Honeybee & Peony Blog

So, once again I got to witness a very cool nature adventure today in Sarah’s Big Backyard!   I was going to pick her up so we could head over to Bachman’s for the FABULOUS Gathering of Friends Antique Sale & Idea House, so had brought my camera along to click some photos of “inspirational” items at the sale and in the house.  But, when I arrived at their house, there was somewhat of an “emergency” going on!

Sarah and Family recently noticed that there was a pair of Great Horned Owls now taking up residency in a nest at the tippy top of a White Pine tree in their yard.  They were starting to wonder if maybe they were working on hatching some baby owls.  Well, today they found out that there were indeed baby owls living in the nest because they spotted up fluff ball sitting by their children’s play house and realized it was a baby owl!  Somehow this little fluffy bundle managed to fall out of the nest (which I would estimate to be at least 4 stories tall)!  Yikes!

So, they called the Wood Lake Nature Center (right by their house) who came out to assist them with the baby owl.  Upon my arrival, they were taking a look at the little owlet to make sure he was not injured.   Here’s the little guy getting his checkup:

Here is one of the women from the Nature Center with the Owl:

I learned that when this little guy grows up, some of his favorite foods will be mice and get this, CROWS!  Holy cow!

They estimated that he is about 2 weeks old.

Here are the kiddos and Aaron with him before he was put in his new home

And then he was put into this little bushel basket and they attempted to put him into one of the very first branches of the White Pine Tree.  But, they could not even reach it with their extension ladder.  So, they put him in a tree across the yard.  They let us know that the mother or father owl would hear the cried of the baby and would fly down to it to feed it and take care of it. Here he is in his basket and going up into his new home.

I was SO worried about this little guy but thrilled to hear that late tonight, Sarah heard the baby and mama owl communicating with each other and then saw mam swoop down into the cedar tree to take care of her baby.  I’m just amazed by this!

UPDATE:  Friday March 30th – Daddy Owl was spotted giving Mommy Owl a mouse to feed to Baby this morning!  They have been spending lots of time caring for the little one!

We all know we’re in the midst of winter right now.  What that usually means to me is that a majority of my sessions are held in my studio.  When I started out, I did not have a studio, so this session was like going back to the basics – re-learning my ABCs!  I truly love on-locations sessions so it was nice to have a little change of pace.  Plus, I had the pleasure of being told that what they wanted were true candid photos of sweet little Pearl and Rose just doing their thing. This included getting into their jammies and jumping on the bed, which provided me with some super fun and playful moments between the family and the sisters.  I had a hard time narrowing down my favorites, so here are a while bunch of them for you to look at.  Enjoy!

January 25, 2005

These photos were taken at the the farm of Herman, our good friend’s Great Uncle.  It’s hard to believe that this was 7 years ago almost to the day.  Herman passed away last year and the farm is no longer in the family, so these are an amazing keepsake.  It’s amazing how time flies.  Back then I was newly engaged and planning a wedding, childless and shooting strictly film and practically only weddings.

I truly enjoy personal work like this and wish I could share more of it!  I hope you enjoy looking at these images.