A family of four great horned owls has taken up residence in the middle of Gulf Coast High School’s campus, capturing the attention of students and staff for the past six weeks.
With around 1,700 students on campus daily, it’s rare to see wildlife thrive in such an active environment. Gulf Coast High School Principal Kimberly Lonergan says the owls have been a unique experience for students.
"The fact that they're here, it's really pretty amazing for a lot of kids to see because it's not something that they would see all the time," Lonergan said.
For senior Andrew Hinebaugh, the discovery of the owls was unexpected but welcomed.
"I'm just an observer. I remember one day, I walk through here often, so I just kind of did like a double take. Okay. What's that? Yeah, it's moving more than everything else. But I mean, I love it. I love the owls. I'm glad that they're here," Hinebaugh said.
Junior Sophia Rock enjoys taking pictures and videos of the owls. "Honestly, they're pretty. I like them. I take a lot of photos of them," Rock said.
Freshman Lexi Herring shares the enthusiasm, "I like watching them and it's such a cool thing. Like, not every single high school has owls," Herring said.
A few weeks ago, one of the owlets fell from its nest. Staff contacted the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife, which advised them to return the owlet to the tree after they checked them out. Since then, students and teachers have kept a watchful eye on the birds.
Dr. Angela Herring, the school’s testing coordinator, has taken on an especially active role in monitoring the owls. Her office is right next to the courtyard, and she has even checked on them over the weekends.
"When they did fall out of the tree, we immediately got together as a group of teachers and had a schedule for coming up here and sending each other pictures. 'They're still in the tree? Okay. Everybody's fine.' So that they didn't have to go a whole weekend without somebody checking on them," Herring said.
Now, students are voting on names for their feathered classmates. Herring even used artificial intelligence to generate an image of the owl family wearing shark fins. But she isn’t quite ready for the inevitable moment when they leave.
"We are not ready to deal with them taking flight. You know we're losing our seniors. And then we're going to lose our owls, too," Herring said.
The baby owls are expected to begin "branching"—moving from branch to branch—within the next week before they eventually take flight and leave Gulf Coast High School.