Great Horned Owlets Leave the Nest

It has been fascination to have a pair of Great Horned Owls nesting behind the backyard this Spring
Great Horned Owls are huge, high–profile raptors, the absolute top of the avian food chain. Filmed with OM SYSTEM Olympus OM-1 Mark II on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2QftDPd and OM System M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-600mm f/5.0-6.3 Lens at https://amzn.to/3X5jlE2
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I've been hearing them and seeing them for months and knew they had a nest high in the largest first major crotch of a long leafed pine tree behind the yard.
But because of the 40-50 foot height of the nest and the impenetrable forest undergrowth - mainly palmetto thicket – and the dense longleaf foliage it was impossible to see the nest. So filming was with a super telephoto often at a distance of 170 feet away.
I use the word nest loosely because great horned owls are not much for building nests - primarily using natural or man made cavities or the old nests of hawks or ospreys. In this case, the crotch of the tree provided a nice bowl and some pine needle straw was all that was added for cushioning.
But I knew that when the owlets were big enough they would come out on the nearby branches and maybe I'd get an angle to see and film them.
I had to go north for a month and though I'd miss them, but when I returned at the end of May it was just in time to see the - now quite large - great horned owlets fledge and fly for the first time.
They did not come out until after the sun went down and it was so dark I could barely make them out, but cranking the exposure on my OM System OM-1 Mark2 to the maximum of plus 3 allowed me to get them on video with some decent detail despite advancing darkness and fortunately they fledged before total darkness set in.

The GHO family will remain in the area with the big tree as their home base and the parents will feed the owlets until they are self sufficient – usually a month or two. Then the young owlets will gradually move away and the parents will now probably stay on their territory year round.

The first owlet is testing her wings and then the second owlet flutters down to a branch below the nest and she jumps over to join.
After a few minutes of practice and thought they both fledge and begin their next stage of life. This high-profile family isn't going anywhere for awhile so stay tuned for updates.
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