Yesterday the Feathered Friends meetup group visited the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center for a private photo shoot with some of their raptors.
Katherine Nelson, Education Manager of CBEC was kind enough to share with us her experience handling these beautiful owls. She patiently held each owl in a variety of poses and backgrounds so that we could photograph them to our heart’s content. The best part of the event was watching these birds just stare at Katey with loving eyes. Clearly they appreciated her and her loving care she has provided them for the past five years.
Many of these owls are injured by a car and these owls have been rehabilitated and get to live out their lives in comfort. Due to their injuries they are unable to survive in the wild. The larger the owl, the longer they live. The Barred Owls live 20 – 25 years, while the Great Horned Owls can live 25 – 30 years. Although in nature, many of these birds don’t live past the age of ten years old.
With great thanks to Katey and CBEC for providing us the venue and these owls for the community to enjoy.
Emily Carter ~ Nature as Art 
The last 2 are just adorable!
Thank you so much Ilex ! I love hearing which ones you like in particular. It really helps me know what people enjoy.
Love these, Emily, the last one makes me think of meditiation….. OM………… Just stunning, as always, and how great that these beautiful creatures have been cared for so lovingly and so well!. Owls always remind me of kitties… my Maggie had a real round face, with eyes that could look right thru’ you, just like they do!
Oh Maggie..she looked into your soul didn’t she? 🙂 These owls were so very patient and didn’t fuss at all. They are so magnificent aren’t they?
Great shots
Thank you so much!
My favourites, OWLS. Love the hairdo and they do have loving eyes. Hey, did you see that. One just winked at me.
He did wink at you didn’t he? Although I think you have the best photo so far of mine of a Great Horned Owl. 🙂
And it’s on my Wall of Fame. Lucy the cat loves sitting beside it. 😛
Love your photography, beautiful Owls
You are so very kind. Thank you so much.
Fantastic photos, Emily. How fortunate you were to be able to see them up close and photograph them. Thanks for sharing these. 🙂
I should have asked if I could pet one. At the end Katherine petted the Great Horned Owl like a cat. It was awesome.
Cute – a lovely story and enjoyed the photos
So happy that you enjoyed this post Diana. Hope all is well.
What an incredible experience – how wonderful for these owls to have such a place in their “owl” of need – thank you so much for sharing! 😉
It truly is special isn’t it Joanne? I was really surprised how they tend to get injured. Although last week a Barred Owl flew right down at the edge of the road I was driving on. If he had gone further there might have been a crash.
Its nice to see folks enjoying the owls!! It looks as if they are well taken care of too!
Surely there are places closer to you Jim. They really are well taken care of and had just gotten a Screech Owl in. Love how they use them for educational purposes. Lots of children’s programs hosted there.
Great photos, but it’s a shame that there are so many injured owls that need care. But on the other hand, at least there are places to provide the care these days.
Indeed it is true. The CBEC is self-funded and they manage to do quite well with the few birds that they have. There are a few state supported places in Maryland that also have captive/unreleasable birds.
We should all be ever so grateful to people like Katherine Nelson and her team. They certainly do a crucial job. Great pictures. Thumbs up to all of you. 🙂
Katherine was so wonderful and I really did appreciate the experience. If I had time, I could volunteer and play with the owls too. Perhaps one day.
SWEET Captures – love owls 🙂
Thanks Renee ! Hope you’re having a fantastic long weekend.