It’s official — all three of the baby owls that I’ve been watching have fledged. The owlets have left the nest!

We found the babies and one of the adults in a tree across from their nest. I know it looks like one or two of them are hanging from the branches, but that’s just because I couldn’t get a clear photo of all of them together. I couldn’t even get a good front view shot of all of them together because that would have meant standing in the creek.

My husband and I went out so early in the morning that the baby owls were still asleep!

The adult who was with them was awake though. He knew exactly where we were. When watching wildlife it is considered poor form to get so close that the animal responds to you, but when you are dealing with raptors, even owls, their eyesight is so good that they are always aware of you.

Once they woke up, even the owlets knew exactly where we were.

You can see on this owlet that even though its body is still covered by fluffy feathers, the wing and tail feathers are flight-ready. And it’s talons look lethal.

While we were there, we heard — and saw — male red-winged blackbirds displaying up and down the creek.

The females were unimpressed.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the morning was a huge mat of buttercups along the edge of the creek. I can’t identify it exactly, and suspect it is an accidental introduction. But there was a lot of it.