3 March 2025

Yesterday’s great horned owl outing in Schenley Park was a great success. More than 25 people got to see the nest and the mother owl. Near the end of our visit one owlet poked up its head but we were gone by the time it stood up and gave Dana Nesiti this lovely view, above.

We also trooped down the path to find the father owl who is so camouflaged at his roost that we had to sit or crouch to see his face. I set my scope quite low to digiscope two photos.

Dana and I were not surprised to see only one baby owl. On Thursday 27 February an owlet fell from the nest and was rescued by Sarah Mateskovich & WIN. It was taken to Tamarack Wildlife Center where they determined it had a minor injury to its beak and tongue. Tamarack may foster the rescued owl at another nest since the bridge nest is inaccessible for her return. Click on the embedded Facebook post to see the rest of Tamarack’s news.

It appears that the rescued owlet was one of three because there were still two at the nest on Friday the 28th when Ankur photographed and videoed them with late day sunlight shining through the bridge.

He describes their behavior in the video as “including pecking at each others’ beaks, wing flapping, scratching, and defecating.”

If you want to see the owls’ nest bring binoculars, a camera and a scope if you have them to this location in Schenley Park near the stone bench on the Lower Trail (click this link for the map).

Here’s what the bridge looks like when you get there. Look for the nest at the red circled area marked up on this photo of the bridge.