A Large Family

From Xiang T Zhang

This summer, a pair of Barn Owls nested in a barn house at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Ohio and hatched eight owlets. Refuge staff installed a camera near the nest, streaming live footage of the nest on YouTube.

The life for this owl family has not been easy. One day, while both the owl parents were out hunting, an intruding Barn Owl broke into the nest and killed one of the owlets.

Later, the mother owl also disappeared. With the help of the refuge staff, the father owl successfully raised the remaining seven owlets.

In the middle of July, the owlets started to go outside. I went there a few times to photograph the owlets. It was quite challenging. The young owls sleep during the day and only start being active about 15 minutes after sunset, by which time the light is already very dim.

I used a 400mm F2.8 lens and had to use a very slow shutter speed to barely manage taking photos.