Sunday, November 25, 2018

The Best Thing We Ever Saw - Part 4

Throughout the rest of July, I set up a photoshoot every morning and evening. Eventually, the owlets got used to me and their initial shyness waned. They remained calm and curious even as I climbed my ladder and snapped an insane number of photos, paparazzi-style. As each day passed, they spent more and more time sitting at the window half-asleep, day-dreaming of their first flight. 

Steve and I became familiar with each of the owls so we named them. We called the oldest owlet, Flappy, because he was the most eager to fly, and spent the max time planning his first move at the window. And as we learned a little later, he practiced flapping his wings inside the tiny box to the dismay of his siblings (adult barn owls have a wingspan of up to 3 feet!). 

The next in line we called Pally, because he was always cuddled up next to his best pal Flappy. He nuzzled his brother and later continued to live up to the name..(stay tuned!) 

And the third one who we rarely saw because his big brothers hogged the view, we called Fluff (which we later changed to Squeaky because his fluffy adolescent feathers went away, but he sure was the squeakiest of the bunch). 

Day by day, their baby fluff faded, their color turned golden and their faces rounded more into the classic barn-owl heart shape. We knew it would be any day now before their first flight, and we waited patiently. The owlets were eager to meet the world.










Please excuse the poor video quality. They became most active at dusk which made it most difficult to film in little daylight.




Sunday, November 11, 2018

The Best Thing We Ever Saw - Part 3

Night after night we heard the squawks and squeals from the box and we knew they were getting fed and growing rapidly.

One early morning in July, as I got out of bed, I glanced out our bedroom window and I swear I saw a white blur in the owl box. 


I rubbed my sleepy eyes and grabbed for my glasses. Yes! There was a creature sitting there! I ran for the binoculars and with great delight, I saw a sweet little furry baby peeking out at me.



That evening, Steve and I cozied up on our makeshift bed, waiting to be entertained by our furry friends. And just before dark, the babies made their way back in front of the door, two this time, shy but oh so curious about the vast world beyond their tiny cubed home.

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