Last year I happened to see a photo of an owl family taken at Brazos Bend State Park online. But when I had time to go there, the baby owls had left the nest and lived independently, and his parents had also moved. In early February this year, when I saw the photos posted by someone again and knew that the owl parents had returned to the park, my journey to track the owl family began.
去年偶然在网上看到有人在 Brazos Bend State Park 拍到猫头鹰一家。可等我有时间去那里， 小猫头鹰已经离巢独立生活，爸爸妈妈也搬了家。今年二月初，当再次看到有人发布的照片，知道猫头鹰父母已经回到公园了，于是我的追踪猫头鹰一家的旅程开始了。
The scientific name of this owl is the Great Horned Owl. According to other photographers, the parents have been coming to this park for five or six consecutive years to build their nest and hatch eggs. In recent years, they have built their nest in the big tree at the park entrance.
这种猫头鹰的学名叫美洲大雕鸮。据其他摄影师介绍，这对父母已经连续五六年来到这个公园筑巢孵蛋。而这几年他们就把巢搭在公园入口处的大树上。
The link below is a detailed introduction to the Great Horned Owl.
下面的链接是大雕鸮的详细介绍。
Every day, visitors to the park stop to watch the owl family and exclaim in amazement from time to time.
每天来公园的游人都会驻足观看猫头鹰一家，不时发出惊叹。
Week 1 (2024-02-18)
When I arrived at the park, I saw several photographers gathered around a big tree from a distance. With the help of the photographers, I finally saw the mother owl on the branch. She was lying motionless on the eggs with her eyes wide open as if telling people not to disturb her.
当我到达公园，远远就见到几个摄影师围在大树周围。在一名摄影师的帮助下，我终于见到树杈里的猫头鹰妈妈。趴在鸟蛋上一动不动，瞪着大眼睛，仿佛在告诉人们不要打扰。
The father owl stood on a tall branch of another big tree not far away, occasionally opening his eyes to observe the surroundings, as if he was protecting the mother owl and their children.
猫头鹰爸爸则是站在不远处的另一棵大树的高高的树枝上，时而睁开眼睛观察着周围，像是在保护着猫头鹰母子。
Week 2 (2024-02-25)
The next week, nothing changed except that the mother owl changed her direction in the nest.
第二周，除了猫头鹰妈妈改变了在巢里的方向，没有什么变化。
Week 3 (2024-03-01)
In the third week, the mother was still in the nest. Dad was still in the same tree.
第三周，妈妈仍然在巢里。爸爸还在同一棵树上。
A photographer told everyone that before nightfall on the day before, the father owl called the mother, and the mother came out of the nest and flew to hunt for food. So everyone decided to wait until sunset, hoping to take a photo of the mom coming out. According to the photographer's suggestion, everyone pointed their cameras in one direction of the tree branch. As the night gradually fell, there was a call in the distance, and a huge figure jumped out of the nest, but it went away like lightning from the other side of the tree branch. The photographers had no time to react, so they picked up heavy cameras, lenses, and tripods and ran to follow her. I only could get a photo of the mother owl standing on a branch in the dark.
一位摄影师告诉大家，头一天晚上夜幕降临之前，猫头鹰爸爸呼唤妈妈，妈妈便从巢里出来飞去捕食。于是大家决定等到日落，期望拍到妈妈出来。根据那位摄影师的建议，大家都把镜头对准了树杈的一个方向。夜色渐渐降临，远处一声呼唤，只见一个巨大的身影从巢中跃出，但却是从树杈的另一侧如闪电远去。众摄影师来不及反应，于是扛起沉重的相机，镜头和三脚架，一路狂奔，追踪而去。只是勉强拍到一张猫头鹰妈妈黑暗中站立枝头的照片。
Week 4 (2024-03-08)
In the fourth week, the eggs had not hatched yet. Wait. . . .
第四周，鸟蛋还没有孵化。等待。。。。
Week 5 (2024-03-15)
This time I didn't see Father Owl. The eggs weren't hatched yet. Continue to wait. . .
这一次没有见到猫头鹰爸爸。蛋还没有孵化。继续等待中。。。
Here are some pictures of other birds taken in the park.
上几张公园里拍的其它鸟吧。
Frogs in mating season
交配期的青蛙
Week 6 (2024-03-24)
The exciting moment was here. Two owl chicks had hatched. The mother owl had changed from her usual majestic appearance. Although her eyes were still alert, they had become much gentler. She lowered her head occasionally in the nest to feed the chicks or combed their feathers with her mouth.
