{"id":14564,"date":"2014-03-16T03:30:24","date_gmt":"2014-03-16T09:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=14564"},"modified":"2025-05-08T12:53:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T17:53:13","slug":"great-horned-owl-and-fledgling-strongly-backlit-by-the-setting-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/16\/great-horned-owl-and-fledgling-strongly-backlit-by-the-setting-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Horned Owl and fledgling strongly backlit by the setting sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

What can I say about this image of an adult Great Horned Owl feeding its young that is strongly back lit by the setting sun on Honeymoon Island State Park<\/a> in Florida? Sometimes I like it and sometimes I don’t.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Horned Owl adult feeding fledgling – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/160, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I could not get a better angle than I had because if I had the sun at my back I would have only gotten an image of the owl’s backs which wouldn’t have been that interesting at all. But I do like the intimacy of this image with the interaction between the adult and the fledgling a lot.<\/p>\n

I wish that both owl’s would have had their eyes open but with them closed it shows that they were relaxed in my presence which is something I strive for when photographing birds and animals.<\/p>\n

So one day I will look at it and appreciate the intimacy, the tenderness it seems the adult has for the young owl and the setting and on another day I bemoan the fact that I didn’t have a better angle of light and that the bird’s eyes weren’t open.<\/p>\n

I might never figure it out. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to view more of my Great Horned Owl photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What can I say about this image of an adult Great Horned Owl feeding its young that is strongly back lit by the setting sun on Honeymoon Island State Park in Florida?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,209,468,2000],"tags":[4004,2485,14779,4897,4203,4134,14752,4040,4141,4108,4067,4071,12740,3967,4455,294,5540,14780,4427,373,4193],"class_list":["post-14564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-great-horned-owls","category-honeymoon-island-state-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-back-lit","tag-barrier-island","tag-branch","tag-bubo-virginianus","tag-chick","tag-coastal-island","tag-feeding","tag-fledgling","tag-great-horned-owl","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-key","tag-owl","tag-owlet","tag-owls","tag-pine","tag-slash-pine-forest","tag-tree","tag-winter","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-chick-adult-mia-mcpherson-1317.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3MU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":122678,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/05\/great-horned-owl-chick-in-coastal-florida\/","url_meta":{"origin":14564,"position":0},"title":"Great Horned Owl Chick In Coastal Florida","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This image of a Great Horned Owl chick resting near its nest on the coast Florida in lovely afternoon light brings back wonderful memories for me. It was 2008.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Horned Owl chick in coastal Florida, Honeymoon Island State Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-young-in-nest-mia-mcpherson-0661.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-young-in-nest-mia-mcpherson-0661.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-young-in-nest-mia-mcpherson-0661.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-young-in-nest-mia-mcpherson-0661.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27855,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/08\/28\/great-horned-owl-chick-on-honeymoon-island-state-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":14564,"position":1},"title":"Great Horned Owl Chick On Honeymoon Island State Park","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent about three months in 2008 watching a Great Horned Owl nest on Honeymoon Island State Park in Florida from hatching until this young owl fledged.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Horned Owl chick in a nest on Honeymoon Island State Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-0678.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-0678.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-0678.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7370,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/02\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-in-a-montana-granary-window\/","url_meta":{"origin":14564,"position":2},"title":"Great Horned Owl fledgling in a Montana granary window","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Currently throughout the breeding range of Great Horned Owls the owls have either begun to nest or have nested already. Great Horned Owls have a large range and are found in the U.S., Canada and Central America.","rel":"","context":"In "Glacier County"","block_context":{"text":"Glacier County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/glacier-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Horned Owl fledgling in Glacier County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-montana-mia-mcpherson-6831.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-montana-mia-mcpherson-6831.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-montana-mia-mcpherson-6831.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-montana-mia-mcpherson-6831.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":33930,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/12\/05\/portrait-of-a-fledgling-great-horned-owl\/","url_meta":{"origin":14564,"position":3},"title":"Portrait of a Fledgling Great Horned Owl","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"When I can be close enough to see into the eyes of a fledgling Great Horned Owl and take a portrait of it I feel honored and enchanted.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Portrait of a fledgling Great Horned Owl, Glacier County, Montana\u00a0","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-7087.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-7087.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-7087.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20812,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/02\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-and-an-old-granary\/","url_meta":{"origin":14564,"position":4},"title":"Great Horned Owl fledgling and an old granary","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning winter is trying to creep back into northern Utah but I am thinking of warmer weather, Montana and Great Horned Owls.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Horned Owl fledgling and an old granary, Glacier County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":166260,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/01\/bringing-in-2026-with-a-great-horned-owl\/","url_meta":{"origin":14564,"position":5},"title":"Bringing in 2026 With A Great Horned Owl","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"My first bird of the year was a Great Horned Owl I heard around 4:35 this morning. 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