Welcoming Welties’ very own parliament of hooters once again
The owls first made the school their home in August 2017.
The pair of Spotted Eagle Owls – Hermione and Hedwig – returned and hatched their second batch of chicks at Loving Child Montessori.
Spotted Eagle Owls are known for nesting on window ledges of buildings, and these two owls had made the school their home in August last year by turning an old flower pot at the window ledge into their nest. Hermione and Hedwig left once their eaglets had fledged, but 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.
The owls’ breeding season is around July each year, and according to Aadila, “We noticed the first two chicks in the week just after the long weekend in August.” They only spotted the third one on 25 September when Hermione exposed the chicks to get food. When she’s not eating, Hermione can be found unfazed in her nest, protecting her little ones while daddy Hedwig is high up in a nearby tree, keeping watch from a distance.
Aadila also assured that the owls simply do their own thing. “They just take care of themselves. We don’t bother them and they don’t bother us,” she said. The chicks are expected to start spreading their wings and hop around the gardens in mid-October, while it’s expected that they will leave the area in December.
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