My Great Horned Owl Adventure

Early this spring, the Covid-19 arrived in the U.S. and we didn't know what the future would look like. On March 13th, Denver Public Schools sent me home for an unknown amount of time of working remotely.  I took my desk plant, my papers, and my computer, and said goodbye to my co-workers.

Stores shut down. The libraries closed. (I forsaw a library closure and went on Saturday, March 14th and grabbed 4 huge novels...to get me through the shutdown, I thought. Shows how little we knew about what the shutdown would be like.) Every event was cancelled. Everything screeched to a halt.  We didn't leave our houses. People rushed to the stores to get essentials, not knowing how long we would be in our homes, or if indeed, the grocery stores might close down, the supply chains break, or the world itself come to an end. Nobody knew what the next day would be bring. We started sewing masks, wearing pajamas all day, and people with kids at home started thinking about how much teachers are really worth to them.

The beginning, in March and April, was especially scary and nerve wracking. But for me, as a healthy person, who didn't lose her job, and wasn't stuck in a house with young children, there were several benefits to the stay-at-home orders.

The biggest benefit for me was no more commute. Working downtown, I typically spend about 35 minutes to get to work, and 45-55 to get home. Not to mention time in the morning to shower, get dressed, and eat breakfast, none of which I had to do before starting work anymore.

So I started taking long walks. I moved to my condo a year ago, and I live right on the Highline canal. In April, I made a goal to average 7,000 steps a day.

In late April, I discovered a Great Horned Owl in a tree that's about a 10-minute walk down the canal from my house! It was so cool, and it was always there!! Every time I took a walk, I checked, and he was always there.

April 30th. My Great Horned Owl

Right at the end of April, I learned about a Great Horned Owl nest in Fairmount cemetery and went there several times to check it out. I told one of the other bird watchers about my owl and he said if the owl is always camped out in the same tree, there is a nest nearby, and a mate. wwhhhhaaaattt!!? Mind blown.

On May 1st, we really got to know each other.

I went out on May 8th and stood under my owl and looked around with my binoculars, and quite quickly, I found the nest!! It was amazing. Two chicks were in the nest. I couldn't get close, as the tree was inside the golf course, but I could see them pretty well with my binoculars.

May 9th. Owls in the nest.

 
But wait a second. Is that two babies? Or a baby and an adult? The adult owl was right over my head...is that his mate, in the nest? Are there two babies or one? I had lots of questions that needed answers.

For May my goal was to average 8,000 steps a day, which was easily achieved as I went out to visit my owls every day, and often twice a day. Finding this owl family was a magical moment. Watching them every day, their behaviors, their growth, was completely fascinating. I came home and read about owls. I borrowed my dad's camera to get pictures.

And one of the best things about the owls was the joy it brought the human community. Most nights, as I stood watching them, neighbors would ask me what I was looking at. A mom and her little girl were so excited to see the nest and babies, they were thanking me. Two young women, when I showed them the owls, ran home to get their nice SLR camera, and took great pictures, which they then emailed to me. I met several people that live in my complex. Some people I would see every single night. Lots of people didn't care very much about the owl, but most were enchanted, as I was. In such a scary, uncertain time, finding the owl family brought us all a moment of calm, a time with our community, and a hint of magic.

So, May 15th, I got one of my questions answered. As I approached the Owl Tree, I discovered two adults sitting in it side by side! I looked at the Nest Tree, and there was clearly at least one baby in the nest. Now I could tell, from all the reading I'd been doing lately, that I had only ever seen the papa owl. The mama is bigger, and a lighter color.

May 15th. I didn't have my camera on me, so I took a picture with my phone, through my binoculars. The two adults sitting together.

May 16th I saw all four of them! I went out at dusk, and the two babies were really active in the nest tree, walking all over the place, flapping their wings. I thought they might fledge that night, leave the nest for good. I could only see papa in the Owl Tree, but then I heard a ruckus high up in the tree, crows screaming at something. Crows, I have learned hate owls. They like to sit next to them in the tree and scream at them, and pick at them, trying to drive them away. Nobody was bothering the papa, so I looked up, up, up, and there at the very top, I found mama, being harassed by the crows. She was probably in this tree all along, and I never thought to look for her! Magic is all around us, but we so often don't think to look for it! The papa owl was hooting quite a lot, which is another remarkable gift the owls gave me- watching a Great Horned Owl hoot is as cool as it sounds. Then he flew out to hunt.

