Our first clear look at one of the Sycamore Avenue owl chicks
Once back at Loving Child, Thando found herself a nice spot up a tree and stayed there.
The parliament of Spotted Eagle Owls in Sycamore Avenue has become a sight for every pair of sore eyes in the community, and here is our first genuine look at one of the chicks.
Spotted Eagle Owls are known for nesting on window ledges of buildings, and Hedwig and Hermione initially made a flower pot on a window ledge at Loving Child Montessori their home in August last year. Hermione and Hedwig left the nest last year, once their owlets had fledged, but weren’t gone for long and soon returned to the flower pot nest in April/ May this year.
According to Loving Child owner, Aadila Ismail, the owls rarely lay three eggs, and it’s even rarer that all three hatch and survive. But, the parliament of owls in Welties has defied all those odds as they laid three eggs, all of which hatched in mid-August and, right on cue, started spreading their wings in mid to late October.
Naledi, Thando, and Dimakatso, as the three of them are known, were at first naturally hesitant to leave the nest, but have now become quite the explorers. For instance, when I went to visit them on 31 October, only Dimakatso could be found anywhere in the garden or the school’s immediate vicinity.
Normally, the chicks will hop the fence and head into a neighbour’s garden or simply climb a tree and stay there for the whole day, but this time only Dimakatso had picked a spot and stuck there while Thando and Naledi were nowhere to be found.
As it turned out, Thando had somehow ended up in Cockspur Road, and had to be brought back to Loving Child by the Owl Rescue Centre.
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