I think this little guy may have died of hypothermia the night before last during the cold downpour. For the last week this owlet always sat by itself on a different branch about ten yards distant from its siblings, and was not sharing any body heat. The temperature was in the low 30’s with a strong wind off Lake Superior … not a good combination when combined with being soaking wet. I took this photo four days ago in much nicer weather.
While it is remotely possibly that this chick may have taken its first flight and I just can not find the owl, normally during the first week of flight for Great Horned Owls chicks fly only a matter of yards. At night the young owls will almost always be with its siblings if for no other reason food gets delivered by Mom and Dad. I have hiked over to the nesting area five times in the past two days (including sunrise and sunset), and have explored many, many trees in the intermediate area with my binoculars (and the ground including hollow logs in case the owlet had fallen out of the nest). I hope I am wrong, but fear I am not. With the wet weather the two remaining siblings are always sitting up against one another.
