Wednesday, 15 June 2016

Owl update: TWO CHICKS!

I thought the owls were long gone...into the wetland, but they continue to hang around our back 40.
June 11 – I heard Momma murping around the frog pond.
June 12 – Hubby heard Momma murping in meadow.
June 13 – Bedtime: heard Momma 'Whooooo", chick responded. 
June 14 – Went out at 6:30 to see and spotted Momma and TWO chicks! Heard her call 'Who-cooks-for-you-allllll' after dinner.

Off I went, June 14th, not confident she'd be in the same general location, a few paces from the nesting cavity.
I spotted Momma on the top of a broken tree trunk. You can see in the video, that she flew over my head, to the tree where the chicks were branching. She flew to a tree after the grooming session, and stayed on a tree atop Sady's Grassy Knoll (she loved hunting for mice there!), where she sat for another 3 hours. She slept, and awake from time-to-time. 



She sat here, I ran the videocam for three hours. I captured her flying off to grab two mice, splicing the tape, and speeding up her patient sits. She dozed for about 5 minutes, then spotted her mouse. She came back again and again The grassy knoll is a great place for mice. When I left to visit my client, at 1:00 p.m., she was still sitting there, but gone when I arrived home at 4:30.
Then, we heard her across the backyard, into the forest after dinner. What a treat!


Barred owl chicks grooming from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
Female Barred owl from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

12 comments:

Maria Glória said...

I like owls and loved to see your photos.
The photos also show trees and beautiful vegetation.
A hug from Brazil.

Debbie said...

i enjoyed the video's, watching momma groom the "little one's"!! they appear to have quite the wing span!!!

William Kendall said...

The second video really catches my attention- just a marvel to watch her!

Red said...

You're really keeping close tabs on your owls. I hope they make it to adulthood.

Lady Fi said...

Those two chicks are adorable!

Francisco Manuel Carrajola Oliveira said...

Belo trabalho e excelentes fotografias.
Um abraço.

Out To Pasture said...

Of all your excellent videos, Jennifer, this one of the mother owl grooming her chick is my favourite! Do you ever see the male?

Out To Pasture said...

Of all your excellent videos, Jennifer, this one of the mother owl grooming her chick is my favourite! Do you ever see the male?

Jenn Jilks said...

Truly, they are hard to miss, @Red! She flew by when I was out watering the veggie garden!
I have heard the male at night in the forest nearby, @OutToPasture, but not sure I've seen him since May 31st, when they went after the raccoon.

KarenW said...

What a privilege! Whoever said baby owls were ugly is cracked. They are the sweetest little guys.

Kay said...

Oh my! Your owl chicks are so very cute.

Unknown said...

How wonderful! The chicks are adorable.