Category: owls

Last Owlet Standing

The last man standing is the last person to be left doing something. It appears the other two owlets are hunting on their own. You only hear this owlet screech and boy does it screech loud. The owlets seem to make that noise when they are hungry. Many times I see the parents come by after they have screeched for a time period with food. It is still relying on the parents to feed it, so it’s the last one relying on the parents a lot for food. The parents are still bringing by insects and small animals to feed it. I have been worrying it seems to be taking this one longer than the others to hunt.

The most detailed picture I think I have gotten yet. If you look above the ph in photography on the owl you will see a bug hitching a ride.
It was looking around a lot, which looks like it is interested in catching something. These owls are usually in darker areas of the woods.

It is flying tree to tree, so that is a good sign. What do you think? Is it a late bloomer that needs more time or could it have an issue?

Daytime Owlet

I had Monday off for a new bank holiday. What do I do on a holiday? If I have time I hike and see if I can spot owls or their owlets.

Owlet on a lower branch. None of my owl pictures are in the raw. I don’t know how to open these new Canon generated raw files.

Luckily I found two of the three owlets on lower branches. They planted themselves on this tree for a few hours. I got a lot of nice pictures out of it. One seems to stay well hidden now. I look at him as the designated driver. Instead of not drinking to stay safe and keeping everyone else safe he stays well hidden to stay safe. Or am I wrong about this and the third one is more shy?

Flying Owlets

This week I got to see the babies a few times. They are like little children on sugar when they are awake. They fly from branch to branch following each other. It looks like they are chasing each other in a game of tag. They don’t linger on trees too long before they take flight again while they are awake.

Peek-A-Boo! A baby barred owlet in view and one of its siblings hiding behind some leaves.
Sibling flew off.
Perched on a broken branch.
Flying from tree to tree.
Screeching for food. At least one of them got either a mole or vole that night.

BARRED OWLET SOUND

Click on the audio file below to hear the noise barred owlets make.

Good-bye baby owl!

Do owlets have ADHD? With all the flying they do while they are awake I wonder how many rodents their parents need to catch for them a day.

Feeding Time

I placed another tick in a box last night. I was beginning to think I would never see an owl feed their babies. They seemed to shy away from doing that within eyesight of me. Then, last night I saw and heard them in all one areas again.

Mother perhaps with prey.

The one parent flew to the same tree as the children. I could not tell if it had someone, but someone I was with said they saw it was holding a chipmunk. If you look carefully under the branch you see dangling legs.

Parent with two of the three owlets visible.

The parent flew to another tree and the owlets followed.

Tearing up the chipmunk.

The parent then proceeded to tear out pieces of the chipmunk and feed them to the owlets.

Two were very interested and were nearby. The third was higher up.

They don’t always do this within view. Sometimes it is high up in the tree tops with leaves blocking the view. I was so happy to see this tonight. Owls are predators. It is what they do to survive.

Singing Owlets

Surprise! There are three owlets. After only hearing them for about a week, but not seeing them, I found them today. They were all together on the same branch with good views from a couple of different places nearby.

They appear to be singing.

A parent was in a neighbouring tree. They were probably begging for food. I was hoping to see a parent feed them and I knew at least one of them was hunting nearby. But once again a thunderstorm was approaching .

I am happy I at least got to see the three of them together and I hope I am lucky enough in the future to see a parent feed them. Enjoy your week!

Barred Owl with Prey

What do owls like to feed their babies? Multiple times I have seen them bring in a chipmunk.

The catch of the Day:Chipmunk

Chipmunks give away the owls when they are in their vicinity by a noise they make. A good thing for the other creatures in the forest, but a bad thing for the chipmunk. He tells the owl exactly where he is.

Hanging out in a darker part of the woods

This owl seemed to be happy to fly to more open trees around me and show me her catch. Her babies were nearby, but hiding behind leaves. I wanted to stay and see if she would feed them in front of me, something I have not had a good view of yet. However, a thunderstorm was approaching. I hope to witness breakfast of dinner in the future. Have a great weekend!

Two Owlets

What is twice as nice as spotting an owlet in a tree hole? Finding out there are two owlets.

Second baby is in the hole.

The day after I spotted one in the hole, there was one high up in the same tree, and another one in the hole, so definitely two.

Baby owl power napping.

This is the one who was high up in the same tree with their nest hole. I suspect he climbed the tree, however I did see him flying branch to branch the next day.

Mother or Dad? I tried to make this one look like an old photo. The light was not great that day.

The mother owl usually flies down to a lower branch for a couple of minutes before flying back to a higher branch. I do not hear the “Who cooks for you?” sound people say barred owls usually make. She or he usually make half a who around the babies. I guess it is owl baby talk.

These two seemed to have left the nest quickly. I passed that tree two times every time I went there and prior to my last post I did not see an owlet peeking out. Would have wished for more days to see them at the tree hole, but I will take what I can get. Go slow and be aware when walking in the woods, you never know what you can miss.

Peek -A-Boo

I found the barred owl tree hole tonight. Yes, the pair had mated and has at least one owlet.
I am hoping there are more in the hole.

Walking around different woods and casing out tree holes has paid off. I was tracking and following the owls, but tonight this owlet’s eyes were on me. You never know who is watching you in the woods.

Owl Hunting

If I close my eyes and pretend to sleep it will lure the other critters into a false sense of security.
I see someone climbing a neighbouring tree.
OMG!!!!!! Owl!!!!!!!
I’ve got to get a closer look at this human. Did you get good shots?
Learn from the master.

Barred Owl on Low Branch

One evening last week I hiked on a trail and was taken aback by the fact I saw him not far from the trail on a low branch to a tree very close to me. I almost missed him. I backed up and took these pictures, then walked away. I think he was faking sleep because he appears to be in hunting mode.

He gives me the one eye from time to time. He never flew off while I was there.

He occasionally turned around in different directions to spy chipmunks, squirrels , etc. that were moving around nearby.

Before sunset light in the woods is tricky. You either get an owl that is too much in the shadows or one where parts of it and the background are too light. Someday I will learn photoshop so I can do photo stacking.

Get out and enjoy nature. It may take you by surprise.

%d bloggers like this: