Owlets at 6 and 4 Days

by Trina

At 6 days of age for four of the owlets, and only 4 days for the youngest, they're already being given whole food. DH is still feeding the owlets much of the time, but now she is staying in the nest less. During the night, she is in and out constantly, quickly, dropping off small critters, or pieces of critters, for the owlets to eat by themselves. Boyle is bringing food to her in the trees near the nest box, and based on last year's observations, we expect he'll be delivering straight to the owlets soon, if he isn't already. (We can't always tell the difference between the two adults.)

Owlet #5 is still alive, and looking pretty strong. He's significantly smaller than his siblings, and still a very bright white, while the older owlets are starting to get greyer. One of the older owlets has ever so slightly started to open an eye, and all of the babies are starting to stretch their wings:

Here, a live worm is delivered, eventually sensed/discovered, and devoured:

Here, once the parent leaves, one of the owlets can be seen trying to eat whatever critter was just delivered:

Here, we see an eye ease open a touch, #5 looking strong, and a very cute yawn: