spilunkr
05-13-2005, 10:51 AM
One of these days I will learn that even on what would ordinarily be a mundane fishing outing it's always worth bringing a camera along because you just never know what will present itself. I had a couple hours in the afternoon after an optometrist appointment Wednesday so I grabed my minimalist fly pack (two boxes of flies on belt pack) and headed up the road to Morgan Run.
The fishing itself was rather ordinary. The water was gin clear and the fish were pretty spooky from almost two months of being fished over since stocking. There was a sparse midge hatch that had a few trout feeding on the surface but that was it for insect activity.
I was working my way upstream catching the occasional brown when I came around a bend and saw a rather large critter sitting on a rock in mid-stream about 50 yds in front of me. I couldn't figure out what it was so I started to slowly move forward. It spread it's wings and flapped once landing behind a small shrub on the opposite bank. At least now I knew it was a large bird of some kind. I still could not get a good look at it but from its size and coloration I was thinking a small wild turkey.
As I got closer the bird kept moving into thicker streamside brush so it wasn't until I was about 25' away and the bird was facing me that I was able to make out it was a great horned owl. It's amazing how their coloration blends into the background. It just stayed there watching me fish. I picked off a nice little brown from the tail of the pool and while the fish was splashing on the surface the owl crossed the stream to the other bank and continued to watch me while I fished out the pool.
I was kicking myself for not having my camera as this was the first owl I'd seen in many years. I think the owl may have been molting as it seemed very reluctant to fly preferring to just walk around on the ground. From the distance I was, I could have gotten some really nice shots with the 10X zoom on my digital. I watched the owl for about 10 minutes before continuing my fishing up the stream. The bird for his part seemed to be content to watch me watching him.
I wound up catching a half dozen browns but the highlight of the afternoon was definitly the owl.
Guy
The fishing itself was rather ordinary. The water was gin clear and the fish were pretty spooky from almost two months of being fished over since stocking. There was a sparse midge hatch that had a few trout feeding on the surface but that was it for insect activity.
I was working my way upstream catching the occasional brown when I came around a bend and saw a rather large critter sitting on a rock in mid-stream about 50 yds in front of me. I couldn't figure out what it was so I started to slowly move forward. It spread it's wings and flapped once landing behind a small shrub on the opposite bank. At least now I knew it was a large bird of some kind. I still could not get a good look at it but from its size and coloration I was thinking a small wild turkey.
As I got closer the bird kept moving into thicker streamside brush so it wasn't until I was about 25' away and the bird was facing me that I was able to make out it was a great horned owl. It's amazing how their coloration blends into the background. It just stayed there watching me fish. I picked off a nice little brown from the tail of the pool and while the fish was splashing on the surface the owl crossed the stream to the other bank and continued to watch me while I fished out the pool.
I was kicking myself for not having my camera as this was the first owl I'd seen in many years. I think the owl may have been molting as it seemed very reluctant to fly preferring to just walk around on the ground. From the distance I was, I could have gotten some really nice shots with the 10X zoom on my digital. I watched the owl for about 10 minutes before continuing my fishing up the stream. The bird for his part seemed to be content to watch me watching him.
I wound up catching a half dozen browns but the highlight of the afternoon was definitly the owl.
Guy