^{Great Horned Owl. Canon R5, 500mm + 1.4TC, tripod, 1/640 @ f8, ISO 800}

It’s March 4th and even though winter still has a month or so to go, hopefully, Spring is certainly beginning to make it’s presence known. Many owl species, such as this great horned owl have, or are about to, begin their nesting season. So if you’re fortunate enough to stumble onto an owl do be very respectful of it and it’s habitat. Any disturbance may cause the parents to abandon a nest that may already have eggs on it. This owl was spotted while I was hiking along a trail through a cottonwood thicket. Once spotted I didn’t leave the trail and did not attempt to approach closer, but took a couple of images and spent less than 5 minutes in it’s presence.