From Jess Findlay
Less than two weeks out of the nest, a fledgling Northern Saw-whet Owl perches just above ground-level on the lowest bough of an Engelmann Spruce in BC's Central Interior.
Despite the often fruitful, albeit tedious nature of focused and deliberate scouting for photo opportunities, the simple act of just spending a ton of time in the field can sometimes lead to some fortuitous moments. During one of our spring workshops, while idling at a forest road junction, waiting for our group of vehicles to reassemble, Connor Stefanison and I took notice of a handful of robins making a fuss nearby. This is pretty typical at dusk-often resulting from males reestablishing their territorial bounds just before nightfall. Occasionally, however, this is a mobbing response to a predatory bird in their vicinity. Upon investigating, I managed to spot an adult Northern Saw-whet Owl hidden deep within a small patch of conifers. I grabbed a headlamp, our workshop participants had a brief look, then we went on our way. Connor ended up passing by this same area some days later during a trail run, and to his credit, amazingly spotted two fledgling Saw-whets at jogging pace (him, not the owls) within the same patch of conifers.
Throughout the following two weeks, I spent a fair bit of time tracking the movements of what ended up being five young, in addition to their dad. As they became increasingly proficient in flight and, as a result, more independent, they began roosting separately and coalesced only right before dark at key sites. Here, their quiet but persistent insect-like begging calls would assist the adult male in finding them in near-darkness to deliver prey. He acted as their sole provisioner, with his mate having moved on to recoup her body condition, or potentially initiate a second clutch at a new nest site.
What's truly amazing is-should they survive the next several very challenging months-it's likely that none of these young will ever return to anywhere near their natal area, and with wanderings dictated by prey availability, it's entirely possible they could end up settling on various territories of their own in completely different parts of Canada or the United States over the course of their lifetimes. For many reasons, Northern Saw-whet Owls remain one of my favourite birds, and it was great to finally spend some time with a group of remarkably cute siblings during their first foray into the outside world! As is sometimes the case during these extreme low-light conditions, photography can feel nearly impossible, but I was happy to come away with a few frames between their almost incessant movements
