A Great Horned Owl Family In The Pine Grove

 2 months ago, I did this post: Great Horned Owl Gets Mobbed.

I found an owl after following the noise of crows. Crows and blue jays were relentlessly dive-bombing an adult owl. I took a video of it with my phone, because I didnt have a DSLR yet.

I got a tip that there were chicks/owlets in the pine grove, in the same area where the video was taken on April 27th. I drove over on April 29th. I walked to the location described, and instantly noticed two grey fuzzballs in a dying pine tree. I got a great shot of one of them (below to the left) An adult was perched in a nearby tree, my view blocked by pine branches. I still can't tell the female and male apart when I am writing this post. These are the photos of the 29th...

 

  

I returned again with another wildlife photographer and saw 4 owls: two adults and two owlets. They were once more attacked by crows. 2 crows flew in from across Joseph Street. The parents and young panicked. both chicks flapped into the thicker, darker part of the woods. One of them had trouble landing, and hung from a branch upside down, before pulling itself up. 

I came back on May 4th, and got even better photos. The crows still hadn't given up, and one repeatedly flew from what im guessing is it's own nest location. An adult and both owlets were trying to sleep in one tree, while the other adult was alone, maybe 40 feet away. It shared a branch with a very angry crow. the owl couldn't decide whether it should stare at me, or the crow. It started ignoring me, and focusing on the noisy little shit next to it. The crow began dive bombing the owl, and it was clearly used to this, because It didn't fly away like it used to. It just flinched every time, occasionally adjusting its balance. 

I took a few steps towards a better viewing angle, and the noise caught the adult's attention. I took a few good shots of it. The best one of those is this one:

I then went back to the trio behind me. Both owlets made nonstop eye contact with me, and I captured that...

(look carefully behind the owlet above. Hidden by branches is the camouflaged adult)

I will update when I visit the area next.