We have a first-time contributor today: reader Bob Jochums, who sends us Honorary Cats™ in the form of owl photos. His notes are indented:
We’ve had some success getting barred owls (Strix varia) to use a nesting box when it’s mounted fairly close to our home. Even though we’ve got an acre plus of nicely forested land, we’ve attached the nest to a big pine so that we can see it, and what’s happening in it, from our sunroom.
This year our owl adults had a solo owlet so we named him (and yes, we don’t know it’s a “him”) Han, as in Han Solo. Today was fledging day. Early this morning he was on the landing branches on the face of the nesting box and then on the roof. A couple hours later he had fledged and was on the metal railing leading down toward the backyard/forest. After resting there a bit, he started attempting to climb trees and was successful after several attempts (couldn’t get going on a birch, got about 20 feet up a shagbark hickory which is about 12 inches in diameter before he lost his grip, and then got up a skinny tree that was leaning against a larger maple with limbs that were pretty much horizontal). The final picture shows him on a nice perch after being joined by his mother.
All pictures were taken on May 19.
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I asked Bob how a young owl could possibly climb up a tree. He responded and sent photographic proof:
When barred owl owlets leave the nest, their flying skills are rudimentary and often not very successful so they often end up on the ground or maybe in a bush They’ve got to get back up in a tree where they’re safer from predators. Here’s a picture of Han climbing a large tree yesterday. Owls use their talons and beak to grasp onto the bark and by flapping their wings, they walk their way up the trunk. It’s quite a sight.
Indeed!
Today I Learned(TM)!
Very good! Owls will often seem to have an amusing expression on their faces, and to me the chick seems to have a rather indignant look.
Wonderful pictures! I love barred owls and have been trying unsuccessfully to take pictures of them for years. Their distinctive cries often wake me up at night. A couple of years ago we had two fledglings sitting in a tree near our house crying for two nights. Not understanding what they were up to, I called Wild Arc (our local wild animal shelter) and was told they were fine. It took a few days of them hopping from branch to branch, then taking short flights between trees before they were finally off flying around with the adults.
I remember an article about birds climbing up steep inclines some time ago. The idea was that this may have been how birds first started flying. Wing-assisted incline running.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e81J915TEXg
I would love to try this next year, because I know there are barred owls in the woods behind my house. Where are you located? (Generally, not an address)
25 minutes NE of downtown Atlanta.
I so enjoyed these photos. That mom and chick picture is really a hoot. Their expressions are so funny….and the chick climbing is wonderful.
Han is a cutie! If you hadn’t told me the chick was climbing that tree, I would have had no idea what the heck it was doing.
What wonderful pics! I love owls. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Lovely photos. Lucky you to have barred owls nesting right beside your house. As a teenager in Montreal my friends and I used to scour the woods of nearby Mt St Bruno for barred owl nests in natural cavities. They were pretty hard to find. Great bird.