Adolescent owl trying to look tough after getting spooked by a robin--how embarassing

Brooklyn got its first two great horned owl babies in a century this spring. Maybe they stayed away because they were so scared of the songbirds.

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Prospect Park owls fledged; Hawk parent nabs a pigeon

The Prospect Park owls have learned to fly, but are still hanging around near their nest with their parents.

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More of Brooklyn's secret owl family

Brooklyn great horned owls branching–hopping around their nest tree, thinking about taking their first flight.

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Brooklyn hatches its first native great horned owlets in a century

Two great horned owlets on nest

The Prospect Park owls have hatched two chicks that can are now big enough to flap around and think about flying. They’re the first raised in the borough since records were kept.

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Great horned owl pair hanging around in Propsect Park

owl showing talons

In New York City, you don’t have to be a good enough birder to spot the owl. Just good enough to spot the birders watching the owl.

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Great Horned Owl Sticks Around In Central Park

I finally go up to Central Park and see the great horned owl (bubo virginianus) who’s been visiting the ramble this week. I showed up about an hour before dusk, when the owl flies out to hunt. He (or she) spent a lot of the time puffing up, stretching, then tucking his head back to rest. He reminded me of a person trying to ignore an alarm clock. Though he was sharp enough to glare at movement on the ground and a mobbing blue jay.

It’s a huge bird, but it could still be tough to find. I’d found out he was there from my friend Donegal Brown, who takes and gets great animal pictures from readers around the country at Pale Male Irregulars. But, as is often the case in Central Park, you don’t have to be a keen enough spotter to find the bird. You only have to be observant enough to find a bunch of people with giant lenses looking up. By darkness I think 20-25 people had come to see the bird. 

I was especially lucky. The guy with the pro camera let me look through his lens, then even asked for my memory card and shot some wonderful close-ups. Who was this photographer who was impossibly generous? Turns out it was Lincoln Karim, who runs Palemale.com, where you will find dramatic pictures of the owl’s open mouth and clenched foot. Lincoln is a well-known advocate for wildlife in the park. Among

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