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Hank Vander Velde | all galleries >> owls >> great horned owls, adults > 20100430 050 Great-Horned Owl.jpg
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30-APR-2010 Hank v/d Velde

20100430 050 Great-Horned Owl.jpg

Ottawa

Three images of a Great-Horned Owl rescued from a mob of crows. After getting home from doing some shooting, I had a message from a friend to come over. He explained that a G.H.O. had been repeatedly chased and harassed by 40 - 50 crows to the point of exhaustion. The Owl had flown into several parked vehicles, landed in my friends backyard on top of a shed. Still the crows didn't let up. The Owl then flew to a nearby park.

A Masonry Contractor, named Richard Scissons, was doing some work across the road. Realizing that the crows might kill the owl, Richard followed it and found it exhausted on the grass in the park. He captured it by placing his coat over it. The owl did not resist. He then put out some blankets in the back of his enclosed pickup truck and placed the owl on it. It did not appear to be injured except for perhaps some problems with its right eye. Richard and his helper Chris also placed some earth worms and water out for the owl to eat/drink. They intended to take the Owl back to Richard's farm outside the city and release it there.

When I got to my friend's house, the Richard and the Owl were still there. One could see the owl through the tinted rear window of the pickup truck. It was upright squeezed into a corner with eyes wide open. It had relieved itself on the blanket and seemed to have eaten the worms. When we opened the back window the owl did not move. It just looked at us. Richard asked if I knew of a G.H. owl's nest in the area. I did not. I subsequently asked a couple of people living in the area, but no one had seen a G.H.O. around the area.

I took some photographs of the Owl without flash and using a high ISO as I did not want to startle the Owl.

P.S. Richard's friend emailed me the next day to tell me that the GH Owl made it safely to the farm in Pakenham. Richard had placed the owl in a recycle box and sealed the top with cardboard to prevent it from getting injured during the one hour ride in the back of the truck. Once at the farm the cardboard was taken off. Initially, the owl just looked up at the people around the box with wide open eyes. Then, when the container was tipped slightly on to its side, the owl flew off low across the fields and disappeared into the woods beyond. Hopefully, it will find a good home there.

Top Image: Close-up of the Owl in the truck.


Full image of the Owl.


Wide-angle shot showing the Owl squeezed into the far corner. This image was taken at a very high ISO, hence it is quite noisy.


other sizes: small medium original auto
Stephanie30-Jul-2013 23:16
Poor thing! I see that I commented on this series of images before, but am still amazed at this story!
Liz Bickel03-May-2010 18:58
Nature can be brutal. There has also been a long, ongoing antagonism between these two species. Still, it's always sad to see this violent side - be it crows chasing an owl or the owl killing and eating crows. Great series again! This poor exhausted fellow looks so sad. He was very lucky to have humans come to his rescue.
Lieve Snellings03-May-2010 15:00
what an amazing story ! v
Shelly- VA Beach03-May-2010 13:33
What a story, Hank. And I appreciate the fact you didn't use flash!! Thanks for sharing!
Gary Fairhead03-May-2010 04:46
What an amazing story Hank. Nicely documented...The Crows are out of control!
Brad Claypole02-May-2010 20:50
Great story - glad it all worked out
Carol Rollins02-May-2010 15:42
Congrats on your wonderful rescue effort. Good going Hank. ~
Stephanie02-May-2010 08:57
What a wonderful rescue effort you all have done! I hope that the owl can find peace in its new home.
Crows are intelligent buy nasty buggars.
Simon Chandler02-May-2010 01:38
Sad story. Great images for documentary. Hope the owl is fine now. v
Suzanne Labbé02-May-2010 00:33
Let's hope the best for this beautiful bird. Thanks for sharing Hank.
January Grey01-May-2010 23:22
Bet the owl won't go back where those crows are nesting again! Poor thing. Amazing rescue & photo series, Hank!!
Patricia Kay01-May-2010 20:53
I am happy the owl was rescued and will hopefully recover from its ordeal...BV
hge5401-May-2010 18:10
Wonderful story and shots, Hank. I trust there is another chapter. The contractor is very brave, as the owl might not have been so docile. Crow hunters use GHO decoys to attract crows to the killing zone.
Vince01-May-2010 16:10
A traumatic experience he has gone through. Good thing that the contractor is around. Excellent shot Hank. Vote.
reflectionsofnature01-May-2010 12:45
Very interesting story Hank. Great to hear about good deeds like this done by people for wildlife.
Randy Adams01-May-2010 12:09
Poor guy...hope he gets a good home..great series and commentary Hank--thanks!
Lamar Nix01-May-2010 11:48
Good rescue work. Hope he is able to return to the wild. My one rescue of a GHO did not end so well.
an nguyen01-May-2010 11:25
What an amazing series. I love the eyes.
lou_rozensteins01-May-2010 09:29
Great story! I hope it survives this ordeal. I love the top shot.
Michal Leszczynski01-May-2010 05:53
Amazing story, beautiful photos Hank. V.
Colin Storey01-May-2010 05:43
Wonderful rescue story and great images.
NealyBob01-May-2010 05:40
Excellent series of the Owl Hank! I'm glad this story has a happy ending for the Owl~!
marko gregoric01-May-2010 04:58
Yes. Very interesting story and superb images. V.
slhoornstra01-May-2010 04:28
An interesting story, and great shots of the owl. I hope he does well in his new home and recovers if he is ill. V
Bryan Murahashi01-May-2010 03:26
Nice captures of this rescued owl. Hope it all turns out well.
Ted Busby01-May-2010 03:14
Amazing story and imagery to go along..
Hope all is well!
Guest 01-May-2010 01:40
That was quite the ordeal. Terrific documentary photos.
jychamberland01-May-2010 01:25
i Hank! very interesting story, very glad it finish as well for this owl. thanks for sharing.
Tom Munson01-May-2010 01:02
Terrific image and story, Hank! Sounds like a good ending for the owl!
Jean D01-May-2010 00:52
Incredible find and the contractor sure took it upon himself to do a wonderful deed.Hope it all ended up OK for this very stressed Owl..
jychamberland01-May-2010 00:09
beautiful serie Hank!
larose forest photos30-Apr-2010 23:59
An interesting story. I hope things work out for this guy. I don't blame the crows. They are doing what they are ingrained to do (gt horned owls will prey on juv. crows). Normally owls can cope, so I suspect this owl may be ill or injured in some way. Thank you for not using the flash.
Robert D. McAlpine30-Apr-2010 23:59
He looks to be frozen with fear. Was he finally liberated? Lovely images, BTW, Hank!
Jean Chiasson30-Apr-2010 23:44
Wow great capture and eye contact Hank
Char30-Apr-2010 23:21
These are excellent captures of this poor little critter, Hank. Crows are mean, but I guess that's their nature. \/
Peter Stahl30-Apr-2010 23:20
Sound like it had a good ending. Hope for the best for the owl. Thanks for sharing. :-)
Guest 30-Apr-2010 23:18
Great story, Hank. I'm sure God had a purpose for crows just not sure what it was. Hope the owl is doing well.
Jim Coffman30-Apr-2010 22:52
That poor thing! I never did like crows.
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