Occoquan NWR part 2--Great Horned Owl nest

So, this was our goal--a Great Horned Owl nest in a former osprey nest. In a totally open field at the Occoquan National Wildlife Refuge, Occoquan, VA. My friend Renee discovered the nest this winter during one of the huge snowstorms we had. I was thrilled when she said she would take me down to see it!


Renee and another birder check out the nest.

Mama and an owlet. Another owlet is to the right, behind the sycamore branch.

We went on to see some wild turkeys (previous post). It was a great morning! Not a huge number of birds but some very cool ones. And the weather was great! Nothing better than to be out with a friend birding in good weather. (Much better weather than the last time I birded with Renee!)

Occoquant NWR--Wild Turkeys

My friend Renee and I headed down to see the Great Horned Owl nest at the Occoquan National Wildlife Refuge. More on that later. We were driving out of the park after seeing the owls and saw some wild turkeys near the road and had to get some pictures. They were just beautiful, and there were about a dozen of them strung out along a ridge.

It was a beautiful morning with some special birds.

San Diego Bird Festival 2010

I went on three trips on the San Diego Bird Festival this year: Birding by Bike around Mission Bay, "Local Favorites" which went to Lindo Lake, Santee Lake and Old Mission Dam, with my sister-in-law Peg, and a trip to the Camp Pendleton marine base. Here are some pics from those trips and from a trip my husband Fred and I made to Lake Murray.

Cactus Wren. This was digiscoped through the leader's scope. The coastal Cactus Wren is a separate subspecies from say, the Cactus Wren found in Arizona.

Little Blue Heron at the San Diego River from the Birding by Bike trip.

Western Meadowlark, also from the Birding by Bike trip

Brown pelican. This was also a trip by my hubby and me to the Ocean Beach pier. This handsome fellow was waiting for scraps from a fisherman.

I've got a lot more pics, you can see them here:

or here, with captions