After a week in the Blue Mountains of Oregon on an unsuccessful quest for Great Gray Owls a couple of weeks ago, it was a welcome surprise to find a nesting family of Elf Owls at the Santa Rita Lodge in Madera Canyon where we were staying on our hummingbird adventure. The Great Gray is the largest owl in North America and the Elf Owl is the smallest. We watched and waited at the nest cavity for the adults to arrive and feed the nestlings one evening. They were close to fledging and leaving the nest. As it got darker, one of the three nestlings took a peek at the group gathered below its telephone pole nest cavity. The adults didn’t arrive until after we’d left and the family was gone by the next night. I got one photograph of the tiny owlet.
