The owl kids fledged!

Last night, while out on our evening rounds, we didn't see anyone roosting in the Owl Shack. James even did his "rap" call, and no one responded. We looked up in the oaks but didn't see anyone, not even the mom.

This evening, again we didn't see anyone in the box. They must have all fledged? I was looking up, searching the oak branches...when what did I see??!.....

"Look, James!!" There on a branch sat a little guy, looking down at us! One of our owl children! How wonderful! They fledged the nest!

In the meantime, we'd seen a woman walking along the street with two cute little girls. "Should we ask if they'd like to see a baby owl?" James suggested. I shrugged. Seemed like too much trouble to walk that far over to our back yard.

On their return trip back, James suggested the idea again. "Sure," I agree this time. So he hollered at the lady, and she walked over with the little girls. One was in her arms. She was able to see the baby owl high in the tree branches, but the oldest child couldn't. So I showed her some digital shots of the owl babies on my camera.

"Hey, is that another baby owl?" the lady asked, pointing up into the branches. I searched and saw the owl, too–the mother!

"Wow, you've got good eyes!" I told her, then I stuck out my hand. "I'm Sheryl." James introduced himself, too.

"I'm Bertha, and this is Serenity and Cielo, my granddaughters," the woman said. Cielo, the older girl, smiled shyly. "Only she says that Cielo's not her name any more," Bertha added. "It's Hannah Montana!"

"Well, you're a very pretty Hannah Montana," James said. The little girl smiled again.

Moral of this story: sharing wildlife in a Wildscape can create new neighborly ties.

Not to mention we are SO proud of our little fledglings!