Predator eagle attacks famous owl nest, mother fights to save babies. How does it end?
As a great horned owl mother was attending to her newborn owlets on a cloudless morning, a predator disturbed the calm, swooping into her home aloft a pine tree.
The mamma owl, known as Bayley, did not back down. With her sharp gaze, the mother spotted the eagle’s threatening path before its plunge. She extended her wings forward and fully opened, then tussled with the eagle above the nest for 2 seconds.
The two birds, thrashing at each other, then flew below the nest to settle the skirmish. Bayley’s wings flitted in and out of sight from under the nest. No longer than 30 seconds later, the mother was back to her duties. Nurture. Feed. Protect. Repeat.
“She did a great job,” said Robin Storey, a board member of the Hilton Head Island Land Trust. “She’s definitely protecting what she’s claimed is her territory.”
But a few years ago, the nest was eagle stomping grounds. And their reign was publicized for everyone to see.
Fastened near the nest is a camera that is monitored by the Hilton Head Island Land Trust. Before other birds settled into the special digs, it was called the Eagle CAM. That’s back when acclaimed bald eagles, Harriet and Mitch, ruled the roost. In December 2022, the pair welcomed two eaglets. The babies tragically fell from the nest due to avian flu, and the parents haven’t been spotted back at the site since September 2022.
But it’s hard to know if the eagle had been to the nest before or figure out its motive for tussling with Bayley on Tuesday morning.
“Usually by now, in this area, the eagles already have their nest. They’re either sitting on eggs or already have hatched eaglets,” Storey said. “It could have been the eagle says, ‘Hey, you’re in my nest.’ It could have been, ‘That’s a snack for me that you’re sitting on.’”
Other birds have checked in, but the famed nest, that’s captured over a million viewers worldwide, is now the turf of Bayley and the owlets’ father, Joshua.
Recently dubbed Bayley, the mother’s name pays homage to John Bayley of Ballinclough, County Tipperary, Ireland. In 1698, Bayley was granted a 48,000-acre barony, which included Hilton Head. Father and excellent hunter, Joshua’s name honors Gen. Joshua Howell, after Ft. Howell on Hilton Head. Howell was killed during the Siege of Petersburg in 1864. The 32nd U.S. Colored Infantry built the fort to safeguard the nearby Freedmen’s town of Mitchelville and it was named for Howell.
Named after powerful Hilton Head fixtures, the great horned owl parents have already protected their territory and shown their brawn for the newest family members. Bayley will continue to protect and feed her babies, while Joshua, still nearby, is on the hunt.
The two owlets, HH5 and HH6, that look like puffs of soft cotton in the roomy nest, still have a long way before they can fly the coup. HH5 hatched Feb. 5, and HH6 three days later.
At about five weeks, the young owls may be able to leave the nest or perch on branches close by, according to Audubon. After nine or 10 weeks, the babies can take flight. But mother and father are nearby and for many months will supply their rapidly growing owlets with food — everything from rats to other birds and snakes.
While the siblings will bulk up and learn the ropes, they will grow at about 4-8 grams an hour and at a rate of 1-inch per week beginning from the time they hatch and continuing as juveniles to adults, the land trust said. Their speedy growth, however, is dependent on their health and food-intake.
Once fully grown, great horned owls’ innate anatomy makes them exceptional hunters — with sharp eyesight, strong hearing and the ability to fly up to 40 mph in near-silence, the land trust said.
To watch Bayley, Joshua and their owlets, go to https://www.hhilandtrust.org/eagle-cam.
