The oldest owlet fledged (took its first flight) last night, but not before it put on a fantastic flight training demo for me yesterday! Make certain you watch both the full video, and the slow motion clip! Throughout today I tried to find where the owlet had flown, but it is not easy. Nobody puts up a sign which says “find the owlet here”. However, I kept watching one of the parent owls, and is glances told me where to look, but it took hours!
The younger owlet is still in the nest cavity, and to date this youngster has not shown much desire to branch, let along fly. Remember, the younger bird was most likely born 7+ days after the older owlet. Regardless, the older owlet made its successful first flights, and is unlikely to come back to the nest.
Great Horned Owlet Flight Training! (40 days old)
Movies (full video and slow motion clip)
And many still images from yesterday … the Amity Great Horned Owlets
Climbing / Flapping up to the Runway
Test Flight #1
Test Flight #2
Fabulous photos Rich! thanks so much for sharing.
Amazing!!
Thank you for sharing!
Great shots. I bet the younger one is happy to have the nest and food to itself.
The parents will continue to feed the owlets till well into September! (just not at the nest … hunting lessons begin soon)