What’s more captivating than a happy family? Photographer Ivan Goh captured footage of a cute Buffy Fish Owl family in Seletar Hampstead Wetlands Park.
The mother and child are sat in a nest, with the still-feathering baby eagerly ‘kissing’ its mum.
Soon, the father owl returned, bringing back a long eel just for its child.
Mr Goh commented that the interactions made the owls feel “just like humans”, alluding to how owl parents had disputes too.
Hampstead Wetlands Park in Seletar is a treasure trove for wildlife photographers. Previously, a grey-crowned crane caught everyone’s attention with its appearance there.
This time, the target of photographer Ivan Goh’s lenses was a family of Buffy Fish Owls. He had first seen the parents back in Sep this year.
On 18 Nov, at around 5.50pm, Mr Goh filmed the mother owl and its baby in a nest, the young bird still growing out its coat of feathers.
With wide yellow eyes and only a thin spread of head feathers, it almost seemed haggard or terrified like a student realising in bed that they forgot to do their math homework.
The adorable baby owl also appeared to ‘kiss’ its mother affectionately.
Source: Ivan Goh on Facebook
At other times, the baby owl constantly fidgeted and stumbled around the nest. The actions roused its poor mum, who appeared to be just trying to catch a wink.
Source: Ivan Goh on Facebook
The mother owl showed its restraint in not getting the cane out immediately.
After taking several photos and videos of the mother and child, Mr Goh packed his equipment and walked away.
Just then, the father owl suddenly returned from ‘work’, allowing for a cute family reunion.
Mr Goh ran back and hastily set up his tripod and camera to get the footage of the happy family.
The owl dad had returned with a long eel, which it gave to its child. The loving parents then watched as their kid wolfed down the entire thing by itself.
Source: Ivan Goh on Facebook
Truly a lifelike replication of parents when their child asks if they can have the last chicken wing.
Not long after, the owl father then took off, literally.
Source: Ivan Goh on Facebook
Ivan Goh alleged that a birder told him that the male owl doesn’t stay in the nest as it may kill or eat the chick. Mr Goh noted that he didn’t know if this was actually true.
“They are just like humans,” Mr Goh told MS News, speaking about the family. He related a previous encounter where the father owl returned to the nest, only to end up in a short fight with the mother owl.
Other birders nearby joked that the father came back empty-handed, sparking the marital dispute.
Source: Ivan Goh on Facebook
Mr Goh explained that the mother owl hatched its chick around the end of Oct this year. He caught his first shot of the chick on 1 Nov.
Given its size increase in 18 days, it’s indeed growing quite fast.
He captured various other videos of the family, including one of the owl mum giving itself a good scratching.
Source: Ivan Goh on Facebook
Overall, the amazing images and videos of the owl family really do showcase how animals like them can be so similar to humans.
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Featured image adapted from Ivan Goh on Facebook.
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