By Dave Soderstrom
Monday (April 6) I received a message from a nice lady who follows my wildlife photos. She said she had a baby great horned owl in her yard that had fallen out of its nest high up in a pine tree in her back yard in North Aurora. She asked if I knew who could help the owl.
Right away I thought of Heather Henry-Nelson who is often involved in wildlife rescues. I got in touch with her and explained the situation and said she could come to the house and check out the baby owl and the situation. I met her at the house and the homeowner showed us the owl out of the nest. Heather carefully picked up the little owl in a blanket and then carefully checked it for any injuries. The owl looked healthy, so next was getting it up off of the ground. The nest was at least 50 feet up, so it was too high to put the owlet back into the nest. Heather got a nice-sized clothes basket from the homeowner and attached it about 12 feet up on the side of the tree and filled it with pine branches and placed the owlet in a tree where it is safe from predators and dogs and where the owl parents can feed it. It was quite an experience to be part of and assist with saving the owl A big thanks to Heather Henry-Nelson for her time, expertise, and help to take care of the beautiful owlet.