In my last blog post I mentioned discovering a great horned
owl nest and said: “I will keep an eye on the nest; I hope to see the young one
take its first flight”. This post describes the days that followed…
It took four daily visits before the second chick showed itself…
At first the little ones were so small that a glimpse of their heads was all that could be seen…
The nest was only five miles from home, making it easy to
check the status every day…
It was fun to see them get a little bigger and more mobile as the days passed…
Soon it was time for potty training...
Until they learn to go outside the nest an adult carries the fecal sac away after every bowel movement...
As the chicks grew, they became more restless extending their wings in practice flight…
Since owls are most active at night I was not surprised that feeding activity was almost non-existent during daylight hours...
During the only feeding that I observed it appeared that the adult devoured most of the squirrel. The chicks were growing so their portions must have been adequate...
The larger chick seemed to be giving flight lessons to the sibling...
The local crows knew exactly where the nest was and visited
every day without fail…
Despite all the noise they made I never saw them get close
enough to inflict any damage…
A third adult owl was often present so that may have
discouraged the crows from more aggressive attacks…
The adults started hanging out on nearby limbs, perhaps to give the chicks more room or feeling of independence...
As we neared four weeks of daily observation I wondered when
they would leave the nest…
Then, exactly four weeks after finding it, the nest was
empty...with one of the fledglings perched on what had been the roof…
I imagine they fledged during the night and this one was too timid to follow the more bold chick on it's first flight…
Scanning the surrounding trees I spotted an adult keeping a watchful eye on the hesitant one...
In the blink of an eye the little one started moving for another branch. It was half walking and half flapping it's wings...
It was obviously not getting the traction it needed to perch...
My worst fears were realized as it fell from the tree...
It's outstretched talons grabbed some vegetation and stopped the free fall...
When it finally released it's grip it only had about a ten foot drop to the ground. There was a fallen log blocking my view so I did not see the actual landing. I waited for a while to see if it would come into view. My guess is that it hunkered down and took some time to recover...
When I returned the next morning all three of the adults were nearby hooting it up. Probably to both encourage the chick and to discourage the crows in the area...
On the second day following this escapade I checked the area and spotted one of the youngsters in a tree about forty feet from the ground...
While I watched it decided to take a nap...
The next day I did not see either of the young owls but there was an adult over looking the meadow...
An additional bonus was that I met the adjoining landowner and was able to provide her with a list of over 65 species of birds that I observed or heard using the Merlin birding app while watching the owls. She is hoping to get the youngsters interested in nature.
Thanks for visiting, be well and come back soon.
