When Beth Anderson took her dog, Ziggy outside one morning recently, something made her look UP and low and behold, there were two owls sitting on the utility pole nearby. She said she had heard owls hooting in her Lake Linden neighborhood before, but this was the first time she actually got to see them. They look like an adult Great Horned Owl and possibly a juvenile, as it is more feathered than the ‘baby’ owl we saw last week, but it still has a white head, as juveniles retain fluffy white down on the heads long after their bodies turn brown, and it contrasts with their darker developing facial feathers. I wondered if it was unusual to see these owls during the daytime...the Internet said that even though Great Horned Owls are strictly nocturnal, seeing them in the daytime is relatively common. It usually means it has hungry chicks to feed, or was forced out of hiding by smaller birds, or is simply roosting nearby. Interesting!

BBC Earth shares an informative video as two baby owls prepare for leaving the nest. These young owls first steps in life are a skydiving lesson! The lead-in says: “High above the floodwaters, two baby owls prepare for the most important moment of their young lives: their very first flight from the nest. With wings too small for confident flight, every delay brings greater risk. Will they find the courage to leap in time?”

Awesome to see more Great Horned Owls with
young ones UP there! Means they are having a
successful nesting season. Great photos, and
fortunate how they posed there for Beth!
Nice video of the young Great Grey Owls too.
I once witnessed young Barred Owls who were
just out of their nest. They could glide down but
their wings weren’t strong enough to fly yet.
So they were using their talons to climb back up,
with their wings hugging the tree. They looked
comical and pitiful, but guess that’s part of a
young owl’s learning curve lol!

I just love owls. In Minnesota we had barred owls
behind our house. I used to love to listen to them.
And it was always terrific to see them. Babies are
always exciting to see. Thanks for these great
pictures.

At first look at these owl pics I thought that they were wood carvings (chainsaw carvings, perhaps) but glad to see that they're the real deal. I haven't seen an owl during the daylight hours in many years. Quite a treat for Beth to see!

The Great Horned Owl is the biggest, right??

I remember one night, the Lake Linden police had
the spotlight up on an old Church Steeple, and
there was a huge Great Horned up on the Steeple,
going from side to side looking inside...not a big
pile happened, but the next morning, there were
pigeon feathers everywhere.

Yes Donna, the Great Horned is the year round
“Big Owl”, widespread in North America. In the
winter, Snowy and Great Grey Owls are both possible
in the UP (with some luck), they are also huge!

Hi
In the daytime, owls tend to be better hidden than
these two. But if one is a juvenile, maybe it wound
up out in the open and the adult is keeping near it.

The video made me smile, with the trouble the owlet
had in landing. Human pilots, like my dad, practiced
take-offs and landings, as those are the hardest part
of flying an airplane. Pilots jokingly say "Any landing
you walk away from is a good one". By the standard the
owlet had a good landing.