ScreechCam

Opening the Nest Box

2011-06-19T22:07:00.000-07:00

We finally got around to taking down the owl house and opened the nest box. We confirmed that a Blue Jay and a Cedar Waxwing were among the prey this season. Picking through the nest contents revealed some interesting items: a Blue Jay beak , some insect legs, a little piece of owl eggshell (the rest were probably eaten by the mother). The Blue Jay bill is interesting, because we usually don't see that. Birds usually arrive headless when brought by a parent. So, this season, as usual, the number of birds as prey is fairly small (two), with most of the food having been reptiles and insects.
See you next February/March for the next season.

Last Owlet Photos

2011-05-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of the second owlet on his last night in the box. He spent some time sitting in the entrance way, examining the world and relaxing. He left around 9pm, about an hour later in the day than his sibling had left 2 days prior.
The last photo is of the first owlet, the day he fledged.
The first owlet, on Thursday, May 19th, fledged just before sunset, about 8:15pm. He flew towards an oak tree at the back of the property. He didn't make it, landing in some tall ragweed stems that we hadn't trimmed since last year. This was good for him, as it gave him a staging ground to regroup for a second attempt at the tree. Without the stems, he might have ended up on the ground. At this stage, owlets don't have the muscle strength to do level flight or gain altitude. It is basically powered descent. But he made it to the lower oak limbs, and then climbed inside the branches to near the top of the tree before we lost sight of him.
The second owlet fledged 2 days later, on May 21st. We had fully expected him to go the next day, as he was 1 day younger, and we have often had fledging on successive nights, even for owlets 2 days apart in age. However, we had a thunderstorm just around sunset, which probably convinced him to stay inside one more night. When he eventually did fledge, he waited until 9pm, when it was quite dusky out. He headed for the same oak tree, but ended up in some tall bushes nearby. He began to climb those, flapping his wings for assistance, before we lost sight of him.
We haven't seen either one since, though we haven't had time to search much. They usually go deep into the woods within a couple of days, and we do not see them again. We do usually hear the family from time to time during the summer.
It has been an exciting season, with a bit of tragedy, but mostly success. Thank you for sharing it with us. Check back in February of 2012, when we'll turn the camera on again, and await our guests once more.

Second Owlet Fledged

2011-05-21T19:12:00.000-07:00

The second owlet fledged today, 31 days after hatching, and made it safely to the trees to join his (or her) sibling. Photos to follow.

First Fledging

2011-05-21T06:07:00.001-07:00

The first owlet fledged Thursday night, 5/19, so there is only 1 left. The 2nd will likely fledge tonight, 5/21.

We have video of the first fledging, which we'll post, as soon as we finish with our other busy May event today, the O. Henry Punoff World Championships.

You can watch the O. Henry Punoff Live Today http://punpunpun.com/24918.html 11am to 5pm Central Time.

Happy owlwatching.

In the Doorway

2011-05-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

Here is a video from last night of an owlet resting in the doorway. It's handheld through the scope, so it's a little wobbly.

Owlet in the Doorway

2011-05-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

A few photos from late evening yesterday, as the owlet looked out of the doorway. Fledging (leaving the box) will probably happen sometime this week, perhaps as soon as Tuesday. They usually do a lot of looking out of the doorway for a couple of days before venturing out there.

Only the Good Die Young

2011-05-04T21:19:00.000-07:00

We are sad to report that one of the owlets died yesterday, likely due to lack of food and stress from the cold spell that blew in Sunday night and lingered during the last few nights. We went back and watched the recordings starting Saturday night. All 3 owlets appeared very active Saturday, and at least 8 geckos were brought after midnight, among other insect snacks. The eldest owlets seemed to get all but 1 of these geckos, but the young owlet seemed active and competitive for the food. Sunday during the day, he appeared a bit more listless than his 2 siblings, spending a lot of time lying down, as his older siblings did more walking around. The front began to blow in about 3pm Sunday, from when temperatures dropped from the 90s to the 60s within 2 hours. That night, temperatures dropped into the 50s. Mrs. Owl, who had in recent days been spending time in the entrance, or even out of the box, came back, and spent alternating periods down with the nestlings and in the entrance. The nestlings became inactive, and huddled in a group up against the plastic divider, where the camera and illuminators probably put out a bit of warmth.
Mrs. Owl left for over an hour from 7:29 to 8:38pm Sunday. Mrs. Owl hunted until just before 10pm, when she returned, and then stayed in the box, incubating the owlets. After 2 feedings before 10pm, no food arrived for the next 6 hours. During this time, as Mrs. Owl brooded the owlets, they wriggled a lot under her, probably competing for access to her warm naked brood patch on her chest and belly. This adaptation on female nesting birds, in which they lose feathers and grow extra blood vessels in their chests, helps them transfer warmth to eggs and nestlings.
It is unclear why Mr. Owl was unable to bring food for this long stretch. It is possible that the low temperatures had stilled the insect and reptile prey and made them hard to find. Even when food came, it was the much taller and more active larger siblings that claimed it. In all, there were only about 6 feedings that night, only 1 of which appeared to be a gecko, the rest insects.
But even so, by dawn Monday at 7am, after a whole night without food, the youngest owlet was still able to be active and beg for food. But he had to face a whole day in which the temperature never got out of the 50's. The day passed with Mrs. Owl and the owlets huddled against the plastic divider in the box, the owlets hidden under her body. By the time she left for 15 minutes at 8:19pm and returned with food, the third owlet appeared not to raise his head with as much vigor as his siblings. The 4 feedings that came in went to the larger siblings. Starting at 9:21, Mrs. Owl, who had been hunting, returned and began incubating the owlets again. Again, no food arrived for most of the night, from 9:19pm onwards for 9 hours. Mrs. Owl left at 4:43 Tuesday morning for 95 minutes. Perhaps she was trying to hunt and remedy the lack of food. This was a very cold time for the owlets to be left alone, as temperatures had dipped into the upper 40s by then. She returned successful at 6:18am with a large bird, perhaps a Blue Jay. It was probably already too late for the smallest owlet, who didn't seem to raise his head when the food arrived. The others clamored vigorously. Mrs. Owl proceeded to tear it up and feed it to them, but the youngest appeared to be off at the side away from where the feeding was happening. A 2-3 inch fish was brought about 6:47am, and Mrs. Owl received it and fed it to the older owlets. The youngest appeared at this stage to just be lying down, probably still alive, but quite weak. Mrs. Owl seemed to make no attempt to get him food. In the past, we have seen female parents specifically avoid the mouths of the recently fed owlets to get food shared around to all mouths. But perhaps she knew that the youngest was already doomed.
Mrs. Owl continued feeding the owlets from the prey bird on and off during the morning. The youngest owlet had disappeared from the camera's view, and was probably dead by this time. Mr. Owl brought an unusual daytime feeding of an anole lizard at 12:13 pm. The day warmed enough that Mrs. Owl stopped incubating, perched above on the rail, and even leaving the box for a little while.
By about 7pm Tuesday, it appeared that the two older siblings began to eat their younger nestmate. It has been documented that although Eastern Screech Owls will not kill a sibling, after it has been dead a while, it loses its status as family, and they consider it food.
Thus, life for the owls goes in, in the face of an uncertain food supply. It appears that feedings are increasing as the temperatures return back to more normal springtime levels. Hopefully it will be good news from now on.

