{"id":99890,"date":"2022-02-14T04:37:22","date_gmt":"2022-02-14T11:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=99890"},"modified":"2022-02-14T04:37:22","modified_gmt":"2022-02-14T11:37:22","slug":"adult-great-horned-owl-my-best-find-of-the-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/14\/adult-great-horned-owl-my-best-find-of-the-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult Great Horned Owl – My Best Find Of The Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult Great Horned Owl on a February morning \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

My best find yesterday morning was a resting adult Great Horned Owl that I spotted in a thicket next to a field while traveling 40 to 45 miles per hour. Pointing the owl out in the tangle of branches was not as easy as finding the owl but eventually I succeeded.<\/p>\n

I am never not looking for birds<\/span><\/a>. If you know me even a little you are very aware of that fact. And the fact is that it pays off for me that I am never not looking for birds and for the people that I am with.<\/p>\n

The first thing I saw was the bright yellow eyes of this Great Horned Owl then its face and bulky body.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Horned Owl resting in a thicket \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I suppose that I could wish that the Great Horned Owl had been resting out in the open instead of in a thicket but I won’t. Yes, there are a lot of branches and I guess you could call this setting messy and distracting.<\/p>\n

But this is where the owl chose to rest and this is where I photographed it. The only thing I can do as a bird photographer in a situation like this is my best.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Great Horned Owl resting in a thicket \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I do wonder though how many people drove right past this big Great Horned Owl and never saw it at all. Maybe everyone except me.<\/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":"

My best find yesterday morning was a resting adult Great Horned Owl that I spotted in a thicket next to a field while traveling 40 to 45 miles per hour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1148,209,26],"tags":[4004,12738,6577,4203,4108,3967,294,153,4156,5300,6725,4076,373],"class_list":["post-99890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-great-horned-owls","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-agricultural-area","tag-branches","tag-bubo-virginianus","tag-great-horned-owl","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-raptors","tag-resting","tag-roadside","tag-thicket","tag-trees","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/great-horned-owl-in-a-thicket-mia-mcpherson-1926.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-pZ8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":166260,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/01\/bringing-in-2026-with-a-great-horned-owl\/","url_meta":{"origin":99890,"position":0},"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. I never saw them, but that call cut through the New Year darkness.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Horned Owl adult on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-adult-antelope-island-mia-mcpherson-8190.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-adult-antelope-island-mia-mcpherson-8190.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-adult-antelope-island-mia-mcpherson-8190.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-adult-antelope-island-mia-mcpherson-8190.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":141289,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/07\/nearly-hidden-great-horned-owl-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":99890,"position":1},"title":"Nearly Hidden Great Horned Owl At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Late last month, while at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I spotted a nearly hidden Great Horned Owl perched in a tangle of branches in the woods.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Horned Owl nearly hidden at 100mm, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/great-horned-owl-hidden-mia-mcpherson-6173.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/great-horned-owl-hidden-mia-mcpherson-6173.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/great-horned-owl-hidden-mia-mcpherson-6173.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/great-horned-owl-hidden-mia-mcpherson-6173.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":133770,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/09\/04\/great-horned-owl-mystery\/","url_meta":{"origin":99890,"position":2},"title":"Great Horned Owl Mystery – Things That Go Hoot In The Night","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning, while it was still pitch dark outside, I heard a bird call. Then, I heard a Great Horned Owl hooting. I soon had a mystery on my hands.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Horned Owl in Tamarisk looking right at me on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/great-horned-owl-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-thumbnail-1018.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/great-horned-owl-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-thumbnail-1018.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/great-horned-owl-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-thumbnail-1018.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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