Photo courtesy of Jim Brown
A baby barred owl perches in an owl box in Woodland Park. The box is part of an Eagle Scout Service Project completed by Max Lewis, a junior at Homewood High School.
Homewood teen Max Lewis placed several owl nesting boxes in local parks, creating a safe haven for barred owls, and an opportunity for Homewood residents to see the animals up close.
Lewis, who is a junior at Homewood High School, placed the boxes in Overton Park, Central Park and Woodland Park last year as part of his Eagle Scout Project for Boy Scouts of America Troop 79.
Homewood resident Jim Brown was recently able to enjoy the fruits of Lewis' labor as he and his daughter had the pleasure of spotting a baby barred owls nestled in the boxes while out for a walk in Woodland Park.
"On the last Monday in April, my daughter Andrea, visiting from her home in New Hampshire, went walking down the block to visit Woodland Park where she used to play forty-some years ago," Brown said. "She called back that we should come down and see the baby barred owl sitting in the entrance of an owl box down there, fastened way up on the trunk of a big hickory tree. So we walked down, bringing binoculars, and it was amazing – a great light gray fluffy ball already as big as its parents, with striking dark eyes and big feet, filling up the doorway."
They visited again the next day and found the owl had moved out of the box and perched on one of the tree's lower limbs. The day after that, they returned to see not one but two baby owls out on the limbs.
Barred owls typically start their nesting season in March, and while the owlets have begun to explore the branches surrounding the nesting box, baby barred owls usually stay near their parents for up to six months as they serve as the source of their food.
The species is also known to return to the same nest each year, so these two owls may become popular fixtures in the Homewood community for years to come.
"Thank you, Max Lewis and Scout Troop 79 from All Saints, from all of us in the neighborhood-- and people we called in from other neighborhoods-- who have seen this magic thing," Brown said.