Photos: 1st: All 3 owlets on Saturday, with the youngest in the middle.
2nd: A gecko brought for food.
3rd: An insect
4th: The large bird prey (possibly a Blue Jay judging by the dark and white tail feathers)
5th: The fish prey
6th: Huddling under mama's brood patch
7th: Owlet staring at the camera
8th: Owlet stretching its wings

Feeding Time Lapse Video

2011-04-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a project I started working on a few weeks ago. This video is a time lapse showing 16 feedings from the night of March 28-29. Neither Youtube nor anyone else on the Internet can handle portrait-oriented video, so unfortunately it is in a horizontal format and looks a bit offset. One day I'll learn about video programming. Enjoy it.

Three Hungry Mouths

2011-04-25T20:54:00.000-07:00

We haven't yet blogged about the third hatch, which happened last Friday, April 22nd. Since then, there has been lots of activity. Tonight was the first night we noticed open eyes on the eldest owlet. They are not fully open, but the little owlet can definitely open her (or his) eyes. Most of the food brought in is geckos or lizards, with an occasional insect. Despite the drought, there seem to be enough insects to supply the reptile population, which in turn feeds the owls.
The weather has been quite warm, both by day and night. Despite the owlets being too young to maintain their own body temperature, Mrs. Owl has not had to incubate them much, due to the warm night-time temperatures. She thus has been spending increasing amounts of time either hunting or sitting in the doorway. During the day, she is often up on the perch or in the doorway, and even sometimes out of the box, as she was Sunday afternoon for over an hour.

Second Hatch

2011-04-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

The second egg hatched sometime today. We haven't had time to figure out exactly when, but here is a dramatic family portrait. Mr. Owl sort of lost his balance and fell into the box while delivering a lizard. In the foreground is Mrs. Owl, 2 fuzzy owlets, and the remaining egg.

First Hatch!

2011-04-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

Tonight, between 6:06 and 6:10pm, the first egg hatched! This is on the early side of the possible hatching dates at 28 days. Normal range is (28.5 to 32 days, 1 sigma). In the first photo, you can see the eggs at 6:05pm, with what is likely a small hole in the egg closest to the camera, which is the one that hatched. The second photo is at 6:11pm, just after hatching. You can see a shiny baby just to the left of Mrs. Owl's leg, and a partial eggshell. The third and fourth photos show a 1/2 eggshell, an unhatched egg, and the owlet. In the fifth photo, Mrs. Owl has picked up the eggshell and begun to eat it. She presumably does this to recover the calcium in the shell. In the sixth photo, you can see that the shell is completely gone. You only can see the two remaining eggs and the hatchling. In the 7th photo, about 2 hours after hatching, the owlet has dried out and has now become fuzzy.
Mr. Owl then began bringing food, consisting of (so far) a gecko, a couple of insects, and a Texas Blind Snake. In the last photo, Mr. Owl is bringing a blind snake while Mrs. Owl is still working on tearing up the gecko for the owlet. He came with the snake, stared down for a little while, and then started to leave. Mrs. Owl dropped the gecko, and went up to the entrance to take it from him.
As great as male owls are at hunting for the entire family during incubation, they are not very useful when it comes to domestic duties. They bring food, and if nobody takes it, they usually turn around and leave with it. We have observed this later in the nesting cycle, when the female is out hunting. The male will arrive with food, and if the owlets are too small to take the prey, the male will just give up and leave again. Often, the female will arrive soon after with the same item that she has presumably taken from the male outside the box.

Geckos Galore

2011-04-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

Last night was a banquet for Mrs. Owl. She was brought 6 geckos and a lizard (last photo). Mr. Owl seems to be working very hard. Perhaps it was to make up for the previous night, in which nothing was brought between 9:28pm and 6:11am. And at 6:11am, it was only a small caterpillar. Earlier that night, 3 geckos had been brought in. So, last night's haul seemed to be at least twice as big as the previous night.
We have been rather neglectful at reviewing the pictures and posting updates. We will do this more frequently once the eggs hatch, which should be this week.

