Typically, the young owls grow rapidly in June and July. In the late afternoon and early evening, they sit in the trees and make a hissing noise (sounds like a leaky steam pipe). We think this is their begging song and they are asking the adults to feed them. In late July or early August, the entire family disappears and we usually don't see them again until Papa reappears in October or November. Then, he is usually the only one we see until the following spring.
In the fall of 1999, the pattern changed when Junior reappeared in mid-September (above). We are fairly sure of the identification because we have compared the facial patterns over many photos of these owls. Papa also returned in September, just a few days after Junior. Junior was seen in October (right) and then not seen again until spring.
Papa followed his usual routine and could be found in his familiar perch day after day. He is shown (above) in November, 1999 and (below) in December.
Papa was last seen on March 6, 2000 (above). He was not at his usual station, but instead was sitting just outside the nesting cavity in a different tree. We did not see Papa after that day and believe he died shortly after this picture was taken. Because the male feeds the female while she is incubating the eggs, we assumed there would be no baby owls in 2000.
