Long-eared Owls are tough birds to find to begin with, and owlets doubly so. So we local birders were delighted to discover that a group of four LEO chicks have been hanging around Starkey Hill Trail, often snoozing only a few feet above the heads of oblivious hikers.
Despite being so close, I didn’t have the opportunity to drop by over the weekend, but headed over straight from work Monday night. Perfect timing, as it turned out: other birders had been searching up and down the trail for hours with no sign of the owls, and they had only just become active as I arrived. Clumsily they clambered up branches and flapped from tree to tree, heads bobbing and wobbling as they attempted to judge the distance to the next perch.
Eventually they quieted down again, and two of the owlets settled in a pine directly beside the trail for a nap. Closing their eyes, their fuzzy down served to obliterate their owlish faces (although the local flickers and jays were not at all fooled).
I returned again on Tuesday. This time the owls were nowhere to be seen or heard, and after nearly an hour and a half of waiting around I was quite ready to throw in the towel. No sooner did I gather up my things and start back down the trail did a familiar squeaky call ring out from the trees. I followed the sound down a hill and spotted a few whitewashed saplings below a large pine. A flapping of wings revealed one of the owlets as it dropped down to the ground, where it was soon joined by two of the others. They milled about a rotting log, repeatedly climbing up and pouncing down on whatever it was on the forest floor that had caught their interest. Eventually they grew bored of their game, and noisily crashed, flapped and clawed their way up into the trees again. I suppose their owlish stealth will take some time to develop.
I really enjoyed this post. I would love to witness the young owl behavior you saw, but your description is the next best thing to being there. The sketches are a great compliment to the pictures…or maybe the other way around!
Great post Jo. My first time here I am really enjoying reading all your posts. Your sketches are wonderful as is the way you tell your tales.
Thanks for the nice read. I’m with Amber, I would have loved to witness three owlets frolicking on the forest floor.
I can also readily identify with the plight of when to leave a scene without seeing your target bird or the behavior you came to see. Too many times I have started to leave, only to miss the best part of an encounter. I have finally developed the patience to stay longer than is comfortable in those situations and it has paid of countless times.
My advice, hang in there when you are contemplating leaving an area. Something usually comes up ;-)