First baby of the 2022 season

Last week was eventful, with the first baby of the season coming in early in the week and a slew of releases throughout the week.

The first baby of 2022 is a nestling great horned owl who was nearly attacked by a dog. He has no injuries, either from his fall or the dog. But he DOES have an appetite, and an attitude...

For those who may not remember, great horneds have eggs in the nest in December-January and babies by January-February. So they’re normally the first baby raptors we see, although barn owls sometimes beat them to the punch, as barnies have no set breeding season, breeding whenever the food supply is plentiful enough.

All three remaining barred owls were released; I only managed video of one release.

Both red tails were released; I managed good video of one release and a couple of passable post-release photos of the other red tail.

So now the raptor flights are temporarily unoccupied, which I hope will give me time to get some routine maintenance done before they’re needed again. Knock on wood...