Reposting Feeding from 1 April

2011-04-01T08:03:00.001-07:00

(reposting this entry, because the photos were cut off the first time.)
Mrs. Owl has stopped laying at 3 eggs, so that will be our clutch size this year. We have friends with owl box cameras who have 4 and 5 eggs this year, so all are in the typical range of 3-5. Food availability is probably the primary factor in their decision about when to stop laying, but there are probably a number of other factors. Last night was a busy feeding night, with 15 feedings, all of insects, apparently. The previous night there had been a bird, of a species we could not determine, and Mrs. Owl spent some time last night apparently feeding from it, as feathers were flying. We couldn't see for sure, because she cached it below the view of the camera. Mrs. Owl has been taking very short evening and morning breaks. This morning's break was only 6 minutes, around 6:30am. Included today are some feeding shots. The first two show a moth, as does the 4th. The 3rd shows a caterpillar. The male seems to come down into the box more than we have seen in the past. One afternoon, he came with an insect at about 6:20pm (90 minutes before sunset), and stayed in the box for nearly 2 hours until dark, mostly sitting in the entrance hole. He must have found a target of opportunity by chance, and come with a daytime feeding. So, now that Mrs. Owl spends nearly 24 hours in the box, we are getting good looks at Mr. Owl.

Three Egg Night

2011-03-27T23:08:00.001-07:00

Sometime this afternoon, Mrs. Owl laid her third egg. Though it is hard to tell exactly, it was likely laid between about 12:30 and 1:20, when she sat very still. She spent most of the day incubating the eggs or preening her feathers. So, the eggs are developing, and the young will likely hatch on different days. Mrs. Owl took a shorter evening break than she has in the past, only 15 minutes, so she is getting serious about incubation.

More egg photos

2011-03-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

Two Eggs!

2011-03-24T21:14:00.000-07:00

Sometime between 10:54 and 11:10pm Mrs. Owl laid her second egg. This is our first view of it.

Heat and a Night Out

2011-03-24T07:53:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Owl is in the box again this morning after nearly 12 hours out of the box last night. She was gone from 7:52pm to 7:14am. The first photo shows her returning through the entrance hole. Thus, we didn't observe any feedings at all last night.
Yesterday was quite a hot day (87 degrees), and Mrs. Owl spent the afternoon off the egg, mostly with her wings spread for coolness. She also panted, using a motion called "gular flapping" in which her throat pulses with her mouth open to help cool her down. She spent some time in the entrance hole, looking out into the sun.
We haven't noticed the ants at all in the last day. My guess is that they probably were attracted to any mucus or smell that may have been on the egg when it was freshly laid. Now that it is just a dry egg, they have no more interest, and have gone back to whatever they were doing before the egg was laid. In any event, Mrs. Owl seemed to pay no attention to them when they were there, and doesn't in any way seem irritated.
This morning, she seems like she is settled on the egg, so perhaps she is either beginning ot incubate it, or is perhaps pondering her second egg, which is due today. Typical clutch sizes are 3-4 eggs, but they can number as few as 2, or as many as 6. More experienced owls tend to have larger clutches, probably because they are capable of finding more food.

Snakes and Ants

2011-03-23T07:45:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Owl was out all night, from 11:03pm to 6:55am, returning with a gecko in her mouth (first photo). Shortly after, she was delivered a second gecko by her mate (2nd photo).
We've read a bit more on Acrobat ants, and it seems that they are quite compatible with Owls. According to Fred Gehlbach, the world authority on Eastern Screech Owls (he wrote the book on them), Acrobat ants often do live in Eastern Screech Owl nests, and can deter predators. It is a tradeoff, however, as they will eat any cached food.
Gehlbach writes:

Acrobat ants, though, live in occupied boxes and cavities. Their brood (larvae, pupae) is housed in damp nest debris...They sting and spray me but not the owls and bite pieces out of food caches, removing these to their brood, often out of reach of the owls...Such symbiont competition could be severe, if Texas blind snakes did not reduce the numbers of at least some insect competitors, and my limited observations suggest they do....

Texas blind snakes are an earthworm-sized snake that is prey for the owls, but as they are slippery, they sometimes get away in the nest box. In this case, they often set up residence in the nesting material, out of reach of the owls, and feed off insects and larvae in the nesting material.

Gehlbach continues:

But there is a possible tradeoff in the owl-snake-ant symbiotic "triangle." Although the snakes are beneficial in removing ant brood, acrobat ants may protect the owls by attacking potential predators. If ants are indeed displaced by blind snake predation on their brood, the protection disappears. Which is mor important, reducing or eliminating and competition for cached food or cohabitation by the ants and hence their protection? Right now I cannot say, but I have noticed that flammulated and western screech owls are also apparently protected by cavity-cohabiting ants that do not disturb their owlets.

In our nest box, we have observed relatively little cached food during the season. About 3 times per season, something big, like a rodent or bird, will remain in the box for about a day while it is consumed, but most of the rest of the food is consumed within minutes after it is brought in, so the ants would have no effect on it. In Gehlbach's book, I have read accounts of significant food caches of perhaps even more than 1 bird or rat at a time. Our owls seem to subsist mostly on geckos, lizards, cockroaches, and other insects.

1st Egg Laid

2011-03-22T22:33:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Owl laid her first egg sometime between 11:15 and 11:40am on March 22nd. She didn't really incubate it much, and spent time standing over it. Eastern Screech Owls generally start incubation with the second egg, which should be laid around the 24th.

