SANParks.org Forums

Great birds aren't they?

It is a lovely owl and once you have seen it and heard its call, very difficult to forget.

I love Spotted Eagle Owls...every house that I've lived in in SA has had a resident pair. The best experience had to have been while living in Dainfern in Joburg.
If you ever go there, take a wander down the 10th fairway under the trees lining the stream.
I watched a family of 4 every day (and many nights) for some months and saw the little munchkin fluff-balls grow into almost-adult birds. A fantastic experience as I could get within a metre or two of them without them flying off. I got some nice shots but the experience taught me more about photography than any other experience could have done.
Owls are often difficult to photograph as even during the day they sit in shade and a flash is needed...but the composition of their amazing eyes means that you need an off-camera flash set-up or you get red-eye that can't simply be reduced by using normal red-eye reduction flash.

Mis-laid the bird list , pretty sure this is a spotted eagle owl, can someone confirm ID, if its not I'm sure the mods ( ) will redirect it.

Yeah it is. The similar looking Cape eagle owl does not occur in Kruger and has orange eyes. Nice pic!

Along the Aoub River, KGP, in October 1992

Two lunch time visitors at our work

Great excitement. Wednesday's Cape Times showed a pic of a Cape eagle owl not too far from my home. A few phone calls later and I was on my way this morning to get a long outstanding tick. The tree was pointed out and the bird was spotted. (Pun intended) The yellow eyes stared back at me before closing again. Although magnificent specimens they both were, alas, they were spotted eagle owls which I have seen many times before. Still, it you don't investigate you won't find out. Some day......



Pic by my wife.

It seems that these owls like nesting in strange places. Went to Paternoster for the weekend and found this.

Just a view of the surroundings. Note the location of the low white wall with the front end of a rowing boat that serves as a pot for plants in the middle of the picture as well as the tall trees in the back right.


Here is the contents of the potplant.


Mom and Dad would keep watch from the tall tree during the day. If someone approached the nest they would give a call and the chicks would hide away for a while. At night the parents would come in closer to feed the chicks. Apparently one of the adults attacked the owner of the place we rented a couple of weeks back when he ventured to close, but they did not have problems with me taking a couple of snaps and showing my daughter the owlets

One of two chicks at Delta Park, JHB

These two chicks were raised behind a rock next to one of the busiest paths in Kirstenbosch.


and thanks to attentive parents...



are now successfully fledged

I could not stop myself, and did a little edit on the second photo...

These 2 are resident in my in-laws garden, also in Noordheuwel.

Hi,

I saw this Spotted Eagle Owl on a Sunset Drive from Berg - en - dal.







Samantha