激动人心的时刻到了。两只猫头鹰幼雏孵化出来了。猫头鹰妈妈一改往日威严，虽然眼神应然警惕，但已温柔了许多。她在巢里不时低下头给小雏喂食，或用嘴给它们梳理羽毛。
Week 7 (2024-03-29)
Another week had passed and I couldn't wait to see them again.
又过了一周，我已经等不及再来看他们了。
The father owl could now rest assured.
猫头鹰爸爸可以放心的休息了。
The baby owls had obviously grown a lot.
小猫头鹰已明显长大了许多。
A prey was still in the nest. The mother occasionally picked it up and seemed to show it to me, then took a piece of meat to feed the chicks.
一只猎物还留在巢里。妈妈偶尔叼起来似乎向我展示，然后叼下一块肉喂幼雏。
This time the mother owl left the nest early to hunt, and I had the opportunity to take a frontal photo of her.
猫头鹰妈妈这一次早早离开巢去捕食，我有机会拍到了她的正面照。
After their mother left, the two chicks looked out from time to time, waiting for their mother to come back with food.
妈妈离开后，两只幼雏不时向外张望着，等待妈妈带吃的回来。
Week 8 (第八周， 2024-04-06)
This time there was no trace of Father Owl. The mother owl also left the nest and stood on the high branch of another big tree to guard it from a distance. The two little guys twisted their bodies from time to time in the nest, looked out, and seemed to show themselves to the photographers. It can be seen that they have begun to yearn for the outside world.
这一次还是没有看到猫头鹰爸爸的踪影。猫头鹰妈妈也离开了巢，站在另一棵大树的高枝上远远的守护着。 两个小家伙在巢里不时的扭动着身体，向外张望，又好像向摄影师们展示着自己。看得出他们已经开始向往外面的世界了。
Week 9 (第九周， 2024-04-12)
I arrived at the park early on Friday morning and only saw one baby owl in its nest.
周五一早到了公园，只看到一只小猫头鹰在巢里。
A photographer said that someone on Facebook said that they saw a mother owl and another baby owl in another tree last week. The baby owl was only four weeks old and couldn't fly yet. It's strange how it left the nest and got there. Two possibilities: the mother owl took it out, or it fell out of the nest and climbed to another tree by itself. (Later I found out from the Internet that if a baby owl falls from the nest, the mother owl will not take it back to the nest, but will continue to feed it.) Everyone started searching and finally saw it.
一位摄影师说，Facebook上有人讲上周看到猫头鹰妈妈和另一只小猫头鹰在另一棵树上。小猫头鹰只有四周，还不能飞，很奇怪它是怎么离开巢到那里的。两种可能：猫头鹰妈妈把它叼出去的，或者它从巢里掉出去，自己爬到另一棵树上了。（后来从网上查到，如果小猫头鹰从巢里跌落猫头鹰妈妈不会把它叼回到巢里，但是会继续喂食。）大家开始搜寻，终于看到了。
Everyone was enjoying the heartwarming scene of the little owl and its mother. Suddenly, for some unknown reason, the mother owl stood up and flew to another tree trunk.
本来大家正在欣赏着小猫头鹰与妈妈在一起的温馨画面，突然，猫头鹰妈妈不知为何，起身飞到了另一个树干上。
The little owl might have been agitated by the sudden departure of its mother, and suddenly stepped on empty air, with only one claw catching the tree trunk, and its body hanging there, no matter how hard it struggled, it could not get back. Amid everyone's exclamations, the little owl could no longer hold on, and fell heavily from the tree trunk about 10 meters high onto the grass.
小猫头鹰可能因为妈妈的突然离去躁动起来，一下子踩空了，只有一只爪子抓在树干上，身体吊在那里，不管怎么挣扎都没法回去。在大家的惊呼声中，小猫头鹰已支撑不住了，从大概10米高的树干上重重的摔落到草地上。
The poor little owl was struggling on the ground. I ran to the park office and reported the situation to the park ranger. They didn't seem to think the situation was urgent, saying that it was normal in nature and that the little owl should be able to find a way to climb back up the tree. Since the ranger said so, I had no choice but to return to the scene. The mother owl stood high in the tree with her eyes wide open, and it seemed that there was nothing she could do.