Another interesting puzzle we have is that Acrobat Ants seem to have showed up, and are crawling over the egg. We have had Acrobat Ant infestations before, but never so early in the season. Usually we notice them near the end of nesting. And we have never seen them on the egg. While Acrobats don't bite, they can compete with the owls for stored food. So we'll have to keep an eye on this situation to determine whether there is anything we ought to do. So far, it hasn't seemed to bother Mrs. Owl in her dealings with the egg.

FIrst Evening in the Box

2011-03-22T21:10:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Owl spent her first evening in the box, looking out the window and watching the world (and Cardinals) go by. She spent the whole day in the box.

Nesting Begins

2011-03-22T07:54:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Owl arrived at 3:29am, March 22, with food (probably a gecko... see photo). After eating it, she began rearranging nesting material. Mr. Owl came with a feeding at about 4:00, and about 8 minutes later, she left. She returned at 6:20 and did some nesting and some grooming. She left for a morning outing at 6:46, before finally returning for the day at 7:24 She will likely lay her first egg today or tomorrow. We'll keep a close eye for a shiny round egg under her.

And she isn't alone in the box (see spider). That spider isn't as big as it looks, because it is right up against the camera.

Welcome to the 2011 season.

Second Owl VIsit

2011-03-21T19:25:00.000-07:00

We have had our second owl visit this evening from 8:06-8:12pm! We assume it was the female, as the owl spent some time rerranging nesting materials, which we've only ever seen the female do before. Several friends of ours already have occupied boxes, with eggs laid. Our friend Chris Johnson's cam is showing 4 eggs right now. In the past, we have had nesting start as late as March 31st, so there is plenty of time.

Owl Visit

2011-03-12T20:31:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the 2011 season. We had not been diligently reviewing the motion capture images, due to some technical challenges. But we noticed that 2 evenings ago (March 10th), we had an owl visit for perhaps a couple of minutes in the evening around 7:39pm!

So, the 2011 season is under way. There have been no visits captured since, so this may have been a male establishing and defending a nest box, or a female checking out potential laying sites. Previous to this, we had just had a few squirrel visits (see second photo, taken March 9th). We had to encourage a squirrel to leave on several occasions by banging on the box with a long stick

Getting Ready

2010-05-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

If you were watching the live feed yesterday, you may have noticed that the site went dead. I still don't know what happened, and it is still down right now. But here is some of what you missed.
Here is the owlet testing his wings (photo 1) and staring at an insect (photo 2) in the box preparing for his exit.

Finally, here is a video through the spotting scope of the owlet checking out the surroundings a few minutes before his 8:33 departure into the big, wide world.

Last Day in The Box

2010-05-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

The third owlet fledged on Monday night. Here are some photos from the third owlet's last night in the box.
The first two show the owlet. The second two show Mrs. Owl visiting with food items. The first is a moth, and the second is perhaps a cockroach.

Owlet in the Window

2010-05-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

The Outside World

2010-05-11T19:40:00.000-07:00

The owlets are beginning to be able to climb up to the window and look out for very brief periods. Since midnight last night, an owlet got into the window about 3 times. They are also developing wing feathers. They spend some time flapping in the box, but mainly when they are trying to balance themselves climbing up. In the next few days, they will be flapping their wings and testing out their flight muscles. The eldest probably has fewer than 10 days left in the box, so he needs to get ready.

Getting Bigger

2010-05-04T22:01:00.000-07:00

The owlets are getting bigger every day. Mr. and Mrs. Owl are now both hunting full time. Mrs. Owl often leaves in the afternoon, probably because the weather has been hot.

High Drama

2010-04-30T22:46:00.000-07:00

This was a dramatic evening, as we had a visit from Barred Owls in the yard, right around sunset. The first sign of troubled was the raucous calls of the Blue Jays. I assumed they had found Mr. Owl in a tree and were giving him some grief. Mrs. Owl looked out at the commotion in the setting sun. Her ear tufts are up, and she looks very alert (photo 1) (her pupils are small because she's looking straight into the sun.)

But the reason for the disturbance became clear as two Barred Owls (photos 2 & 3) flew over the house and landed in a tree at the bottom of the yard. That put them about 75 feet from the owl house. Screech Owls are part of a balanced meal for Barred Owls, so this was of some concern. Of course Barred Owls need to eat, too, but perhaps they could satisfy themselves with some mice and Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays followed them to the tree, harrassing and dive bombing them. I only just missed capturing a direct hit to an owl's head with my camera. It sounds dangerous, but with much smaller size and greater maneuverability, the Jays really don't have much to fear with this practice. What they do have to fear is having their nests raided at night when the owls have all the advantages of darkness and quiet wings. This is why small birds mob raptors, and the Jay and Crow family are among the fiercest. So, unknowingly, the Screech Owls had some fierce allies this evening.

Eventually, the Barred Owls were driven back to a tree near the front of the house, where a third Barred Owl joined them. After some more harrassment by the Jays, they flew further down the street, over my neighbor's property.

We have known that we have Barred Owl neighbors as we hear them with some frequency, but we haven't had them in our yard during Screech Owl nesting season until tonight. While the danger still exists, the owlets have at least passed the stage where they will be able to survive the death of either parent. Mrs. Owl seems like she is out and hunting most of tonight. Earlier, death of Mr. Owl would have meant Mrs. Owl would have had to abandon incubation to start hunting for herself. And death of Mrs. Owl earlier would have left Mr. Owl unable to meet either the incubation or the tearing up of larger prey items. Male owls just won't do anything other than give prey items to hungry mouths. If the items are too big, or the owlets are too small to reach up and take the items, that's not his problem. It's very odd, but these males are just not much for domestic duties, though they are amazing hunters. They have to hunt first for 2 during incubation for 1 month, then for up to 7 (male, female, and up to 5 owlets) for the first 10 or more days after hatch. Only when the owlets reach 10 days, does he get a partner helping in bringing in the meals.

