Nesting Barred Owls Part 2

In my last post, I regaled you (or at least tried) with my story of a family of Barred Owls nesting in a tree close to Beau Photo. They were a real hoot, especially for the local residents and kids hoo had never seen an owl in the wild.  After the owlets fledged, they grew increasingly stronger and were able to fly farther from their nesting site.  By the middle of July, the owlets were becoming more difficult to find, usually seen up to 3 blocks from where they fledged, but always a treat to see them.  While able to fly short distances, they were far from able to hunt for themselves.  Ma or pa would still feed them every few hours, and this was the best time to find them, as the owlets would start screeching for food when hungry.

In mid-July, I noticed one of the owlets (henceforth known as Hooper) was starting to favour his right foot, and in the next couple of days, his leg became quite swollen, and his toes were curled up, unable to grasp anything.  Myself and a few other of the neighbourhood regulars kept an eye on him to make sure he was healing or eating properly. Over the next few days, it became evident Hooper’s leg wasn’t getting any better, and it seemed his parents were feeding the other healthy sibling more than Hooper, even though there was often fresh blood on his beak.  Alas, Hooper also seemed to be getting weaker and not flying as much, and also being left behind or on his own more often than not.  With the help of a professional raptor rehabber, Hooper was caught and sent to O.W.L, a specialist bird of prey rehabilitation facility in Delta, BC.

In the video above, you can see professional raptor rehabber Kris and her partner capture Hooper by temporarily blinding him with the flashlight and swooping in with the net. After a quick check to check the injury to his leg/foot (and to make sure she didn’t accidentally bonk him on the head), Hooper was put into a pet carrier.

The news at first was not optimistic – if they couldn’t repair his foot so he could grasp food or a roost, he wouldn’t be able to survive in the wild, and potentially Hooper would have to be euthanized. It was touch and go for the first few weeks, as the rehabbers tried their best to give Hooper a fighting chance. They used splints to stretch Hooper’s toes apart, and there seemed to be little improvement for the first few weeks, but he finally started to rally and O.W.L. reported back to say he was slowly getting better! Finally, in late November, we got word that Hooper was well enough to be released! Huzzah!

On November 23, a small entourage consisting of myself and some of the other regulars went to pick up Hooper at O.W.L., where he was gently put in a cat carrier and we released him in the same park where he hatched!  It was heartwarming to see him fly out of the carrier and into a nearby tree. I wondered if he recognized his old nest tree – did he remember the surrounding area where he and his sister grew up?  Would he recognize his family if he saw them again? Unfortunately, the rest of the family had since moved to another park about 2km away, but we hoped there might be a reunion of sorts. The best case scenario would be the rest of the family accepting him back, but the worst case scenario being Hooper would be killed by his own parents, mistaking him for an intruder on their territory.  However, Hoopers sister is still hanging out with their parents so I am hopeful.  Hooper was seen and heard in the neighbourhood for a day or two, but has not been seen since.  We hope he has set off to successfully establish a territory of his own, find a mate and is doing well. We cannot thank O.W.L. enough for doing the work they did to care for Hooper for 4 months!