Wednesday, May 6, 2009

It won't be long before our little owlet is hopping out of the nest!

Yesterday evening I squeezed in a trip to Lake Isabella in anticipation of today's rains. When I arrived the baby was still asleep, but soon popped up ready for action. Jack, a fellow bird watcher, was there and felt we had about a week before the baby starts climbing out of the nest and hopping from limb to limb in the tree.

The late evening sun was warm and glowing, lighting 
up the baby and making her eyes nice and bright.

"Who, who's back there? I'll just turn my head all the way 
around. No need to reposition my body...I am an owl afterall."

The baby moved to the other side of the tub and more 
into the sun. She's starting to look for mama and 
her dinner (or maybe breakfast)!

The baby starts panting to dissipate the heat 
building up in her body as she soaks up the sun.

"Mama...where are you? I'm ready for dinner!"

25 comments:

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

What a wonderful post Kelly. I do love the owls. It is so great to be able to photograph and watch the development of these chicks.

Ginnymo said...

Oh! These photos are so cute Kelly!!!
They sure grow fast!!

Kim said...

OMG Kelly those photos are FANTASTIC!!! Love the last one where it looks as if it is whistling!

Roy said...

Incredible! It looks almost ready to go off on its own now.

holdingmoments said...

What a great series of pictures.
He's certainly giving you a stare in a couple of those. :)
It looks a strange place to nest, but I guess they know best.

Nick S said...

Great set of pics of the youngster.
Great Horned Owls will nest in artificial man-made nest baskets and even old tyres. Nice to see him thriving.
Was he the only owlet ?

Kelly said...

Joan, Ginny, Kim and Roy...thank you!

Kim...it does look like he's whistling. That one made me laugh. It also looks like he's saying "who?"

Keith...Nick answers your question in the comment that follows yours very well! Thank you!

Nick...originally there was one. Then they introduced and orphan...then since Friday, only one has been popping up for feeding. They suspect the other owlet has died. A theory is people have been feeding poison to squirrels and mice to kill them and perhaps the baby ate a poisoned mouse. They have to climb up and check it out. Maybe one was picked off by a hawk (but they are pretty big now). When i hear something definitive, I'll let you know.

Dale Forbes said...

Hi Kelly, so what does a Swainson's Thrush sound like?

When you do get in to digiscoping, it would be really cool if you participated in the "digiscoping today" carnival I set up just for helping digiscopers link with each other.


Happy birding
Dale
http://alpinebirds.blogspot.com

Dave said...

Cool photos!

Chris said...

Hi Kelly,
A wonderful post and some awesome pictures. It looks like this guy is ready to go away from mom and dad!! He is very cute. Here, some birds are now feeding the chicks, these are mainly small birds like redwing and wagtails. The others are just courting for the moment.

Jayne said...

OH, just look at her! It's amazing how fast they grow. You captured some wonderful images of her Kelly. :c)

Laure Ferlita said...

I am stunned to see how quickly she has grown up! Just love your captures where it looks like she's whistling or talking - does she make any noise or are you close enough to hear her?

Deb said...

Isn't he absolutely adorable! Great photos Kelly.

Montanagirl said...

Wonderful post! Love the photos. Baby Owls are just about the cutest things I've ever seen. He's way bigger than the one we're keeping a watch on. We'll have to go check on him in a couple of days again.

Richard said...

Great pictures Kelly. It's nice to be able to watch them grow up.

Uncommon Depth said...

Awww - that is so adorable. Great pictures!

Mary said...

He is so adorable! It will be fun to see him learn to fly. That nest just cracks me up everytime I see it.

Andor Marton said...

Oh what an adorable youngster. I find somehow the young owls very hilarious and this hilarious looks like I see also in your fantastic series.

Ken. said...

Hi Kelly. Nice going.Aren't they a sorry looking sight when their young. Bood blog again

Phil and Mandy said...

Lovely Owls Kelly , keep them coming, superb photos as per usual. Phil

Larry said...

Wow that's great! I don't get to see enough owls.-Barred Owls are the only ones I seem to come across.It must be a lot of fun watching the little ones.

Kelly said...

Dale...here is a clip of the song of the Swainson's Thrush: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Swainsons_Thrush/sounds
...it's very beautiful.

Dave, Chris, Jayne...thank you!

Laure....she was panting. I could not hear anything, but I'm not very close. I love the last one...

Dave, Montanagirl, Richard and Roberta...thank you!

Mary, Andor, Ken and Phil...thanks also!

Larry...I've seen Barred owls at the trail, but of late, I've only heard them.

Dale Forbes said...

wow, very flute like. cool!a

laurent Debordes said...

quel regard pour cet oiseau
magnifique

Heather said...

Oh what a sweetie! I thought they brought a second owlet in to live with this one (one that got abandoned by its mamma)? Do you know what happened to it?