 This
owlet has been hunting in the area of the nest box for the last week and
spent part of one rainy day on Ward's favorite perch. While it has grown
to look almost like an adult since it disappeared into the deep woods in
early June, it is still not quite acting like an adult. Rather than
sleeping through the day as an adult would, the young owl was constantly
looking around for a meal as is typical for a first-year owl. The owlets
should now be catching their own food, but will not yet be strong enough
hunters to meet all of their needs at night as adults do this time of
year. The frequent sound of harassing jays and smaller birds is usually
the first sign that a young owl is in the area and attempting to hunt in
daylight. I've heard no wheezing which means that they have given up on
begging Ward and June for food and are almost ready to strike out on their
own. They should start practicing their adult calls soon, but I've not
heard any attempts yet. Ward has made a couple of nighttime visits to the
nest box to assert ownership with his monkey
call, but I've heard nothing from June and assume that she remains in
a distant part of the territory with the other young owls. I hope to see
more of them before they go out in search of their own territories in the
fall. While there is no way to positively identify this owlet, it's
relatively small size suggests that it is a male, and the fact that it is
out alone doing its own thing suggests that it could be Ernie. |