A family of great horned owls is nesting atop a pretty visible tree in Bernal Heights, and the growing young owlets have become a neighborhood sensation.

There's a little something missing this spring for Bay Area bird lovers, as the famed baby falcons of the UC Berkeley Falcon Cam have not been around to delight bird watchers since the likely death of the mating pair there — possibly from bird flu. But for the last month or so, Bernal Heights has served as the chick magnet for a pair of great horned owls who’ve decided to nest in a tree near the Esmeralda Street steps. They’ve  hatched two growing owlets there, and KGO reports the owls have become a neighborhood phenomenon.

Much like the Berkeley falcon chicks usually would, the two younger great horned owls seem to have hatched in mid-April. But they’re growing quickly, and Bernal residents are documenting their development all over social media.

The owl chicks were substantially fluffier while younger in late April. But now in their adolescence, they’re more mobile, hopping around, and getting ready to take flight.

This family of great horned owls may not have a webcam, but they’re drawing bird enthusiasts by the flock thanks to their very visible perch.

“They’re around us all the time, we just don’t see them usually,” Golden Gate Bird Alliance director of conservation Whitney Grover told the SF Standard. “That pair just nested on a tree where there’s a lot of visibility.”

Yes these owls are nocturnal, but as many Facebook posts show, the family is also active during daylight hours.

"A bunch of us have been keeping an eye on the chicks, they're fluffy," one local told KGO. "They're pretty chill during the day, but if you come out at dusk, they'll start rockin' and rolling."

The Golden Gate Bird Alliance says that great horned owls are actually quite common in SF, they just don’t typically nest in such visible spots. But since this city has an ample population of rodents and rats, the owls’ population has grown here in recent decades.

And in Bernal Heights, it’s become a big deal that the population has grown by two.

Related: Photos: Two Baby Falcon Chicks Hatch on Berkeley Falcon Cam, and on Earth Day to Boot [SFist]

Image: John Bernhelm via Facebook