Great Horned Owlet Rescue Part 2

So the eldest chick had been doing great all by himself. Strong enough to cling to branches there was enough space to hold on. As it has grown though it had started branching a bit and two days ago I had hard time finding him cuz he was out on a limb huddled next to mom. In the morning light this was the best pic and getting another angle proved impossible. Ever since I got the youngest baby mom has not been as relaxed around me so I left in order not to stress them. The problem was that when I returned in the late afternoon, everybody was gone! Turns out the little bugger decided to fledge a tad early! It took about 2 hours of scouring the woods but finally there he was, back in the woods by the stream! We scooped him up as he is still too young to fly. There's no doubt he can jump/flap but without any developed tail feathers this guy would be easy prey for a fox. Hopefully we can release him and the other owlet in about 2 weeks time.

Great Horned Owlet Rescue

Now that the babies are bigger they have been tromping around the nest. That coupled with the soggy wet snow we've been having, has made for a dicey situation. By yesterday morning, pretty much all of the nest had come down and the two youngsters were huddled together on a platform type branch, some 60 feet up. When I returned to the nest yesterday afternoon, much to my surprise, one of the babies was sitting silently on the ground. I scooped him up and after a quick inspection realized that it was somehow unhurt by its fall. After calling the Raptor Trust, they put me in touch with a rehabber in Tom's River, the Tom's River Avian Care facility and off we went. I gotta tell you on the ride over, we definitely bonded. This is one cute owl and my first great horned owl rescue. So thankful it has so far worked out and I'll be sure to update the bloggy as the situation develops.