Two young great horned owls, hatched on an electric-utility tower in Islamorada, have grown up fast.<BR><BR>"The babies are big and feisty," Joan Scholz, executive director of the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center in Tavernier, said Thursday. The two chicks, estimated to be about 10 weeks old, left their nest as fledglings last week.</p><p>A web camera installed by Florida Keys Electric Cooperative crewmen allowed people to watch the chicks -- the first great horned owls known to be born in the Florida Keys -- mature.</p><p>The two young owls and their mother were moved to the bird center's hospital facility last Sunday after it became apparent the mother was weakened, possibly by months of feeding two hungry chicks.</p><p>"The chicks seem to be fine but they're not quite ready to fly," Scholz said. "We just want to make sure they can eat and fend for themselves before they're released."</p><p>The mother was not eating well but appears to be in "stable condition," Scholz said.</p><p>The center's wildlife rehabilitator, Amanda Margraves, saw on the web camera that one of the owl chicks left the nest Feb. 28. She went to the site and found it, placing the young owl in a temporary nest fashioned from a plastic laundry basket. Two days later, the second chick left the main nest. That's when all three owls were moved.</p><p>"We can't say enough about the efforts made by the FKEC to protect the nest and install the web cam," Scholz said. "They deserve a lot of credit."</p><p>The Wild Bird Center has two great horned owls in permanent residence at its visitors center, but the three owls from Islamorada are not on public display.