Additional Photo

2010-04-29T21:52:00.000-07:00

Blind Snake

2010-04-29T21:51:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Owl left the box this morning (4/29) for a long break, from 6:00 to 6:53. There was a brief feeding during that time, which may have been either parent. Even 30 minutes after sunrise, Mr. Owl came by with a blind snake at 7:20am. Mrs. Owl sort of fell backwards after grabbing it (photo 1), which sent the owlets into a bit of an open-mouthed begging frenzy. Photo 3 shows one of the owlets with the snake (with a sibling in front of him, facing the camera).
Mrs. Owl is no longer having to incubate the owlets all the time. 10 days is normally when they are able to maintain their own body temperature, and the eldest owlet hatched 10 days ago. So, she alternates between incubating the owlets and sitting up in the doorway or on the interior upper perch for periods of up to 20 to 90 minutes.

Feeding the Owlets

2010-04-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some very nice photos from early this morning 4/29 of mother-owlet interaction. She spent a lot of last night in the box receiving food for the owlets, and giving it to them, mostly whole.

More Photos

2010-04-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

Here are more photos from tonight.

Eyes Open

2010-04-28T22:29:00.000-07:00

We hope to be back to blogging the owlets' progress more frequently. This afternoon (4/28), Mrs. Owl left the box for 2 minutes around 3pm and again around 4pm. She sat in the entryway or up on the perch several times in the afternoon, including a 40 minute doorway sit from 4:20-5:00pm. We don't really know why. Most likely, it was getting too hot in there. We saw her doing some gular flapping (owl panting), in which her throat moves in and out to cool her body.
At least one of the owlets now has open eyes.
With the warm weather and the owlets' increased size, she can now leave them for longer without them getting chilled. She left several times during the evening, starting with 20 minutes at 8:21. This, and her afternoon perch sitting was the best time to get good views of the owlets down below. She returned from her long break with a gecko. She was able to feed a blind snake that Mr. Owl delivered in one piece to an owlet. Earlier she had been tearing up larger prey items. Blind snakes are about earthworm-size, so they are fairly easy to swallow. It seems that Mrs. Owl has begun limited hunting, too. Sometimes she left the box and came back with prey items. We think we can tell the difference between his visits and hers, because she will usually get down on the floor with the owlets and stay a few minutes. When he comes, he will either deliver the prey item to her if she is in the box. If she is not, he will stay up fairly high, and lean down to offer the item to the owlets. Sometimes if the prey is too big or difficult to grasp, he will leave again with the item.

More Feedings

2010-04-20T22:07:00.000-07:00

The night started with 2 lizards and a gecko early on. There were a good number of feedings all evening so far. It still looks like only 1 hatchling so far.
I think we haven't mentioned before that a couple of weeks ago something seems to have happened to 1 of the eggs, as we saw her eating the shell. Probably got broken in the comings and goings. We have twice in the past found unhatched eggs in the box, so hatching is never a 100% guarantee.

4/18 Blind Snake

2010-04-19T22:09:00.000-07:00

These are from 1 night ago 4/18. The hatching hasn't yet happened here. In the first photo, you can see Mr. Owl delivering a long Texas Blind Snake. That night, there were 36 feedings! This is quite a lot more than we have counted a couple of weeks back in the season.

Hatch!

2010-04-19T21:54:00.000-07:00

We had our first hatching. It seems like it was tonight, because we didn't see anything but eggs earlier, but we can't be sure, because it could have been hiding close to the camera. You can see the fuzzy white head and body, plus a bit of wing definition in the first photo. Also, the feedings have stepped up a lot, with Mr. Owl delivering at least 10 meals between sundown and midnight. After each feeding, Mrs. Owl, bends down and tears it up to feed it to the hatchling. This is different from her usual gulping behavior, when she is only feeding herself.

Feeding

2010-04-17T22:27:00.000-07:00

Our busy-ness is coming to a close soon, so we'll try to blog more. Here is Mr. Owl delivering a moth. The eggs should be just a few days from hatching now, and we'll let you know when they turn from round, shiny white objects to mostly round, fuzzy white objects.

Food Deliveries

2010-04-10T21:49:00.000-07:00

We've been trying to catch up on the activities and bring you some interesting images. Starting with Friday night, 4/9, Mrs. Owl left the box for 15 minutes from 8:11-8:24pm
Then she was fed about once an hour: 9:54, 10:37, 11:26pm, 12:22 am (big spider. photo 1), and 1:38 (gecko. photo 2). She didn't get any more deliveries that night, but she did leave from 4:08-4:11am and 6:47 – 6:53am, so hopefully one of those outings was a larger food delivery.

She passed the day 4/10 in the box incubating, without a lot of preening. She did not go up in the doorway or leave at all in the evening, as she usually does. Food deliveries were pretty good all evening.
8:32 (blind snake. photo 4), 8:59 (small item), 9:43 (insect), 10:18 (insect), 10:22 (moth), 10:49 (big spider).

Blind snakes are fun prey to watch. They are very long, and are slurped down like a long spaghetti noodle.

Still Incubating

2010-04-06T21:56:00.000-07:00

Apologies for not updating our blog more frequently. Our house remodel has become very complicated and has taken a lot of our time. We haven't had the time to review the captured pictures and write our blog. Mrs. Owl went out from 8:21-8:30 tonight, but has not been fed in the box all evening. Hopefully she was given a good meal by her mate during her outing, because it has been slim pickings tonight.

