And there are two!

Well, Mrs. Owl finally got off the brood long enough for us to notice that a second hatching occurred today sometime between 4:49pm and 8:17pm. All the intervening time, she was sitting in the way of our view. In the first photo, you can see the two fuzzy shapes (one above, and one to the right of the remaining egg.)

In the second photo, we have zoomed in on the face of one of the owlets looking at the camera. Below the word "Face", you can just make out the owl-like features (eyes and bill are a bit darker than the rest of it.)
This is what a newly-hatched screech owlet looks like.

Hatching Day!

Last night around 6pm, the first egg hatched, 29 days after it was laid. You can see that one of the shiny round eggs has expanded into a fuzzy roundish ball. Actually, it is more like 2 balls: a roundish head and a roundish body (see second photo.)
We have had only brief glimpses of the little fuzzball, mainly when Mrs. Owl has gone briefly into the doorway for a look around, or as she has preened herself.
The little owlet is unable to keep itself warm for the first 10 days, and so will have to be incubated just like the remaining 2 eggs. However, it will become increasingly active. Assuming the other 2 hatch, she will soon have a bubbling nest of fuzzy popcorn to sit on, and will soon seem to look forward to the day when she can also join the incessant hunt for food.
Normal fledging occurs within 24-32 days, so we expect fledging sometime between May 22nd and 30th.

The best time to get a view of the little one(s) is dawn (6-7am CDT) or dusk (8-9pm), when Mrs. Owl typically pops into the entrance and then briefly leaves the box. Sometimes if it is a very hot day (http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=73301) she sits in the entrance during the afternoon. At these times, the air temperature can do her incubation for her.
Enjoy the show.

Brood Patch

One of the fascinating things about many nesting birds is the brood patch. This is a patch of skin on the breast of female birds that undergoes changes during nesting in order to allow them to incubate the eggs. The brood patch loses its feathers and the skin grows extra blood vessels. This allows the female to snuggle onto the eggs and incubate them directly with her warm skin. The brood patch usually doesn't show, because it's enclosed by the surrounding feathers, like a vest.



However, in the second photo below, as she preens her breast feathers, you can see the split in her chest feathering, and the black downy edge of the feathers surrounding the patch.





Mr. Owl is still doing a yeoman's job delivering food to his hungry mate. Mrs. Owl has sat nearly constantly on the eggs since the beginning, and we expect hatching as soon as tomorrow, or as late as Saturday, May 2nd. Keep an eye tuned to the owlcam for one of the little round eggs to become a fuzzy roundish owlet.

Catching Up

Faithful owlcam watchers have noticed with dismay the lack of updates while obvious activity is going on in the box. Rest assured, we have not been neglecting the wonderful spectacle of life going on in our very back yard. Instead, we were on a different continent, observing a different spectacle. We never would have chosen to skip town at this time by ourselves, but a family wedding in South Africa and cousins in Malawi dictated events beyond our control.

But we're back. And amid jetlag and processing thousands of Africa photos we're catching up on events that the motion detector duly recorded to our hard drive. The quick version is that after various visits on March 20, 24, 26, 28, 29, and 30, she finally spent the day in the box on March 31, and laid the first egg about 3pm. After spending the days of April 1 and 2 in the box, but the nights mostly outside, Mrs. Owl came back to stay during the night of April 2-3 and laid a second egg. We haven't yet found the third egg date, but there are currently 3 eggs in the box, and she spends most of 24 hours a day incubating them. Nighttime temperatures in Austin have been in the 40's, and she has taken very short breaks at dawn and dusk. Her mate is duly feeding her insects and geckos.

Now we wait until hatching day. Eastern Screech Owls usually start incubating before the clutch is complete, which means that hatching will be staggered, and the babies will be differently sized. Depending on when the first egg started developing (she laid it on March 31st, but didn't incubate it the cold night (46°F) of April 1st, and half the night of April 2nd (45°F)), the hatching should take about 30 days. So, my guess is that the first hatch should occur between April 28 and May 4th, with the most likely date being May 2nd.

After that, the real fun begins, and the nestlings will grow rapidly over approximately 28 days, and leave the box. Stay tuned for the fun.