The Next Stage
Photographer: Matt Poole
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One of the many benefits of working with wildlife is witnessing major events in an individual's life. While monitoring 17 Great Gray Owl nests this year, I witnessed nest failure, death of adults and young, nests fledging three young, and nests fledging only one.
For this particular baby, she was the second of two nestlings to jump the nest and enter the next stage in her young life. Unable to fly for the next few weeks, she'll use her innate skills to survive. This period is called the Branching Stage. Young owls will often find themselves on the forest floor after leaving the nest. From there, the only place to go is up. For the first day, they might find themselves climbing tree stumps and fallen trees. They will quickly learn to use their sharp talons and beak to climb even the most vertical of trees into the safety of elevation.
Having jumped the nest only hours earlier, this young owl found herself halfway up the remnants of an old-growth coniferous tree - the rotting root system rising from the ground. Later on, she'll flap and hop through the vegetation on the floor to find a suitable tree to climb and ascend into the canopy.
1/160 • f/3.2 • ISO 1000 • Nikon Z9 • 24mm • Nikon Z 24-70mm f/2.8