Here's a photo that young woman took and sent to me- the mama owl often sat in this other tree, farther into the golf course. Here is her silhouette at sunset.

As May went on, I just loved watching them and learning their behaviors. On the 20th, the crows were really going nuts, and both adults left the Owl Tree to go sit in the Nest Tree. I managed to get one picture with all four owls in it. They're hard to see, can you spot them all?

The babies were getting big! Any day now they would leave the nest, and after that, from what I understood from my research, they would stay with their parents, in their territory, until the fall. The parents would keep feeding them as the babies grew and learned to hunt. In the fall, the babies would leave to go find their own territories and mates. And the adults would stay here and get ready to commandeer a new nest in the spring (Great Horned Owls steal old nests from other birds, rather than make their own.)

Mama on May 22. If you compare to the male owl, you can see a different in coloring and around the eyes. Also, she got harder to see because the tree leafed out!

 May 23rd I took my dad's camera and got lots of pictures of the babies walking around their nest tree, flapping, taking short hops to other branches. They're nearly ready!

May 23rd, the siblings looking at me from the Nest Tree

What a perfect little owl! May 23rd.

May 23rd. Baby practicing in the Nest Tree

And then, on May 26th, they were gone! It wasn't too sad, because papa was still sitting in his spot in the Owl Tree, so I knew the others must be quite nearby. And now I had a new mission- to try and find the babies. It's one thing to know they'll be in exactly the same place every morning, noon, and night, and another thing entirely to know they are somewhere "in this territory." I don't know how big the owl's territory is, or where it is, or what trees they like....but I wanted to see those babies again.

Papa Owl on May 23rd

Just a few days later, I saw one of the babies!! I usually take my binoculars out with me, especially to look for the babies, but I didn't have my dad's camera, so again I took a picture through my binoculars. She was just sitting there in the setting sun, close to the Owl tree, waiting for me to come say hello. (I call the babies she, but there is no way of knowing if they are males or females until they are fully grown). It's so good to see you again, little one!! I looked all over, but couldn't find her sister or parents.

May 29th. Just waiting for me to stop by for a visit.

Now I am birding a little more earnestly around where I live. I've found some awesome birds, including a kingfisher, Snowy Egrets, hawks and a night heron.

And I have seen a baby owl twice more! The first time, June 20th I saw her sitting in a completely different tree and different area, in the dusk, and I happened to have my dad's camera with me! I pointed the baby out to a woman walking her dog, and she was enthralled! We watched together for a while, and when we parted, she was so thankful to have seen it, and said we'll meet again to spot the owls in the future. It's so awesome to share my excitement with neighbors.

Nearly a month out of the nest - June 20th.

I wonder if she recognizes me?

The last time I saw the baby was on June 24th. It was getting quite dark, and I couldn't get any other pictures.

Update!! On the evening of August 5th, I saw one of the owls again! As I walked along the Cherry Creek through Paul Hentzel park in the evening, the birds were quiet. I hardly saw or heard any. Then....I heard a ruckus. The sound of several crows screaming! When several crows are sitting together, screaming, in a tree, it means one thing to me: An owl is there!!  Crows harass owls, and it is one of the best ways to spot an owl. I started running towards the noise!  And there, in a tree directly in front of me, were 4 or 5 crows screaming their heads off at a Great Horned Owl!   I watched it a while, and got a picture through my binoculars. I can't say for sure, but my gut tells me this is one of the babies, almost all grown up. The eyes were very yellow, and the papa owl from this spring had darker, orange-y eyes. And it definitely wasn't the mama. I just felt like the face looked different. I always like to spot my owl family and say hi to old friends! Here's a picture through the binoculars!

If I see any of my Owl family again this summer, I will update this post again!

I could not have asked for a more special, amazing gift to get me and so many others through the scariest time of the pandemic. Thank you, Great Horned Owls! I can't wait to look for them again in the spring, as they hopefully make a new nest somewhere nearby!

I also got several good pictures of other birds over the last few months. Here's a couple for fun:

Snowy Egret in Cherry Creek

Same Egret, after I scared it off the log. : )

Red Tailed Hawk right by my complex

Belted Kingfisher in the Cherry Creek (taken through my binocs, so not as good as the others)

Bluejay