Owl Drama Up High In The Forest (and Some of it Low in the Forest)

May 5, 2015 4 Comments

[Photos and story by Janet Kessler]

front row seat by the wise guy who didn't try to fly the coop today - copyright Janet Kessler

Front row seat by the wise guy who didn’t try to fly the coop today

Today two of three Great Horned Owlets attempted fledging from their Eucalyptus tree nest. It was time. The third has not left the nest. Owl eggs are laid asynchronously, so the youngsters actually mature at different rates and this one was not ready. So he had a front row seat for the drama that followed!

second fledgeling lands on the ground (photo courtesy Kerry Bostrom)

Second fledgeling lands on the ground (photo courtesy Kerry Bostrom)

Animal Care and Control comes to the rescue! (photo courtesy Kerry Bostrom)

Animal Care and Control comes to the rescue! (photo courtesy Kerry Bostrom)

The first fledgeling successfully departed, swooping over to a flimsy pine tree close by.  A second one, with high hopes of succeeding like his sibling, also took off, but immediately fell straight to the ground below his tree where it remained sitting under a bush.

Animal Rescue came and tried tossing the grounded bird back up its tree, but after two attempts and after the chick flew across a field, the parents called to it and it clambered up a hill which was not accessible to people or dogs. It would be safe here where its parents would encourage it to a tree branch without danger of a dog going after it.

Mom and Dad work to save the grounded fella after Animal Control’s attempts didn’t work

The first fledgeling made it to a flimsy limb close by

The first fledgeling made it to a flimsy limb close by

The first fledgling who had made it to a tree close by, discovered that its perch was mighty flimsy and precarious. So it attempted to move. It bent its neck — owls can’t swivel their eyes so their entire head must move when they focus on something — looking carefully at the piece of Eucalyptus bark close by which probably looked sturdier than the limb he was on. The Eucalyptus bark was a familiar item since he had spent all his time until now in a Eucalyptus tree filled with pieces of bark like this. He grabbed the bark ever so carefully with his talons. Oh, no!

Carefully watching where to put his feet for the move

Carefully watching where to put his feet for the move

He slipped! As he strained to gain a footing, we could see that he was held up by only a feather on his wing. It was touch and go for a minute, but the fellow successfully and skillfully extricated himself from that possible dangerous situation. Now he is sitting on that branch without moving. By the evening he’ll probably have the strength to move to a safer spot. Mom and Dad will keep an eye on him and they will continue to feed him, even on that flimsy limb. With all this drama, the littlest owlet probably felt safe remaining in its nest in the fork of the Eucalyptus, where it will remain a few more days until it is ready to fledge.

Oh, no! He lost his footing!

Oh, no! He lost his footing!

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Footing is regained! Whew! It was probably more dramatic for the spectators than the young owlet

Footing is regained! Whew! It was probably more dramatic for the spectators than the young owlet

 

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Finally, Good News for the Glen Canyon Owls

May 3, 2015 4 Comments

The last two years weren’t good to the famous Glen Canyon Great Horned Owls. All the  work that was going on, the removal of trees near the nesting tree, the changes to the canyon – they disturbed the owls enough that there were no babies. Even though there’d been other successful nests in San Francisco.

That’s changed this year. The owls are back with a trio of baby owls. Here are some shots taken by wildlife photographer Janet Kessler. [This post was edited, as promised, to add in more owl pictures.]

[Edited to add: We normally would wait on publishing this until the owlets were fledged and flown, to avoid disclosing where the youngsters are. In this case, the story had already been published in the local online newsletter, so we decided to share the news with our readers.]

glen canyon owlet 2015 copyright janet kessler

Three baby owls!

Three baby owls!

Mama owl standing guard

Mama owl standing guard

Two baby owls together

Two baby owls together

Mama sitting proudly in back of two of her chicks

Mama sitting proudly in back of two of her chicks

Mama grooms her youngsters after feeding them

Mama grooms her youngsters after feeding them

Meanwhile, here’s another Glen Canyon bird – a Steller’s jay. This picture is also courtesy Janet Kessler.

steller jay glen canyon - copyright Janet Kessler

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Rehabilitated Owl Returned to Glen Canyon

January 4, 2014 3 Comments

It’s so wonderful to be able to post good news about Glen Canyon and its fauna. Wildlife photographer Janet Kessler recently sent around this item about a one-eyed owl that has been released in the Canyon after rehabilitation. This post has been republished from Saving the trees of Glen Canyon Park.

REHABILITATED ONE-EYED OWL RETURNS TO THE CANYON

owl eye treatmentThe injured owl found in a Glen Canyon neighbor’s yard in September has been rehabilitated and returned! We now have a one-eyed Great Horned Owl living in the area.

The Peninsula Human Society (PHS), which rehabilitated the owl, found blood pooling in both of the owl’s eyes — something often seen with head trauma, and there was ulceration of one eye. However, unusually for trauma, there were no broken bones and the beak was not injured, so the cause of the injury still remains a mystery. The PHS treated the owl for a month with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory pain medication, and kept the owl long enough for the blood to drain out of the eyes.

When all was said and done, one eye had recovered, but the other will remain permanently blind. A friend suggested we name the owl “One Eyed Jack”!

2013-09-30 at 10-50-12 one-eyed great horned owlGreat Horned Owls have large eyes proportional to their bodies, so removing the blind eye was not an option since this could have affected the owl’s balance during flight.

Even with one eye, this owl will be able to perceive depth and hunt accurately. The asymmetrical ear positions on the sides of their heads help owls perceive the location of their prey.

Please call Animal Care & Control, WildCare (a rescue organization), or Peninsula Humane Society if you find an injured wild animal. There is a possibility the animal can be saved, and it definitely can be kept from further pain.

Thanks! Janet Kessler

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