The
squirrel that June chased away on Saturday returned today and found the
owlets alone in the nest. As it stuck its head in the door and looked down
on them, they knew just what to do. They fluffed up their feathers and
bowed out their wings to make themselves look as big as possible while
snapping their beaks loudly and looking up at the squirrel. This is
exactly what an adult does when it is threatened and it was enough to keep
the squirrel from entering the nest. June heard all of the ruckus and
hurried back to the nest where she narrowly missed the squirrel as it
leaped to a nearby branch. She spent the next five minutes perched on the
roof following every movement that the squirrel made as she is seen doing
here.
After
she was satisfied that the squirrel was long gone, she entered the nest
where she fed the owlets a mouse and then spent more than an hour preening
them. They are seen here resting up from what had been a very exciting
morning. Ernie, on your right, looks smaller than he actually is because
he had dug himself another hole to sleep in. It appears that he just
prefers the bare floor to wood chips. With both adults hunting, there is
plenty of food and all of the owlets are progressing extremely well.
Emmett and Abigail have even been trying to pull themselves up on the
owlet ladder as they look longingly at the sky. Barred owlets normally
climb out of the nest when they are just over four weeks old, but it
sometimes happens sooner. This precocious group may just surprise us.