Jean and I were the only owl watcher for the evening.  I could only find two in the tree this evening.  Fly out was fast with movement quickly east.  There was some calling and then it was quickly over the drive where we lost them.  Most of the trees are now fully leafed out, and it is becoming much harder to follow the owls as they make their way into the North Woods.

There were none of the regulars this evening, but we Jonathan, Barrie, her husband, and others as owl watchers.

It was a confusing fly out.  Only one owl was visible in the Willow, but it appeared that three flew out.  I think they’ve found spots on the back side of the Willow, which we can’t see from the shore of the Pool.  The owls flew out in time to raise concern from the numerous Robins in the area.

Then as it got darker, the Robins went to sleep and all was quiet. The owls flew from tree to tree, clockwise around pool ending up in low trees around swampy area with rustic walk bridge.  We got to see some more head rubbing.  I think the parents are starting to tell their teenager to be prepared to move out soon.

It was a relaxed evening with Jean, Marie, Ellen, Barrie, and Jimmy, along with some others watching the fly out.

All three were in the tree but we could only see two.  One of the owls seems to have found a fairly hidden spot which we haven’t found yet.

We got to see some head rubbing, before losing the owls. The trees have leafed out even more and it’s becoming harder and harder to keep up with them.

Jean joined me this evening.  Unfortunately, so did another “Owl Tour”.  The group was fairly loud and spread out, so the owls went to high branches this evening rather than the low trees and bushes near the Willow.

All three went quickly across the drive and we lost all but the Fledgling, who sang softly before heading into the area of the Loch.

The three owls were close together this evening.  The fly out was fairly normal, except that Herringbone went immediately towards the nest cavity, and was chased by an American Robin.  The owl was mobbed for a bit, and then ask it got darker, the robins all became quiet.

Herringbone, who I think is the male went into the cavity.  Soon a screaming bird, which sounded like a European Starling, left the hole!  Owls 1 – Starlings 0!  The male then left the cavity.  By this time, the female arrived and took a turn inside the cavity.  Both were in nearby trees but then we lost them.

Chris and Fig were with me tonight.

Jean and I were the two regulars on Sunday, plus we had a few locals.  The temperature was cool, so the park was relatively quiet.

I arrived around 7:30 pm. to find the Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in the Willow with the three owls!  The Red-tail was too busy chasing Robins to see them, but it did have me worried.  It went all around The Pool, and ended up landing on the Willow three times.

The three owls were much harder to find in the tree than usual tonight.  I couldn’t locate the third one until it flew out for the evening.  They landed on a nearby tree and were off before I could get some solid pictures.  They quickly moved 150 feet north, and we lost track of them.  I bet they wanted to move away from the area, just in case the Red-tail was still around.

Other trees are starting to be fully leafed out near the Willow.  I wonder how many days, we’ll still have with them roosting out in the open in Willow.