| After studying the owl rail for a week, Rufus finally made his big move today. He came very close to falling when he first landed on the rail, but regained his balance by flapping his wings. As he walked by Emily, she reached out and preened a couple of his feathers for good luck (upper picture). While the owl rail on the near-side of the box provided an easy path to the tree trunk, he chose the exact path that Wally and Theodore had followed in 1998; even though it is now blocked by the new OwlCam camera enclosure. He prevailed by first leaping to the roof of the camera enclosure and then making the even more dangerous leap to the roof of the owl house. After dancing on the roof for a couple of minutes to encourage Emily and Seymour, he jumped to the trunk of the giant double pine tree that holds the nest box and was on his way up. He is shown here resting between the huge trunks before resuming his ascent. He climbed by pulling with his talons, grabbing with his beak, and flapping with his wings. As he disappeared into the treetops, Emily was getting very anxious in the doorway. Click Emily's Day to find out what happened next. |
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