to take its picture in flight as it is frightened off of its nest, thus temporarily leaving its eggs that it has been incubating, This action could  endanger the success of its nesting.. Yesterday we were in the area and hoped to see an Osprey and knew the location of several old nests.  (We did see one Osprey).  We were miles from where we assumed the nesting owl would be when we spotted an old Osprey nest that we knew of . We could see the old nest from the highway and as we drove past it, I saw a lump in the middle of it!  We backed up  our vehicle until we were more lined up to it from sitting in our truck on the highway. ( we hoped it was an Osprey on the middle of the nest.)  As I focused my 300 mm  camera lens on it, from  sitting in my truck seat with the window rolled down, I could see its ears and immediately knew it was an owl!! The owl remained on its nest while we viewed it through my camera lens without leaving our vehicle.Obviously it was  the nesting owl that we had been hearing about! I could also see many footprints leading into the nest area from the highway's shoulder. I am not good at judging distances  but it would be quite a little walk into the nest.

 NEVER  disturb a nesting bird( owl) !!  If you are in doubt as to your expected behaviour when encountering a nesting bird I have included here, a url which will take you to a website of the American Birding Association which explains  the Principles of Birding Ethics for you to use when birding:  http://www.aba.org/about/ethics.html

 Have a grand day everyone!  Happy  Birding!