My seventh group of owlets was on Martin Road, between Bannister and Walker Roads. There was a lot of interesting activity and I took over 300 photos of them. Both parents were involved with feeding two owlets. The burrow was on level ground behind a cement containing wall for an irrigation ditch.
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| Both parents, side by side, one with a cricket or grasshopper for one of the owlets. |
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| One of the parents drooped its wing quite a bit. It was similar to what I've seen a killdeer parent do when it is trying to lead a predator away from its chicks. |
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| Parent delivers a cricket or grasshopper to an owlet. It looks like they mostly do this with their eyes closed, perhaps to keep them from being injured by flailing insect legs. |
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| The owlet now has the cricket, but its beak is hidden by the cement retaining wall. |
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| Parent moves away to the right. |
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| One of my favorite photos. The owlet holds the cricket in its mouth. |
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| Now the cricket is gone! |
The next series of photos shows an owlet's eyes follow one of its parents as it flies over. The owlet rushes over to the arriving parent that holds a cricket in its mouth, but the parent transfers the cricket to the other parent that turns and leaves the owlet, presumably to feed the cricket to the other owlet.
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| The owlet spots one of its parents in the air. |
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| The owlet rushes over to its parents that are involved in a beak-to-beak transfer of a cricket. The owlet rushes in for it, but is ignored as the parent wheels around and heads toward the other owlet. |
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| The rejected owlet turns around to follow the other parent. |
A series of photos of the two young owlets. They seem to be the youngest of the owlets I've seen - lots of baby fuzz on the head.
Finally, the two owlets with one of the parents with wings outstretched behind them:
Looks like a lot of sibling rivalry going on there. The green background is cool--really highlights the owls.
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