Second place at the BirdWatching Photography Awards 2022!

Danielle Rockett of Ottawa, Ontario wins second place in our 2022 BirdWatching Photography Awards competition with this image of a great horned owl and her young owl in their nest.

“Every year, at the end of December, a couple of Great Horned Owls come to a park where I often go bird watching,” explains Danielle. “They always use the same nest. I spent two hours watching them, as they guarded three adorable little furry chicks. While still in the nest, the mother owl would tear the food into small pieces and feed it to the owls. This photo shows one of the owls with mom after a feed. Their gaze was so intense that it looked like the owl was saying to mom, “Thanks for the great meal.”

Congratulations, Danielle!

Equipment and settings: Nikon D7500 with Tamron 150-600 mm lens, Tamron 1.4x teleconverter, on tripod. Exposure data: 1/400s, f/9, ISO-640, focal length 850mm.

Many thanks to our panel of guest judges: editors Laura Erickson, Pete Dunne and Brian E. Small; professional photographers Marie Read and Alan Murphy; Outdoor photographer editors Wes Pitts and Kristan Ashworth; And Imagery resource Editor William Brawley.

See the first place winner

See the third place winner

See the finalists

Take part in our 2022 bird portrait competition