 Ernie
the owl joined his older brother and sister as June fed them early this
morning. That's Ernie on the right as he waits to see which one June will
feed next. While he is much smaller than the others, he managed to get a
good enough feeding position to get his share of the food. During these
feeding sessions, June often stops to study their reactions as she is seen
doing here. This allows her to measure their progress and determine which
one should be fed next. Because Ward had another super night, she did not
have to make any difficult decisions this morning. She fed all of them as
much as they would take and has more than enough left to last through the
day. Because the youngest owlet does not always survive hard times, it is
important to Ernie that Ward continue to provide plenty of food. So far,
Ward has been up to the task and more good hunting weather is expected for
the next few days. June is now ripping a meadow vole into small pieces and
feeding it to the owlets in their second big meal of the day. They are not
doing much wheezing and she is having to rub the bits of food on the sides
of their beaks to get them to eat. This suggests that they are not very
hungry. |