Gomer, the female from the previous year's set of triplets, also returned, perhaps to help with the care and feeding of her nephew. We did not see her after mid-summer.
Junior and Penelope proved to be very good parents. Junior already had a year's experience in raising the triplets. Penelope took to parenting very well. Here she is seen on a very wet rainy day. Her feathers are soaked but she has caught a vole and is ready to take it to little Merlin for dinner.
Gomer, the female from the previous year's set of triplets, also returned, perhaps to help with the care and feeding of her nephew. We did not see her after mid-summer.
With so much good care, Merlin grew rapidly while Penelope (right) kept careful watch.
By August, Merlin was little no more. He had grown a full set of feathers and was about to begin his first molt.
Although not a large owl, Junior proved to be very courageous. We witnessed, but were not able to photograph, an incident where crows attacked little Merlin one day in July. Little Merlin was well hidden in a buckeye tree, close to the trunk on a limb. He had been there since dawn, but in the early afternoon a crow spotted him.
Crows hate all owls. This crow cawed loudly at Merlin from a nearby limb and then flew away. A few minutes later, he returned with a half-dozen of his buddies. Crows are bullies and they had a little owl, much smaller than themselves, at their mercy. They begin to dive on little Merlin, hitting him as they went by. Merlin hunkered down, as close to the tree trunk as he could get, and made himself as small as possible.
The crows sensed a kill and closed in. It looked very bad for the owlet. Then, silently, without warning, Junior came diving down from the treetops. His wings were open, behind his back, and his talons were extended before him with claws spread wide. The flock of crows scattered in all directions as he passed through their midst. He may have made contact with one or two, but didn't catch any. Perhaps he didn't need to. The crows scattered and never returned. Junior found a place to roost high in a nearby tree and remained there the rest of the day.
By fall, he was ready to rest for the winter. In November he returned to his winter roost in the big sycamore tree (above), just as his father had done for many years before him, looking more like his father than ever.