Here’s another image from last week’s visit to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.  I love seeing all of the shorebirds that are so different from what we see in the mountains of Pennsylvania!  This one looks like a sandpiper, but not sure which one – there are many!

Last week I wrote about photographing a Great Horned Owl in flight for the first time ever and being disappointed in not having the entire bird in the image.  I had an opportunity to visit the family of owls again over the weekend and was determined to have another go at it.  It was a long wait.  Mommy owl spent the afternoon perched high in a tree where she had a clear view of the nest and surrounding area.  I know nothing about owl behavior, but it seemed like she wanted her babies to get used to being alone for a bit.  Or possibly it’s just getting a bit too crowded in the nest for mom and her two offspring.  Weeks earlier she sat in the nest with them all day long.  I had to wait until after 7:00 PM to see mommy owl fly from her perch in the tree.  As she did last week, she flew down and right past the nest and into another tree for a little while before returning to her babies.  The image on the left shows her arrival at the nest.  Finally I was able to photograph her beautiful wings.  It was nearly dark and I was using a slower shutter speed than I would have liked due to the poor light so there is a little bit of blur.  Once she arrived at the nest, she went inside and pulled out what appeared to be a rabbit.  (see image on the right)  I assume it was in the nest all day for the owlets to eat.  Shortly after coming out of the nest with the rabbit, she dropped the animal and flew away again.  Maybe she was going to hunt for some fresh dinner for her babies!  These are not the best images quality wise, but it was interesting to watch and challenging to photograph!