22 August 2021
Family portrait
Just spent a great weekend with Jane Nesbit Smart and Claudia Holgate at Verlorenkloof and, once we had brought all our gear up the three flights of stairs, I was up the ladder to check on the owls.
The male was lying on the front step, the female was sitting with one chick almost totally burrowed in under her wing and the other chick was lying facing me. There were also the remains of two Vlei Rats plus what looked like part of a Dark-capped Bulbul in the nest (and I had been worried that the male wouldn’t be able to feed his family).
Previous males have never roosted at the nest – so this is the first time in over 40 years of studying Spotted Eagle-Owls that I’ve been able to photograph the whole family at the nest. Enjoy!
Family portrait . . . take two!
25 August 2021
And here they (all) are!
(I guess the one that is hiding its head is the one I’ve kept missing)
By Geoff Lockwood