It has been five months since my last article about these owls on Steemit.
For the past few months I have been keeping an anxious eye out for their annual return.
In previous years, I noticed when I saw the birds but I did not pay particular attention to the exact date of arrival. Gloomy feelings were felt when week after week I saw no owls. But then good news, the parents were seen once again. They only come out and sit on the first story window ledges at about five thirty pm after most of the human traffic has died down at the school and parents have collected their little ones.
Stillness descends on the school as twilight gently arrives. It is always exciting for me to see these majestic birds.
I never like to get too close as I don’t want to unsettle them. However Michele does not have the same approach. Much to the embarrassment of our youngest daughter, her mother talks to the birds in “owl language”. Loud “whoot whoo’s” and clicking sounds as she approaches the ignoring owls. When she gets close (about 5 to 10 meters), they fix her with an unblinking stare but don’t fly away. This is pretty much a daily weekday ritual.
I was always keeping an eye out for the babies but it seemed to me as if this year there were going to be no babies. I think the parents have their babies in a secret nest high above the ground behind one of the statues (probably Catholic owls). Then when the babies get to a certain size, they flap off to land on the ground. Then the babies hide while the parents keep a vigilant eye out to protect them.
Then I got a phone call from Michele to say that the babies had been spotted on the ground. All three babies were seen and they seemed healthy. What great news! The one year the babies were everywhere and the sad little remains of one baby chick was found, however, the other two were rescued by some teachers and fed mince and given water. The babies grew to adulthood and flew off.
This year has been a particularly good year as all three babies are big and healthy. It seems like the parenting skills of the adult birds has improved. Is that possible?
But as you know this is a school where there are students and maintenance staff. Sometimes people get too close to the location of the babies (who are grouped together), then the mother owl dive bombed the offenders until they fled that particular location. She then stopped when she felt that her babies were safe again. It is very interesting to hear her clicking loudly when you get too close. It is important to heed her warnings.
Michele took me to see the babies the one afternoon. I was hesitant to get too close but Michele is the only person that the Mommy owl tolerates so close to them. Much talking to the chicks as she took some pictures for me. I left their proximity as quickly as possible as I don’t want these babies to trust humans, we are a treacherous specie far too often.
Isn’t it heart-warming to see how nature can survive in our communities? I hope that people can continue to adapt and learn to co-exist with nature, particularly our raptors.
They certainly are a tremendous benefit to us all.