The fledglings are now accomplished fliers and quickly went all around the Loch this evening.  I lost them for about five minutes, but was able to find them on the east side of the stream.  One of the parents looked like they had been taking a bath.  The young ones were on a branch just a few feet off the ground, and were so close, I had to move back to focus.

As I was about to leave, I heard the trill call again, and one of the parents had what might have been a mouse.  Earlier, there were Whinny calls and the Hoot-Hoot calls to warn of two raccoons.

The owls were very mobile this evening, moving across the Loch.  The kids are getting to be good fliers, but they still have problems with their landings.  It’s rather comical.  I hope they start to move their nightly roosts.

The three kids were tucked close together on the same branch, with the parents close by when we arrived. It was a fairly standard night, except for two unusual events. 

We had a feral cat pass through the owl’s territory, which was tracked by one of the parents who made lots of hoot-hoot calls. 

The other was a trill call, which we hadn’t heard from either of the parents for weeks. 

Leaf cover is making it more difficult than ever to photograph these owls.  The whole family is doing fine.  They were noisy this evening, both adults and kids.  All were flying more northerly than I’ve seen them.  After some initial feedings, the parents started to hoot-hoot, and the kids became silent.  I went down to the edge of the Loch stream to find both parents keeping track of a raccoon.  It soon waddled off, but the owls were now silent.   It was now late, and with the action over, I left for the evening.

I went up to the North Woods on Saturday morning, and due to a call from Marie, was able to find the owls.

They were settled into a new tree.  All five were there, but two siblings stole the show.

The three owls and their mother were all grouped together when I arrived.  They seemed a bit more mellow than yesterday, as though they were a little hung over from their coming out party.

A Red-tailed Hawk landed in a tree across the drive and both parents ended up crossing the drive to guard the neighborhood.  They both came back over, with one of them making a very low flight.