Saturday, 4-26-08
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.
Turtle Duet
On Saturday morning in the Loch of Central Park, two turtles were engaged in some pre-copulation behavior. It was an amazing water ballet.
Thursday, 4-24-08
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.
Highbridge Hatched?
I didn’t see any eyasses while up at Highbridge Park today, but the female and male spent over twenty minutes looking into the nest. There were two carcasses on the nest, and the mother never got fully down into the nest. So, I would suspect that either hatching was in progress or had just occurred. I think I’ll go back on Sunday to see what’s up.
Wednesday, 4-23-08
The three fledglings spent the day in a tree by the West Drive. When I arrived they were alert, watching the hundreds of runners and bike riders using the drive on a beautiful spring day. At dusk, they started to fly around. There were a few missed landings, but they did surprisingly well for their first and second days out.
Tuesday, 4-22-08
I had social engagements the last two nights and missed the first two fledges which occurred on Monday.
Tonight, I was lucky to find the two fledglings in the daylight with their parents surrounding them, and later got to see what appears to be the last nestling leave the nest cavity for what I suspect was the first time. Owl watching doesn’t get much better than this.
Enjoy your wings youngsters!
After about thirty minutes, the owlet flies for the first time and we lose track of it.