From Harold Wilion

Ed Sullivan exclaimed back on February 9, 1964, “and now, the Beetles”

Since it’s been a couple weeks, I thought I would check on my owls yesterday. Totally struck out.

But this shot was from the last time I was there. I was standing on a hillside, eye level with this owl on a decent perch. I had to look away from him for a second to adjust some camera settings, and when I looked up, he was gone.

I was bummed out and started walking down the hillside looking for him when I spotted him on a log on the ground and my spirits perked up again. I made a wide circle so I wouldn’t disturb him and got down on the ground to get the best angle, which is never an easy task for me.

I was laying on my back and side shooting away, when all of a sudden, it looked like he was flying straight for me, landed way too close, and started rummaging in the leaves. I couldn’t fit him in the frame with my 400mm lens so while I lay on my back in the dirt, I used my legs to push myself away, hoping I wouldn’t scare him.

He paid me no mind and let me get a few shots after finally maneuvering myself far enough back so I wouldn’t clip him. It wasn’t until I got home and looked at the photos when I noticed the reason for his close flight and lack of concern for my close presence, and as you can see, he has a beetle in his mouth that he caught in the leaves.