可怜的小猫头鹰在地上挣扎着。我跑到公园办公室，向park ranger报告了这一情况。他们好像并不觉得这一情况紧急，只说在自然界很正常，小猫头鹰应该能够自己想办法爬回树上。既然ranger这样讲我也只能回到现场。猫头鹰妈妈瞪着大眼睛一直站在高高的树上，似乎也没有办法。
After a while, the ranger came over and moved the little owl to the tree where the nest was. It was moving its body there, unable to climb up the tree. Then, another ranger came and told us that he would bring a ladder to put it back to the nest. So I went to take pictures somewhere else without any worries...
过一会，ranger还是过来把小猫头鹰挪到了鸟巢所在的那棵树下。它在那挪动着身躯，无法向树上爬。再过一会儿，另一个ranger来告诉我们他会拿来梯子把它送回到巢里。于是我便放心的去其它地方拍照去了……
I walked around the park and returned to the owl's nest. I saw that the chick had been put back into the nest, but judging from its position, I was worried that it would fall again. Before I drove away, I looked back and saw that the owl fell heavily to the ground again. This time, I didn't see it move. Maybe it couldn't survive. I reported it to the ranger again and left. Praying that the little owl would be safe...
我在公园里转了一圈又回到猫头鹰巢所在的地方，看到那只小雏已被放回到巢里，但从它的位置看，我很担心它会再次掉下来。而我准备开车离开之前再次回头望去，那只猫头鹰就在我的眼前又重重的摔在地上。这一次，没有看到它再动，也许它没有办法再存活下来了。我又报告给ranger，便离开了。祈祷小猫头鹰能够平安 …..
I decided to go to the park again on Saturday. The baby owl that fell from its nest yesterday has been placed on the branch of a nearby tree by the park ranger. The baby appears to be doing well and occasionally tries to stand up. The ranger told me that the mother owl had fed it in the morning. The ranger also told me that the older owl chick that remained in the nest had repeatedly kicked the younger one out of the nest. Now the ranger had to put the little owl somewhere else. I hoped the mother owl could take good care of it alone and it would recover soon.
周六决定再去公园看看。昨天从巢里又掉出来的小猫头鹰已经被公园管理员放到旁边一棵大树的树杈上。小雏看来状态还可以，偶尔会努力的站起来。从管理员那里了解到，早上猫头鹰妈妈已经给它喂过吃的。公园管理员也告诉我，留在巢里的是大一点的猫头鹰幼崽，它已经几次把另一只小雏踢出巢外，现在公园管理员只能把这只小的放在其它地方希望能够得到猫头鹰妈妈的单独照顾，也希望它能尽快恢复。
This is the mean sibling.
这就是那只极不友好的兄弟。
Week 10 (第十周， 2024-04-21)
After a week of worrying, I came to the park again on the weekend. I parked the car and went straight to the bird's nest, but saw only one baby owl in the nest. So I went to the park office and was told that the baby that fell from the tree last weekend had fallen from the nest several times and was already extremely weak. Although artificial intervention shall not be done generally, this time ranger had to decide to send it to a rescue station for artificial breeding. After a few months, it can be released directly into the wild after it has fully recovered.
经过一周的担心，到了周末再次来到公园。停下车直奔鸟巢而去，只看到一只小猫头鹰待在巢中。于是来到公园办公室，了解到上周末从树上掉下来的那只小猫又从巢里掉下来几次，已经及其虚弱了。虽然一般情况下不能进行人工干预，但这一次公园管理员不得不决定把它送到救助站进行人工饲养。 几个月后它完全恢复后便可直接放归大自然了。
The mother owl no longer needed to stay with her baby during the day, but rested in another big tree not far away. Sometimes she observed the surroundings vigilantly, sometimes she combed her feathers or stretched his legs and shook his wings. Most of the time she was closing her eyes and having a break.
猫头鹰妈妈白天的时候已经不需要跟小猫头鹰待在一起，而是在不远的另一棵大树上休息。时而警惕地观察着周围，时而梳理一下羽毛或者伸伸腿抖抖翅膀，多数时间是在闭目养神。
Week 11 (第十一周， 2024-04-26)
When I went to the park again, the owl family was gone. The park ranger said they left the nest two days ago and moved to another place.
再去公园，猫头鹰一家已经不见踪影。公园管理员说两天前他们离开巢穴，到其它地方生活了。
Since there were no owls, I took some photos of other birds and alligators in the park.
既然见不到猫头鹰，那就在公园里拍拍其他鸟和鳄鱼吧。
I hope to see the Owl family again next year.
期盼明年再见猫头鹰一家了。
コメント