The Evening of Owls (SWF)

To have the hidden so close,
watch its new life become wild,
though caught for a moment,
the display for me is more than perfect.
For, in this I see,
it is as it should be.

Owl nest can in evening woods
(far left)

I had the rare privilege to watch a bird-banding at a Great Horned Owl’s nest—a single owlet, several weeks old, within a nest can placed high in the crotch of a Sycamore in a local county park.
An evening I’d anticipated for the week, receiving an email note, earlier, from a friend—watcher of the nest and its occupants.

Sycamore branches and buttons

approaching the nest

And as we waited, watching the progress of man, from ground, to tree, to the nest below its golden branches, inside the can, waited the small owlet--
the prize of the pair nesting here each spring, and those who hope for its successes.

Banding the owlet

Banded and lowered slowly to the ground, it was compared in size and age to another young owl, an orphan hoping to be fostered into this family, raised beside this prize, as the second mouth to feed.

(all photos click to enlarge)

Great Horned Owl owlet #1,
protective display

light on sycamore

Great Horned Owl owlet #2

together

return to the nest

Then, raised into broad branches, both.
For, it is as it should be.

Sunset

Thank you, Susan!

See more Skywatch here.