Great Horned Owlets…
Earlier in the day on Wednesday, 04-28-21, I heard several crows mobbing either Hoot, the female, or Give a Hoot, the male, Great Horned Owls. I could see the crows in the distance, but I couldn’t see either owl.
I went back out later in the afternoon with my gear with the intentions of finding either adult to get some photos, then go to the nest. I couldn’t locate either owl, so I went to the nest.
It was a warm afternoon and the owlets were doing some gular fluttering to cool themselves off from the heat of the sun.
Since it was another warm afternoon this brought out lots of other “activity” in the vicinity of the nest, so the owlets stayed mostly inactive until shortly before sunset.
I heard Hoot make one squawk call before I saw her fly to about 20 yards of the nest 10 minutes after sunset. Once mom flew in closer and made a few more squawk calls the owlets got much more active. They started branching and flying.
A few minutes later I was taking off my teleconverter when Hoot flew to the nest. I’m pretty sure she must have delivered some food. Hoot will check up on the owlets at a distance, but will usually only come to the nest if she has food for them. Both owlets returned to the nest just before Hoot flew off.
The owlets didn’t stay in the nest long before they were off branching and flying again. I decided to pack up my gear a little before 2100 hrs.
When I walked out I got a different perspective on how far one of the owlets flew tonight and it looked be be close to 10 yards.
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