Great Horned Owl chick at Borrego Springs

Peek-a-boo! Great Horned Owl chick. Borrego Springs, California. May 25 2019.

I heard an adult male Great Horned Owl hooting from trees in a golf course. "That's odd." I searched around and spied this large chick checking me out! I never did see any adults, or other chicks.

It looks to be in the "branching" stage of development. This is a period of a week or so when the large owl chicks leave the nest, climbing and hopping among the branches. Just yesterday I saw a comical photo of an owl chick, hanging upside-down by one foot from a branch, where it had fallen down a few branches. It eventually fell the rest of the way to the ground and then crawled its way back up the tree. They soon learn to fly, leaving this cute, but awkward, stage behind.