Author: Rick Cunningham

Lots of activity today – here’s the aerobatics from 7:00 on 3/25…  

Beth Roth’s birding email from today: Trish Potts has reported continued Eagle sightings in Oakridge..near Flowing Wells…that’s as you come in the Oakridge gate..lagoon on your left…Oakridge # 3 for you golfers. Stay alert for any Eagles carrying food (in what direction?) or other stuff. Also crows, hawks and everyone else also harass Eagles… so if you hear or see any...

The owlets are both feeling pretty good about those wings. As Mom hops off the nest and glides away, both owlets watch her with great interest, and begin taking short “flights” across the nest. They are exercising their muscles and gauging the lift they can generate. They are getting ready to be able to get our there and see the...

This from a couple of days ago. Owlets are growing fast! Here they are showing off their skills out near the edge of the nest – They are getting quite good at feeding themselves!

Great Horned Owls nap while Nuthatch picks tidbits from their nest. Someone’s got to clean up the scraps! Brave little bird!  

We’re gonna eat this squirrel right after we finish our naps – Wait! Isn’t that the new Binford 4000 mowing machine?!! Turns on a dime! Fascinating!

The chicks are growing fast, but it’s not always obvious just how fast. In this clip, the oldest of the two (hatched 25 days ago) decides to stretch it’s wings and stands up to reveal a huge raptor hiding inside the cute fluffball!

Developmental milestone – our partners at Cornell Lab of Ornithology just posted this video and provided the following explanation of threat displays as our older owlet demonstrates! In this clip we see the older owlet bill-clapping at some rather noisy American Crows. In both adults and older young, at least 3 forms of threat displays grade into one another. In the...

Mom sees intruder in the air over the nest and makes a truly impressive defensive/offensive display to make sure they don’t even think of messing with her and her chicks. Once it figures out what’s going on, the oldest owlet follows Mom’s gaze, glaring or at least staring where she’s gazing, and then once Mom settles down, it settles back down very...

Sunday afternoon, Feb 22, and the temp is 50 degrees higher than Friday morning. the 20th. 74 degrees today and 24 degrees then. The chicks are growing very quickly and Mom’s having a tough time getting them under her. Will be interesting to see whether she can continue to brood over them when it gets a bit cold and rainy...