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Community Corner

VIDEO: The Owlet of Canada Cove

Owlet caught on video in Half Moon Bay.

This Pacific Great Horned owlet was born around March 20, 2011 which makes it about 4 months old. The parents may continue to feed it for another month and then it must leave to find its own hunting grounds. For now, it lives along Miramontes Creek at the south end of Half Moon Bay.

The down it had as a chick is mostly gone and its adult feathers have grown in. The "horns," which are just tufts of feathers, are beginning to sprout.

There are several things to look for in this edited video. The owlet is very attentive and responds to a child's voice, movement on the ground and me walking around. A hawk lands in the trees above with a screech which gets the owlet's attention too. The owl's eyes blink individually or together. The irregular and circular head/neck motion helps it focus on a single object. You can see the owlet engage in a bit of preening as well. When the owlet spots its mother, it drops some ballast and flies off to join her.

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You can see the owlet's pupils change in size depending on the brightness of the object it looks at. It is a myth that owls cannot see during the day. They see as well or better than we do, night and day.

You can compare in Half Moon Bay Patch of this owlet when it was 2 weeks to 2  months old. They grow fast, don't they? Another full photo essay will follow once the owlet leaves the grove. Stay tuned!

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