 Two
months after disappearing into the woods, the owlets returned to my back
yard this morning and woke me up with their wheezing. While they were well hidden in the dense foliage, their constant bobbing and weaving
along with their
loud wheezing made them easy to find. They have grown full sets of tail
feathers and are as
big as adults, but continue to behave as juveniles. They never sat still
and were wheezing just as they had the day they left the nest box. The owlet
in the center of the picture quickly realized that it was being
watched and stared nervously toward my window before flying away. The owlet
in the upper right corner soon followed. I was happy to see this
reaction as I had previously photographed them only from behind photo
blinds to prevent them from becoming comfortable around humans. Learning
to avoid humans is an important part of growing up for a young owl. While the dense
foliage prevented me from seeing the third owlet, I believe that I heard
it wheezing nearby. Ward and June must be pleased with the young owl's
progress and
should be looking forward to the day when they are fully independent and
ready to go off on their own. Only then will they start to use adult
calls. Hopefully, they will stick around the nest
box area for a while before they go out in search of their own
territories. It would be interesting to look for similarities in their
voices and personalities that might allow me to distinguish them. One
owlet was considerably louder than the others as Seymour was before they
disappeared into the woods. |