Nisqually Great Horned Owl Fledglings

Leslie wanted to visit Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge so she could buy a Senior Pass before they raise the price from $10 to $80. I haven’t been back for quite a while and it wasn’t raining, so I was eager to see what was happening there this Spring. As it turned out, it was relatively slow, but we did get a chance to see the fledgling Great Horned Owls that have just left the nest.

There have been Horned Owls at Nisqually as long as I’ve been going there, but the original tree they used has blown down, and I am pretty sure I wouldn’t have found them without the help of a birder with a scope. Though the light was behind them and all I could see with my naked eye was their silhouette, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the pictures after I processed them in Lightroom.

Although three fledglings have been seen, we only saw these two while we were there. In fact, for quite a while we only saw one owl as it steadily climbed up a broken limb.

Not long afterward, another fledgling appeared to be looking up at its sibling.

It slowly but surely climbed toward its sibling while checking out the surroundings.

This final shot makes me wonder whether Great Horned Owl fledglings inspired Star War’s Ewoks