My wife had reported seeing a small gray owl on our fence a few days
ago. Her description led me to think that it was a gray phase screech
owl. Last night I was decompressing and watching a movie when I heard a
tapping at the window. Outside 3ft from the window perched on a dogwood
were two young screech owls staring at me (or their reflections in the
window). Here's a link to a couple of photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28848795@N03/7443546960/. After a lot of
oohing and ahhing and snapping a few photos I managed to locate two
other juveniles, one (gorgeous) red phase adult and a second adult whose
color I couldn't make out (silhouetted against the late evening sky).
Six screech owls in all. I'm betting the one my wife saw the other day
was one of the kids. All of the kids were very active, flying among the
branches of several small trees.

I'm thinking that one pair of adults successfully fledging four
nestlings is a sign that there is abundant food here for them, perhaps a
consequence of the nearly non-winter this year?

I haven't heard so much as a whinny this year or last so this little
family was a wonderful surprise.

Chris Caprette
Bainbridge TWP, Geauga Co.

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