Owls are stealthy, nocturnal birds of prey.  Hunting on silent wings, their “day” begins at dusk, which is why the casual observer like me rarely spots them.  During daylight hours the color and pattern of their plumage enables them to blend right into their surroundings while they sleep.

So it was a special treat when a Great Horned Owl nested in McCarty Park in West Allis.  McCarty is part of the Milwaukee County Park System.  My wife and I walk there frequently, often with our two dogs.  Numerous times we has passed beneath the dead pine in which she nested, but we never looked up, never noticed the owl or her nest of twigs and branches… till one day when I saw a van from the Wisconsin Humane Society near the clump of trees at the edge of the lagoon.

A group of people, some with cameras, were looking up into a tree.  I asked some questions and learned the story.  This Great Horned Owl had built her nest in the park.  Neighbors of the park and birdwatchers had been keeping a watch.  The one surviving chick (then about four weeks old) had fallen from the tree.  Without the ability to fly it was vulnerable on the ground to dogs, coyotes and the like.   The Humane Society’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Unit was called to put it back in the nest.  The WR man repaired the nest first, securing it with a bungee cord.  One of the people observing the event shot this video and posted it on MySpace.

Owlet Rescue video

Returning with my camera the next day, I got a few pictures and more that weekend.  After telling my camera club friends a few of them also photographed this owl and her chick.

A week and a half later the owlet fell from the tree again.  The Humane Society put him back up again.  By this time his wing feathers had grown out considerably, enabling him to make short flights, really just short hops from branch to branch.  Getting from the ground up into the tree was still beyond him.  Some of my friends have seen Mom and Jr. in other trees in the park but I haven’t seen the pair recently.  I hope the little guy made it.

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The gear in my camera bag is less than ideal for bird photography (Nikon D50 + 70-300G lens) but the bigger challenge is dealing with all the branches in between one’s camera and the owls.  If you are not careful to aim through a gap in the branches, your autofocus may lock onto a twig or branch instead of the owl.  This happens to me more often than not.  I find it easier to switch to manual focus in this sort of situation as long as the subject is not moving.  Just move the switch on the camera body from “AF” to “M” (or move the switch on the lens if so equipped).

A camera club friend tipped me off to another technique that enables you to keep using autofocus.  Switch the Nikon AF-Mode to “Single Area”, instead of “Dynamic Area” or “Closest Subject” mode.  Then use the multi-selector “joystick pad” on the back of the camera to select one of the D50’s five AF points, probably the center one.  Put that AF point over your subject, tap the shutter button, and it will help the AF system ignore the branches.

These tips are specific to my Nikon D50, now almost 4 years old.  If you have a different model or brand, consult your owner’s manual.  You might also find it useful to read an article on the Nikon website by Reed Hoffman that explains the different AF Modes:  Fine Focus: Choosing and Using AF Modes

Have fun with your camera.

– Tim Kant, 17 April 2010