アオバズク3ペア営巣開始
今日は、ゴーヤーの日でした。雑木林などでは、今年もアオバズクの営巣が始まりました。2巣で抱卵中、1巣は間も無く抱卵開始です。昨年は、4巣を見つけたのですが、残る1巣にはまだ気配がありません。昨年も一番遅い繁殖ペアだったので心配しなくても近いうちにやって来ることでしょう。6月末から7月上旬にかけて順番に巣立ちます。
今年は、EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS II USM を手に入れたので、少し歩く場所や新しいポイントの探索時に重たいロクヨンと三脚を持ち出さなくて済むので楽です。以下の写真は全てこのレンズで撮影。画質も申し分なし。^^
A male Brown Hawk-Owl. The female is presumably incubating.
With this Brown Hawk-Owl pair too, the female is incubating.
This pair is extremely wary, so hiding as I was, this kind of shot was all I could manage. ^^; Even when I hide, they seem to sense my presence somehow and are watching with their eyes wide open. That kind of look means they are startled or on guard. When Brown Hawk-Owls have that piercing, glaring expression like the two in the photos above, they are often not particularly alarmed.
They are so easily disturbed that last year I only visited twice to check on the nesting. This year I expect I will go back just once more, around the time the chicks are about to fledge.