Busy

2010-03-31T20:08:00.000-07:00

We've had a busy week and haven't updated much. Mrs. Owl is working on a decent-sized bird, which is now cached in the box. She splits her time between eating from it and incubating the eggs. You can see the bird in the third picture.

It's Four, And a Bird

2010-03-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

On Sunday the 28th, Mrs. Owl spent all day in the box. She did give us a glimpse that clearly showed 4 eggs in the box (second photo).
In the eveing, she went up at 8pm, and left from 8:06-8:17 pm. She is taking shorter and shorter breaks.

Mr. Owl started feeding her soon after she got back. He fed her at 8:26, 8:29, 8:39 (moth), 8:48 (spider), 9:21 (lizard), 1:30am (bird). You can see the bird delivered in the first photo. We can't tell what species it is, as it is too ruffled, and is likely missing its head. She proceeded to eat it, and continued munching on it over next 1.5 hours. She received no other food deliveries until 7:06am (lizard or grasshopper).
Her morning break was from 6:06-6:12 Monday morning. Very short.
She spent all day incubating and turning the eggs, and preening, which is all she does all day.

Possibly Four Eggs

2010-03-28T06:52:00.000-07:00

We may have 4 eggs. This snapshot seems to show a shadow on the leftmost egg that could be a 4th egg. We'll have to hope for a reshuffling of the eggs so we can get a better view.

During the night, Mrs. Owl had an interesting encounter with a cockroach that got in the nestbox. She noticed it, and tracked it (photo 2), and then tried to lunge for it (photo 3). But the perches seemed to get in the way, and it escaped out the top of the door.
Mrs. Owl had a fairly ordinary night, however, with no feedings after midnight. She did leave from 12:00-12:08am, so perhaps she was given some food then. Her morning outing was from 6:08-6:32, a bit earlier than usual.

Incubation Continues

2010-03-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Owl is continuing her incubation with relatively few feedings from Mr. Owl. Last night, she was only fed 3 times after midnight (3:50, 6:02, and 6:30). However, she did leave for 15 minutes in the middle of the night (4:19), so she may have gone out to share a larger meal, such as a bird or rodent. She took her morning outing from 6:55 to 7:09 am.
She spent a typical day in the box, preening, turning around, and dozing. I noticed that she seems to doze in 1 / 2 hour doses, then moves around for a while or preens, and then dozes again.
Saturday evening, she left for half an hour, from 8:01 to 8:32. It looked like she had 3 eggs, but they are pretty close to the bottom of the view, so we can't be sure whether or not she laid a 4th today. She had been laying one every 2 days up through March 25th, so if a 4th were to be laid, today would have been the expected date. But we have seen variation and delays in the past, so nothing is certain.
This evening (Saturday), so far, she has been fed 5 times, in two batches between 8:38 and 9:02, and then 11:02 – 11:03. They mostly were too small to identify, though one looked a bit bigger, perhaps grasshopper-sized.

Looks Like Three

2010-03-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

This shot from an overnight food delivery looks like three eggs. One is a little forward, mostly off-camera, but it does look like an egg-shaped shadow.

Three?

2010-03-25T21:55:00.000-07:00

There are two bits of news tonight. First, we believe there are now three eggs. The last picture in the group shows that most convincingly, although it could be just a shadow of something else.

The second news is that Mr. Owl has started feeding his mate, and she appears to be in 24x7 incubation mode. She left only once Wednesday morning, for an hour from 5:52 to 7:06 am She was in the box all day, never going up into the entranceway, except to leave for 25 minutes from 8:19 to 8:45 pm. She has been in the box all evening so far, the first pre-midnight incubation session. Mr. Owl was very diligent, feeding her 5 times in 25 minutes, between 9:05 and 9:30. It appeared to be small items like insects, as we only once got a glimpse of anything much in her bill. However, whatever cache of food he had discovered dried up, as he only came back for one more feeding, this between 11:00 and midnight.
Stay tuned. Hopefully we'll get a better look at the eggs when she leaves for her morning outing.

Eyes

2010-03-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Owl spent most of the day in the box, returning at 12:35 am. She did a lot of preening. You can see in the last photo how she closes her eyes while she preens. This is very important, for her eyes are her life. As a predator, if she suffered an eye injury, even if temporary, it could be fatal, as she would have great difficulty hunting. I've put some good pictures of eyes in tonight's blog.

Actually, for the next 6 weeks, she is mostly off the hook, as her mate will be doing most or all of the hunting once she starts incubating 24 hours a day. He is not yet coming to the box with food, so it is not yet clear whether she is still doing her own hunting. She left for 2 periods after midnight, from 2:12 – 3:58 am, and from 5:50 – 7:02 a.m. During this time, she may have hunted, or she may have just gone out to receive some food that her mate had found. This combined with her long break from sunset to 12:35 a.m. at the beginning of the night would have given her over 7 hours to hunt.

During the day, she sat in the entryway once from 3:23 – 3:29pm, and then again at 7:07 pm before her 7:47 pm departure. Tonight was cloudy, so 7:47 served as dusk. We had a big rainstorm tonight, and she stayed out in it. This is the second time she has stayed out in a big downpour. She doesn't seem to use the box as shelter from rain, as one would think she would. It doesn't seem that she could do much hunting in the rain, and why would she want to be out in it? Perhaps she shields herself under a leaf canopy or an overhanging branch. However, the wind in tonight's rain would have still rendered her pretty wet. Only she knows. Maybe cockroaches come out in the rain and make for good snacks.

