Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: 1 of 2 owlets

I've been out the last two evenings, till 9:45 p.m. and 10:15 p,.m., watching the Great Horned Owl family in Fish Creek Park. Last night, when it was late and we knew that the Park gates would be closing, one of the two owlets made the great leap from nesting tree to the nearest tree - not very close, so we always wonder how they will manage to fledge. The brave little thing kind of slammed into the tree trunk - not sure if it had meant to land on a branch - and dug its long talons into the bark. Once it had recovered from the shock of what had just happened, it very gradually clawed its way up the tree and climbed onto the lowest branch. Mom or Dad flew over the tree to make sure that all was OK. I (and everyone else!) have taken so many photos of the youngsters in the nesting cavity and up on the edge fo the cavity the last couple of evenings, and I have had time only to download my images and grab this second shot. Have to admit that I really don't enjoy looking through hundreds of rather similar photos, but I know there are several that I will post in the next little while. Please bear with me - I know, more owl shots, but if you were there, you would have done exactly the same, lol!

This is one of two Great Horned Owl owlets (or is it Great Horned Owlets?) down at the east end of Fish Creek Park in the SIkome area. Occasionally, when you are lucky, either one or both will pop their little white head up above the front edge of the nest cavity. More often than not, though, Mom will be sitting in the cavity, blocking the owlets. Here, you can see part of her tail feathers on the right of the nest. Before too long, though, things will change, as these little guys grow so fast. Each year, it's interesting to see which of two broken tree trunks they will decide to nest in. This is the best one, as it is not as tall and has no branches at the top that block the view when the leaves start to come out, and so one gets a much better view. Still taken from a good distance, using full zoom.