Barred owlet, about 4 weeks old.

The parents start to call loudly to each other in the sugar bush in March, just as maple syrup time is rolling full tilt.  The sugar bush is a mixed hardwood forest, with lots of sugar maples, as well as hemlocks, swampy areas, and old dead beech trees like the one they use for their nest.

Can you see the white fluff of the baby?

Timings have varied from year to year, but this year the mother sat on the eggs in the nest for the month of April, looked after the babies for a few weeks in early May with help from the dad, and then the little owls came out of the nest in late May.

First baby out!

I was quite surprised how early the owlets came out this year.   When I went into the woods for only the second time in May to check the nest, there was already an owlet out, climbing around in the hemlock tree next to the nest.

Hiding

I don’t think I would have known it was there if I hadn’t heard it quietly screeching for food, as they do all day unless they are sleeping!

owlet number 2

Owlet number two was in a tree not far away.   They always see me before I see them.

not ready to fly yet

This little one could barely keep its eyes open, and kept falling asleep.   It’s hard being a baby owl.   They don’t fly yet, and move around by climbing around in the trees using their beaks and talons.   At this stage of development they are called “branchers.”   They begin to fly short distances on their own in a couple more weeks.

Checking out the traffic.

The morning after I found the owlets, I got quite a surprise as I was walking my dog.  An owlet was sitting in a tree right by the side of the road.   Luckily our road is not very busy, and the owl was pretty high up the tree.

close up

Regardless, I got a chance to take a great look at the little owl without being in the sugar bush, which, as much as I love it, is full of biting insects.

Later in the day, the owlet had moved back into the woods.    And though I heard the little ones calling, and the parents hooting, I never saw the owlets again this year.   We went away on a trip, and when we got back the owlets would be flying around quite well on their own.

sleepy

I am so happy that our neighbourhood Barred Owls are such great parents.   We sometimes hear owls hooting as we walk, or when we sit out at night.   Not sure which ones they are, but they probably started off their lives in the sugar bush.

For more on this owl family over the years, see my posts from:

2014:
2015:

This post is brought to you by:

Papa Owl

and

Mama Owl

The post Owls in the Sugar Bush appeared first on Leslie Abram Photography.

First,  perhaps the most surprising one: the Belted Kingfisher!

Last month my husband was talking to our neighbours who are in the process of building  their house.    As they all stood there chatting, they could not believe their eyes when a kingfisher flew in front of them, and right into a pile of topsoil they had in their backyard.

The Kingfisher had flown into its nest! Upon further investigation, we found out that Belted Kingfishers make their nests in tunnels between a foot and 8 feet long in the sides of vertical banks of soil.  The male and female work together to dig it out in the spring. Who knew?  Not I!

We had the unique opportunity to see the five little fledglings when they came out.   They could not fly, but were hopping around pumping their tails up and down, and rattling just like adult kingfishers do.

I didn’t stay long, as I knew the babies were waiting for food.  Adult Belted Kingfishers are quite wary of people (I have never actually gotten a good photo of one) so I fired off a few shots of these little ones and then carried on.

These little birds are fascinating! I found out that baby kingfishers have very acidic stomachs that break down the bones and exoskeletons of the fish and invertebrates they eat.   But as kingfishers get older, their stomachs become less acidic, and they actually regurgitate pellets to get rid of the hard parts of what they are eating, quite like an owl would.   I learned so much from this opportunity.   What a thrill.   They were adorable, in a kind of prehistoric way (pteranodons?).

Everyone knows that groundhogs live under the ground. No surprise there.  I have a special place in my heart for groundhogs, as they were the first animal I photographed when I got my telephoto lens.   I well remember lying on my stomach on the grass in Centennial Park in Trenton, and watching this little groundhog family go about its business. Luckily, they were the ones covered in flies, not me.  The telephoto lens allows me to get a great close up view ( count the flies!) of different types of wildlife and watch their behaviour, without being right up next to them.

After hibernating in their underground burrows all winter, groundhogs give birth to about half a dozen little ones in the spring, and the babies stay with their mothers for a couple of months. They gorge on food throughout the spring and summer, and return to their burrows to hibernate after the first frost in the autumn.

Although we most often see these charming members of the squirrel family on the ground, or peeking up from a hole, they are actually very good at climbing trees, and are also capable swimmers. The one in the photo above lives right beside a pond under a big pile of old logs.

Hey Big Mama! If you see a snapping turtle out at the side of the road in the summer, it is most likely a female.   Snapping Turtles much prefer to be in the water, and usually only come out to lay their eggs.  They like to lay their eggs in loose soil, such as at the side of a road, or in a garden.