Still only 2 eggs. If she lays more, the next will probably come tomorrow. 2 days apart is quite normal.

Two Eggs

2010-03-23T22:09:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Owl was out all of last night, from 8:06 pm Monday night until 5:45 am Tuesday morning. The first photo shows her returning. She spent all day incubating and turning the egg. Occasionally she preened her feathers. Sometime between 7:23 am and 4:36 pm she laid another egg. She never got off the first egg long enough for us to see exactly when in that stretch the second egg was laid.

Tonight, she left around sunset, and hasn't been back in 4 hours so far.

Monday night was a cold night for spring, dipping into the upper forties, so she probably hasn't started incubating the eggs in earnest. Once she starts incubating them, she will only take short 5-20 minute morning and evening breaks, relying entirely on her partner for hunting.

In our experience, full-time incubation usually starts with the second egg, so tonight may be the last night she spends any significant time outside the box.

Unlike some birds, owls start incubating before the full clutch is complete, which leads to staggered hatching, 1-2 days apart. This means the eldest owlet will be significantly bigger than the youngest at first. This, combined with the owls' tendency to feed the most aggressive, means that if the food supply ends up being disappointingly small, the youngest will probably starve. Luckily, this year, the abundant rains probably will mean an abundant supply of insects and reptiles, and all hatched will probably make it.

This strategy allows owls to maximize brood size without knowing in advance how good the food supply is going to be. The youngest ones are a reproductive bonus, if the food supply ends up being average to good. But in a bad year, while some may die, it ensures that at least some get enough food to survive and fledge. The alternative could be starvation for everyone in a famine. A seemingly harsh strategy, but in nature, whatever strategy produces the largest number over time will tend to flood out the rest of the strategies, just by sheer exponential math. This is the basic mechanism of evolution: It's not really survival of the fittest. It's flooding of the gene pool by the reproductive strategies that produce the most surviving offspring, generation after generation. They do have to be fit enough to survive to reproduce and pass on an above average batch of youngsters, hence the notion of fitness. But it's really a game of numbers, not strength.

It's not all quite so cold and calculating as the previous description suggests. We have observed owls ignoring taller offspring and pushing down to feed smaller ones. But we haven't really experienced a year of famine, and our friend Chris Johnson has experienced young owls dying and becoming food for their siblings.

An egg and a bird

2010-03-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

Sometime this afternoon, Mrs.Owl laid an egg. We think there was a photo from about 2:10pm in which there was no egg, and then at about 4:02pm, you can clearly see an egg.
Also visible in this photo is a bird in Mrs. Owl's mouth. We haven't had time to review last night's photos to see when it was brought in, or what species it may be.

Wet Morning

2010-03-20T05:37:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Owl just returned to the box about 7:34am after enduring a huge thunderstorm outside the box. We have no idea why she didn't just return to the box before the storm started. Those are raindrops on the glass that she brought in on her body.

Interesting Photos from Today

2010-03-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

In the first, you can see her "ear" tufts in reaction to my stepping out into the yard. She had been in the doorway, and I didn't realize it. She dropped down. However, she was back in the door watching the morning a few minutes later.

In the second picture, she is stretching up just before she climbs onto the upper perch, using her wings as leverage.

In the third picture, she watches from a recessed position. I think she really likes this upper perch.

Here for the Day

2010-03-17T20:32:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Owl showed up at 11:32 on March 16th, after 2 full days absence. She spent about 25 minutes in the box, rearranging the nest floor. She returned at 12:56am for 12 more minutes, and then stayed out all night until 7:24 am on the 17th. She is still out hunting at night, and will do so until she (hopefully) lays and starts sitting on eggs.
She stayed all day, sitting up in the entryway a few times during the day. She left at 7:53pm, returning an hour later at 8:51, but only for 6 minutes. Right now she is out of the box, hopefully on a St. Patty's Day date with Mr. Owl. We hope to find her in the box in the morning, and maybe with an egg.

Nobody home

2010-03-16T06:03:00.000-07:00

Nobody visited the box last night. We'll probably have to wait and see what happens tonight.

Here To Stay?

2010-03-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning we woke to find Mrs. Owl in the box, probably to stay put for the day! She paid us a brief visit Saturday night at about 8:50pm, but only stayed a few minutes. Sunday morning, she showed up at 7:10 am for a few minutes, and then again at 7:36 and stayed all day. She spent quite a while firmly planted on the top perch (thanks Max for that idea!).

We've had a few brief visits by wasps, too. Hopefully they won't decide to try to set up shop in there.

She stayed all day, even showing herself in the opening a couple of times. At 7:55pm she left, returning 20 minutes later, a fairly typical time for an evening "constitutional" (bathing, pooping, spitting out a pellet, etc.) But instead of staying the night, she only stayed for 5 minutes, and we haven't seen her since (it's now 9:06pm Monday night).

Hopefully she'll return tonight and spend another day in the box.

Morning Visit

2010-03-13T07:32:00.000-08:00

At 5:43 this morning, an owl visited for 6 minutes. This was likely Mrs. Owl, as she moved around the nesting material on the bottom of the box during the visit. We think we've only seen this behavior from Mrs. Owl. So, hopefully, she is preparing the accommodations for a lengthy stay.

The camera was out of commission yesterday evening, so we don't know whether anyone visited last night.

Squirrel Visit

2010-03-12T07:34:00.000-08:00

Brief squirrel visit at 7:15 this morning.

