it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

we are very lucky to have some wonderful neighbors in the campground.

i have been to their home a few times now and everytime i go unannounced and uninvited.

the first time i went to visit i was the only one there and stayed only a few minutes as i did not want to overstay my welcome and wanted to come back again.

the last two times i showed up, they already had quite a few visitors hanging around and were pretty much just staring at each other but not saying awhole lot of anything.

they are very patient with us all, but i really don't think they are very understanding of why we all keep showing up everyday at dinner time and why we don't just leave them alone.

it is a couple with 2 small babies they are trying to raise in a small but very cosy home.

she is a beautiful devoted stay at home mom and he is handsome & protective and goes out everyday to bring home the bacon (or i should say rodent)

i want to introduce you to mr & mrs great horned owl and their home, with just a small peek at their babies.

this is mr owl, he doesn't get into the nest much, but you will generally find him sitting in a nearby tree watching the nest and is pretty much the sole provider of the food.  i was lucky enough to see him fly away from the tree the first time i visited so i saw where he went and was able to get some good shots of him.  his head looks like it totally swivels completely around and a couple of times he just looked at me like he was wishing i would just go away.  tonight he was in a tree watching over the nest as there were quite a few people with their big fancy cameras aimed right at the mom and babies.

you really have to look at this one, but down in the left bottom of the hole is a small white furry head sticking up.  that is one of the babies!!

this is mom.  she pretty much sits with the babies all the time.  eventually in the next couple of weeks as the babies get bigger and really start moving around, both parents will sit on opposite sides of the nest in nearby trees and watch the babies walk around the nest and out on the limbs and venture out learning how to fly.

i got these tonight.  the sun was setting and was at just the right angle.  as i was walking up, i could see her feeding the babies, but couldn't get close enough in time to get pictures.  you can see how she has her back to the opening and is turned toward one of the babies who is peeking out from behind her.

this is a shot of the tree they are in and how far away i actually am.  the park services or wildlife agents have put yellow tape around the area to give the owls as much privacy and room as possible.   you can see the tape on the other side of the tree.  this is the 2nd year this pair has nested in this tree and the goal is to hopefully  not have too many people bother them so that they will continue to return every year.

i hope to get over to the nest on a daily basis and watch these little guys grow and get some great pictures of it all.