These beauties hibernate in the winter, under the mud or silt at the bottom of ponds or streams.  At our house each year, a snapping turtle emerges from the mud in our stream,  lays her eggs in our garden, then climbs the 5 foot high page wire fence to get to our pond, where I assume she spends much of her summer.   When she reaches the top of the fence, she teeters back and forth a bit flailing her legs around, and then falls onto the other side. The first time we saw this, we couldn’t believe it!    And of course when my kids went to school and told their friends that a snapping turtle could climb our fence, nobody believed them.

Years later we finally got a photo, but I couldn’t find it for the life of me when I was writing the first draft of this blog. Somehow my Mom and Dad still had it, so after my Mom saw the blog she sent the photo back my way.   Saved!   See- snapping turtles CAN climb fences.

Snapping turtle nests can contain up to 50 round, white eggs.   The incubation temperature determines whether the baby turtles will be male or female.    I am not sure which this baby is, but if she is a girl, she will not be ready to mate and lay eggs until she is at least 17 years old.   Both male and female snapping turtles can live into their 70’s. Snapping turtles look prehistoric because they are- the snapping turtle as we know it has been around for 40 million years, and its close relatives walked with the dinosaurs.

So there you have it- 3 very different creatures who spend part of their lives under the earth, along with countless other animals we have never even heard of.

For more on Belted Kingfishers see the Cornell Lab of Ornithology pages

Visit the National Wildlife Federation site for more on Groundhogs

For more on Snapping Turtles you can visit Ontario Nature

The post Under the Earth appeared first on Leslie Abram Photography.

I’m pretty fluffy and cute, but look at my talons!

Yes, it’s that time of year again- time for the Barred Owlets to leave the nest and venture out on their own.

I see you.

When owlets come down from their nest, and climb up into the nearby trees they are called “branchers.”   They just crawl around the branches with their talons and beaks, flapping their wings.   They will learn to fly little by little, first by flapping and hopping from one branch to another one nearby, and then flying and gliding short distances on their own.

Tired

Mama owl seems pretty glad to be off her nest, and spends a lot of time sleeping high up in the treetops. Papa owl does a lot of the hunting so he is out and about.   He often brings his prey to the female, and she goes and feeds the babies. The female calls to the male with high rising call, telling him where she is so he can bring her food.   To hear this call, click this link to Barred Owl calls, then choose “female solicitation call.”   The Adult Barred Owls make a wide variety of sounds, which can be listened to on this page from Cornell Lab of Ornithology.    It gives me a thrill every time I hear them vocalizing near me in the woods.

What a perch

The little owlets crawl surprisingly high up into the tops of the trees!  I can only find them by listening for their sound, a high pitched hoarse little screech, then pinpointing where it is coming from.  To hear what their screech sounds like, follow the link and choose “fledgling begging calls.”

Hot up here

The owlets tend to find an exposed branch from where they can screech for food and watch for their parents.    It gets pretty hot up there, so I often see them panting.   When their parents come, it is often accompanied by a great deal of hooting and screeching from all members of the family.

Chipmunk dinner

Here’s Papa Owl, high above in the treetops, coming with dinner for one of the owlets.      Even at this small size, the owlets can swallow a chipmunk whole.

After eating, time for a nap!

I can’t believe how funny this little owlet is with its leg dangling off the branch.   Talk about relaxed!

And then there were three.

One night I was out in the woods and found a third owlet, still sitting on top of the nest tree.   It flapped its wings and teetered a bit on the edge of the tree, then went back down into the nest.  Eventually this little owl found its way down and climbed up into the forest canopy.

Mama and Owlet

One of the last times I saw the little owls, the mother owl was sitting on a branch nearby.   She then flew over to one of the owlets.    I thought she was bringing food, but she actually went over and started preening the little one’s feathers.   It leaned into her, and preened her too. Oh my goodness.   I can’t believe I got to see that!

I’ll preen you too, Mama

The owlets can often be found close together, with the mother nearby.    As time goes on, it becomes harder and harder for me to find them, as they learn to fly and can cover larger distances every day.

Getting Bigger

Here is a photo from one of the last times I saw the owlets.   By now they should be doing some hunting on their own, and have moved further away from the vicinity on their nest tree.

This is the second year in a row I have been fortunate enough to observe a family of Barred Owls growing up.    Sometimes, when I was out in the woods covered up from head to toe, doused in insect repellant, and not seeing or hearing a thing,  something amazing would happen and my patience would be rewarded.   That’s what it was like when I found the third owlet, and also when I got to see the mother and baby owl preening each other.    Both times, I had been just about ready to go home because I had been sitting still for so long.

It’s worth it

Back in the woods, it’s like I am in a secret world, and if I sit long enough that world will just carry on despite my being there.

It’s worth the wait, for sure.

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