10 June 2025

Great horned owls stole the show in Schenley Park from March into April. Now Frick’s own barred owl family has two fledglings branching and flying this month.

UPDATE as of 11 June: There are FIVE fledglings!

Barred owls (Strix varia) have lived in Frick Park for about five years and though they missed nesting last year they have two five fledglings this spring. On 7 June Charity Kheshgi and I met at the Hutchinson entrance to go find them.

The first clue for me were the sounds of upset robins and blue jays which we followed to the general area. Once there Charity and my Merlin app could hear the call of a barred owl juvenile. We waited for it to make a move.

Eventually one, then two, fledglings awkwardly flapped and branched from tree to tree.

The youngster with the dark face perched where we could see it between the leaves.

Charity captured video of the youngster calling. Can you hear it? Because of upper-range hearing loss I cannot hear any of it but I can see the bird open its beak to make the call.

If you go looking for these owls, listen for upset songbirds to “tell” you where the birds are hanging out. You’ll have a big advantage finding them if you can hear their high-pitched calls!

p.s. On 7 June Charity and I saw three owls at once but the third was very obscured by leaves. We thought it was a 3rd fledgling but was it an adult? A short time later we saw an adult and only two fledglings. Michelle Kienholz has watched this family for months and confirms there are only two youngsters.