Great Horned Owl and Owlets~

When I was down visiting my daughter and her husband in Florida February ending, I had a text message from a dear friend back home.  Sandy had wanted to know if anyone needed to be alerted to the fact, that a Great Horned Owl had set up a nest at the back of neighbors (Philip and Eva's) driveway, across the lane from her.  I told her that anyone who had small dogs, outside cats and any small children needed to be told.  A Great Horned Owl can do much damage to an adult human, and could really badly injure a small child, if they felt threatened by any encroachment of their territory. Once I arrived back home, one of the first things that I wanted to do, was to check in on them.  It is a nearly a thirty mile drive one way, but it was important to try and keep up with these young Owlets.  The nest was not very large, nor was it sturdy, but so far throughout all sorts of bad weather, it is holding strong.  I have heard and seen the male only once, but have no images of him~

Remember to double click on the first image, to view a larger slide show presentation after you have read the narratives~

I will be linking up with Judith for:

www.lavendercottagegardening.com

Mosaic Monday

&

Stewart for:

   http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/

Wild Bird Wednesday

The female watching over two young Owlets.  It took a couple of visits before I could see the beautiful white down feathers~

The female comes in for a landing on nest.  Such gorgeous birds!

Great Horned Owls have been known to be called hoot owls, cat owls and winged tigers.  They are certainly at the top of their food chain.  They are the only predator that will take skunks on a regular basis...ugh!  Their grip is equal to that of a German Shepherd's bite, at 500 psi.  That is a whole lot of power! They have the best hearing of all animals and are able to hear sounds 10 times fainter than a human ear can detect.   A 3 pound bird can carry 10 pounds easy, just by grabbing it up with it's talons. If they feel their nest is threatened, they will attack bear and humans alike and they instinctively go for the head and face.  They eat small mammals, amphibians, some reptiles and sometimes animals as large as a cat. They will also take American Crows and often the Crows will mob them, to try and discourage them.  They usually nest in the cold months of January and February. Most Great Horned Owls mate for life laying 1 to 5 eggs each year well before the snow melts.  The owlets hatch from eggs at around 4 weeks.  They will leave the nest at around 9 to 10 weeks of age   They grow in lengths of up to 24" and weigh up to 3 1/4 to 5 pounds~

Too Adorable~

These are kind of abstract, but still kind of fun~

Totally drenched from storms, hard to see the 2 owlets...can you see the babies?  They look like they were watercoloured~

Drenched again on another visit~

It looks like the owlet on the right is giving the one on the left a big kiss ;) and then laughing about it afterwards~

A week ago today, we had gone to visit the gravesite of Bill's mom and dad at Cave Hill Cemetery.  Afterwards, I asked if you could check on the Red-tailed Hawk nest that is always in same place every year.  Well...not this year.  There were 2 more Great Horned Owlets.  They were still in place in pouring down rain last Tuesday and this morning, they had fledged. In the wild, they can live up to 13 years and 33 years in captivity is the current record~