I love Barred owls, and appreciate any pictures of the neslings! They usually nest in deep forests, so this is a treat.

Thanks.

This morning (5/9) I saw a baby owlette at the nest site! First time this year that I've caught a glimpse of the little one. I'm not sure yet if there is more than one at this point. I tried taking a picture but it was still a little too dark out for a decent picture. However, it would look just like the above picture..... same place, same fuzzy baby. This was a great morning! This time of year with all of the baby birds fledging is one of my favorite times of the year.

Judy

This has been an exciting day! The baby owlette decided it was time to leave the nest. He started climbing up a tree limb directly above the nest site but lost his footing and fell to the ground. He hopped along the ground for a while and taking frequent rests at various places. He finally decided to try climbing a large tree but couldn't quite make the straight-up climb. He hopped around to the back of a barn which is near the tree and found a smaller tree that leans to the side. He scampered up that tree without a problem. This is the same tree (the leaning one) that all the other owlettes from previous years chose as their first climb.

Following are some pictures that I took this morning. They aren't very good pictures but they are the best my camera would do.

Baby Owlette is grounded....
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Time to start climbing....
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Whew!.... Such hard work! Time for a rest!
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Owl parenting..... the mom is always in a branch nearby.
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AAAAWWWW! That would be SO cool. Back in the 70s while I lived in the Quad Cities in Iowa, a pair of Great-horned Owls nested in a hollow tree right next to our bedroom window. That was almost downtown.

Cute as can be! Wonderful captures!

WOW, those are great photos! I love owls; we have some around our house every summer! Thanks for the pics!

There is a nest within hooting distance of my house....close enough to do a number on the rabbits in my yard...but not close enough to watch the babies...
Guess I'll stick my head out and give a little hoo hu hu hoo and see what answers...but I may be too late at night for calling.
Lucky to be able to watch!
Linda C

It was good to be able to share these pictures with others who could appreciate them. I've had a wonderful time watching this little owlette & parents. They've remained in trees close to my house for the last couple of days so I've been able to watch the little one a little more. He'll be moving deeper into the forest over the next few days and I'll lose sight of him. I feel very fortunate to have had the parents nesting here for the last 5 years and hope to see them at the same nest site again next year.

We've recently purchased the woodland behind our house so that we can keep it as woodland and not allow it to become more housing subdivision with loss of habitat for the animals. So as the owlette moves back into the woods I know that he is safe from humans at least. That's a good feeling to me. Watching these amimals makes me smile everyday.

Enjoy your birding adventures!
Judy

I'm jealous.

Aren't they adorable!!!

Judy...have you seen this website?
Check out the short film clips.
You'll absolutely fall in love with Abigail, Emmett & especially, Ernie!
Such personalities!!!

I've just got to order the DVD, which was filmed last year!

Here is a link that might be useful: Barred Owl

Yes, I've seen the owlcam website and it is fantastic!!! I purchased that DVD when it first became available because I have been following that website for a few years. When I first realized that I had Barred Owls nesting I didn't know anything about them so turned to the internet for knowledge. Found the owlcam website and learned so much there and followed the nestings of Ward & June over the years. Amazing.

Nice post. I would love having owls nesting in my yard.
I did manage to spot a Barred Owl over the weekend, along the C&O Canal next to the Potomac River.

Richard

It's been a week and no sight of the little one anymore but guessing he's safe deeper in the woods and learning new skills daily.

As fun as it's been having the Barred Owls nesting in the yard I also have the not-so-fun part. It seems that they've been watching ME as much as I've been watching them so they've learned that this lady in the big wooden box puts worms/food out for the smaller nesting birds each morning & evening. Easy pickins! And with all the little fledglings in the trees around the house the owls can watch and possibly feast on the little inexperienced ones. ack!

For the last couple of days I've seen Papa Owl sitting on lower limbs in the front and back yard. While working in the yard yesterday afternoon I heard the little songbirds doing alarm callings so I looked up and saw him sitting overhead watching me. Without even thinking I just put my hands on my hips and asked him "And just what do you think you're doing?" He quietly glided away. I laughed at myself after that because I figure the neighbors must think I'm nuts. :)

Everyday in nature is an adventure!
Judy

Today was the day for 2 baby owlettes to leave the tree nest in my backyard. This is the same tree that has been used by the owls in the years before but what I found to be remarkable was that the owlettes left on 5/9 of last year and that's today's date of this batch of babies leaving as well! Amazing!!

This year's story..... I only thought there was one owlette in the nest because I had only seen one little head peeking at me from time to time. When I got home from the grocery earlier today my neighbor ran to my door to tell me that a baby owlette was in their back yard and had been sitting there for quite awhile. They didn't know what to do and quite frankly I was hoping for all that I was worth that it wasn't the owl from my backyard because it was going the wrong way!!! I have acres of woodland behind my house and this little fella was going toward more houses. Wrong way!

When I got to the neighbor's house I quickly realized that it was indeed the little owlette from my backyard. I looked for quite awhile but didn't see the parents and they surely would have shown themselves had they known where this little guy was with us being so near him. We decided to move him back towards the nesting tree at the forest edge because I felt it would definitely be a safer place.

I got a cardboard box and was able to easily scoop him into it (I got to touch him and he was wonderful!). I got him into my backyard and placed him on the ground. He hopped only a couple of inches away but turned back towards me and just sat. I sat with him for a few minutes and I made some of my mama owl sounds (yeah, right... lol) but for whatever reason he actually was making sounds back with me. Truly wonderful. Still no sight of mom or dad yet. I'm worried.

I left him and went to sit on my deck. He came towards my house instead of going towards the woods. He climbed a tree near my deck but fell when he was about 10 feet up. Then he hopped across the yard back towards the woods. Yaaaay! Then I finally saw Dad!!! He came and sat in the tree next to the deck and I'm pretty sure he was gonna make sure I didn't go near the little one again.

Later in the day the little one finally climbed a tree and stayed. Mom & Dad were near. Still later in the day I was watching them all and saw movement near the other little one. YES!!!!.... it was a second owlette climbing the nearby tree!!! There were two of them! Yaaay! They both climbed.... and they both fell out of their trees. As it was getting dark I couldn't watch them any longer but I knew they were together as was Mom & Dad.

And now.... here's pics of this year's (2008) baby owlettes!

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What a wonderful day!!!
Judy

Judy-thank you so much for sharing your owl stories and photos! I love owls. I've only been fortunate to see and photograph a few -an Eastern Screech owl and a nest of GHOs. It was fun to read about your owls!
Robin