Leaf cover is making it more difficult than ever to photograph these owls.  The whole family is doing fine.  They were noisy this evening, both adults and kids.  All were flying more northerly than I’ve seen them.  After some initial feedings, the parents started to hoot-hoot, and the kids became silent.  I went down to the edge of the Loch stream to find both parents keeping track of a raccoon.  It soon waddled off, but the owls were now silent.   It was now late, and with the action over, I left for the evening.

I went up to the North Woods on Saturday morning, and due to a call from Marie, was able to find the owls.

They were settled into a new tree.  All five were there, but two siblings stole the show.

The three owls and their mother were all grouped together when I arrived.  They seemed a bit more mellow than yesterday, as though they were a little hung over from their coming out party.

A Red-tailed Hawk landed in a tree across the drive and both parents ended up crossing the drive to guard the neighborhood.  They both came back over, with one of them making a very low flight. 

The three fledglings spent the day in a tree by the West Drive.  When I arrived they were alert, watching the hundreds of runners and bike riders using the drive on a beautiful spring day.  At dusk, they started to fly around.  There were a few missed landings, but they did surprisingly well for their first and second days out.

I had social engagements the last two nights and missed the first two fledges which occurred on Monday.   

Tonight, I was lucky to find the two fledglings in the daylight with their parents surrounding them, and later got to see what appears to be the last nestling leave the nest cavity for what I suspect was the first time.  Owl watching doesn’t get much better than this.

Enjoy your wings youngsters!

After about thirty minutes, the owlet flies for the first time and we lose track of it.

The male slept outside today and the female was visible in the cavity most of the day.  She let one of the kids have a peak outside at least once during the day.

In the evening, the mother came out early.  For the first time, Jean and I were able to see her take a bath in the Loch.  My camera was taking pictures of the nestlings, so there are no images.  However, take my word for it, we got to watch something simply wonderful.  The female got into a shallow portion of the Loch and sat down.  She acted like a duck, moving her tail feathers back and forth like Donald Duck in a cartoon.  She dipped her head down to get it wet, like a playful Bufflehead.  She walked up on shore, rested for a bit and then used her legs to jump as part of her take off from the ground.  We watched her dry off and preen, as she moved from tree to tree. 

Last Saturday, we had seen her all wet and joked of it as her “Saturday Bath”.  It seemed funny that when we actually got to see her bathe, it was the next Saturday, as if she knew about our joke! 

During her bathing time, the male was attacking a raccoon and feeding the young.

I went away from the evening feeling privileged to have witness so many
different owl behaviors over the last few months.  And to think this is Central Park, New York City!