The city was scheduled to cut down the dead tree on Courtland Street in Rockford that the eastern screech owl family was living in until Dan Heeringa arrived home just in time to inform them that the tree was inhabited with owl chicks. The family was saved and continues to grow.
Photo by Jessica Heeringa, Rockford Portraits
Sunday evening one of the chicks decided to solo out of the nest, landed on the ground and couldn’t get back. Seems like there’s always one in the nest that thinks he’s ready to fly before he really is—in humans we call them “risk takers”! Heeringa wasn’t sure about rescuing this wild bird, but put on gloves and headed up the ladder to return it to the nest. Luckily it was accepted by the parents again and continues to thrive with its other two siblings.
The Heeringas and their neighbors have enjoyed watching the parent birds flying, hunting and screeching during feeding the young owls at night.
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