{"id":46933,"date":"2017-05-26T05:03:35","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T11:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=46933"},"modified":"2025-05-08T14:01:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T19:01:28","slug":"winking-great-horned-owl-in-a-hay-barn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/05\/26\/winking-great-horned-owl-in-a-hay-barn\/","title":{"rendered":"Winking Great Horned Owl in a Hay Barn"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WinkingWinking Great Horned Owl – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/60, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I haven’t photographed Great Horned Owls since last year when I spotted one in the marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a>. Two days ago I photographed one of the adult Great Horned Owls at the hay barn on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a> that appeared to be winking. I say “appeared” because I really don’t know why the owl had its right eye closed, it could have been resting that eye or it could have had something in it which made it close that eye.<\/p>\n

I normally prefer natural settings and natural perches but these owls are often found in barns, granaries and other unnatural settings so I photograph them any way despite my personal preferences. I’m glad that these large owls have adapted to our human intrusion into the natural world and that they will nest in man made nest boxes.<\/p>\n

Despite the unnatural setting I found that I liked the rusty background in this photo which is a support beam for the large metal hay barn which has rusted over time. This might not be my “best” Great Horned Owl photo but it is unique and I like it.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Two days ago I photographed one of the adult Great Horned Owls at the hay barn on Antelope Island State Park that appeared to be winking. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[511,27,1022,209,26],"tags":[4004,2663,4203,11978,4108,5151,3967,294,4353,5880,5668,165,5167],"class_list":["post-46933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-great-horned-owls","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-bubo-virginianus","tag-desert-island","tag-great-horned-owl","tag-hay-barn","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-owls-of-utah","tag-rust","tag-rusty","tag-spring","tag-winking"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t