My husband and I are members of our local bird club.  We don't get to attend many meetings, but keep up with sightings of unusual migrating visitors and reports of interesting birds.  In my husband's attempt to see and record 100 birds in our county, he's been taking daily walks around various lakes, ponds, and paths.  I don't join him on cold, rainy or windy days, but when he makes a good find, he will take me on a milder day to see what he's found. 

My bird-lover took a walk recently with other bird club members and got a tip on the location of a Great Horned Owl.  Last Friday he closed his office early and came home to scoop me up to go see this beauty.  She'd been spotted high in a nest with two nestlings behind a rather busy shopping center near our home. 

As we parked at a park-and-ride lot and readied our gear, (binoculars, camera, field guide, etc.) a gentleman spotted us and asked if we'd come to see the owl.  Apparently, when my husband strapped on his binoculars that was a dead giveaway. 

Then he told us the high winds from the night before had broken a branch which supported the nest and it was destroyed.  He'd been there an hour or so earlier and had found the two nestlings on the ground.  Thinking fast, he made many phone calls and eventually found Judi from All Creatures Great and Small.  She runs a wild animal rescue service and knew just what to do when he called. 

Judi arrived shortly after and the four of us trudged through the brambles to get to the best location to search for the survivors.  Rick gave us a wide area to search, but instructed us to watch where we walked, and watch our heads as Momma Owl was nearby watching us from the trees. 

Sure enough, we came upon one of the survivors, but found it was dead and had a broken wing.  It was a beautiful cream-colored furry ball the size of a football, with talons which sent shivers up our spines.  They were HUGE!  This reminded us of Momma Owl's grasping strength capacity of 200 lbs. per square inch!!!!  Gulp!   Huh..... this means she could inflict serious damage, if she thought we were getting too close to her babies.  

After finding the dead baby we decided to pay more attention to Momma, as she was screeching and carrying on as if to distract us or scare us away.  We thought she might lead us to her sole survivor.  She gave us a warning by buzzing about 20 feet above our heads we were getting too close for her comfort.  After combing the area below the tree, a nearby ridge, and a stream, we decided to abandon the rescue effort. 

Today I received the fantastic photos from this man we met in the parking lot, Rick.  He had a MEGA lens camera which impressed our socks off, and his photos are proof of his ability along with the professional equipment.  BTW, Rick not only loves photography, but is a race car driver we discovered by his business card. 

Here's a photo of the mom in the nest with her baby, and it was taken by another birder.   The babies can fly if their wings are developed enough, but we'll have to go back to see if we can see these two with our own eyes and whether or not they found a new home. 

This whole experience reminded me of another owl rescue.  I was waiting outside the library in Carmichael, California for my mom to come pick me up from study time with a friend.  As we waited we walked down the road a bit and saw a white fluffy "thing" on the side of the road.  Upon closer inspection, we discovered it was an immature Snowy Owl and still alive.  It looked as if it had fallen out of a palm tree nest right above our heads.  I begged and begged my mom to let me bring it home.  After all, we couldn't just leave it there.  Mom gave in, and after many phone calls the Sacramento zoo agreed to advise me on how to care for the baby, and also would take the owl the next day.  I fed it raw ground beef that night, water, and kept it in a shoe box all tucked in.  The next day we drove it to the zoo.  I remember feeling very proud of being part of this rescue.  Here's a photo of this beautiful owl.