First Visit

2010-03-11T20:28:00.000-08:00

Last night, an owl visited! Based on past experience, it was likely the female, as she seemed interested in the interior of the box, but we can't be sure. The owl arrived at about 7:21pm, staying for about a minute, and then came back at 7:27, staying for 10 minutes. Hopefully, the female will come to stay in a few days and start laying eggs. In our box, the egg-laying has usually happened pretty quickly. They don't spend much time setting up house.

And they're gone

2009-06-01T22:20:00.000-07:00

The last owlet had a mostly quiet day in the box. He did seem to take advantage of having all the room with no brothers in the way. He walked around the box, stared at the camera compartment and at things in the box (ants?) He stretched his wings (look at the beautiful flight feathers in photo 3). The flight feathers had grown in just 30 days since hatching. In the evening, rather late (about 8:40pm), he went into the doorway and looked around. But then he popped down again and we thought it was getting a bit dark for him to venture out.
However, around 9:00, he got active again, stretching wings and climbing around. Then he got up in the entrance and sat a couple of minutes, but with his feet safely planted on the inside rim of the hole. Then he did what his two siblings did before, and shifted the feet and his weight to the front rim of the entrance. And then he was gone.
It was too dark to see where he went, but I heard the sound of him crashing into leaves, so I think he landed in a tree. I went to look with a flashlight, to be sure he was safely off the ground from cats, and didn't find him. We can only hope for the best at this stage, but we have yet to end up with an owlet on the ground. One owlet one year ended up on a the compost pile fencing, but the rest have all landed in trees.
We may or may not be able to locate them in the branches the next couple of days, but after that, this will likely be the last time we'll see them. They should spend the summer in our neighborhood, learning to fly and hunt. Then, they'll be chased off the territory to avoid inbreeding, and will find homes of their own. We feel very fortunate that they chose to nest with us again. We've learned some lessons about bee management, and will likely be able to allow bees and owls to be peacefully separated should this happen again.
We thank all those people who watched the screechcam this year, and told us their own nestbox, owl, and bird stories, or just told us how much they were enjoying it. Hopefully we've entertained and educated a few people with this story. Join us again next year. We'll try to send out an update on twitter and the yahoo group when the season begins again.

And then there was one

2009-06-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

This morning, the second owlet fledged. It was quite a busy night with lots of moving around, some mutual preening of feathers, and some jostling for the entrance hole. They did some wing stretches (photo 1). The parents continued to bring food (photo 2). Then, close to 6:10am, one of the owlets (we assume the middle child, but can't know), got up in the entrance. He sat there for a couple of minutes, then moved his feet further out, so they were sitting on the outside ledge. After a couple more minutes, he flew. His nestmate looked up suddently at his departure, and within 7 seconds was up in the window himself. But he must not have felt ready to follow suit, and came back down. He was fed soon afterwards (photo 3: a cicada). You can see him gulping it back in photo 4. Why leave when food keeps coming in? We're expecting a departure tonight, but will wait and see. The sycamore and cedar elm trees that they perched in last year in the days following fledging are much sparser in leaf due to the drought. I looked for, and failed to find the fledged two this evening, so perhaps they are staying down in the denser-leaved ligustrum or live oak branches.
Now we wait to see what the remaining nestling will do tonight.

I Fledge Allegiance

2009-05-29T19:48:00.000-07:00

At 8:10pm tonight, the first owlet stepped up to the window, got first one, then two feet out, looked around, and flew off into the trees next to the box. All of this took 40 seconds, although he had earlier spent a good amount of time in the window before dusk set it. He actually hovered for a second or two as he looked for a place to land. Other fledging flights we have seen in the past have been more direct downward glides. This one has been in the box an extra 2 or 3 days beyond the average, and has probably developed his flight muscles and feathers to the degree that he is capable of slightly more sustained flying. He will still spend most of his time walking in the branches for the next part of his life, but he has achieved freedom from the box.
Meanwhile, back in the box, there have been no feedings as of 9:45 pm, so the parents seem to be either starving them as inducement to leave, or focusing their attention on the first fledgling (or both of the above.)
Early dusk is the normal fledging time we have seen in the past, although last year we did have 2 owlets fledge on the same night, with the second one being closer to 10pm. But in that case, he was the last of 4 to leave, so was probably quite ready to be out of the box. This year, due to the bee incident the box material isn't smelly and full of poop and bone fragments. We have always thought that ought to be a strong incentive to leave on time.
We found one of the parents vigilantly watching the whole thing in the bush just behind the nest tree. We also heard a Barred Owl not far from our property shortly after the fledging, so this added a bit of nervous tension to the evening. (Barred Owls are much bigger, and predate on Screech Owls, among other birds, rodents, etc.)
We'll keep an eye on what the other two do.

Getting Ready to Go

2009-05-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

We thought one of the owlets would go tonight. He sat in the entrance for a good while at dusk, with his feet perched on the outside rim of the hole. He looked down, up, and all around, getting a good look at his surroundings. But in the end, two successive feeding parents came, and he stepped back inside, seemingly having decided that another night of food inside the box was a good idea. Shortly afterwards, there was quite a scramble inside the box for position near the door. But later all three settled down on the box floor, content to just wait for what was to come.

According to Gehlbach, owlets lose a bit of weight in the last week or so in the box. He speculates that this may be due to less food being available later in the season, but also because parents may withhold food in order to encourage fledging.

We hope they choose to fledge soon. They are definitely due, as the average is around 26-30 days (27.7 +/- 1.8 for you statistical types). It's time for the next stage of their lives to begin!

Getting Ready

2009-05-27T00:15:00.000-07:00

Lots of time this evening spent contemplating the outside world. In one photo you can see the parent visiting with food. These were taken with a long lens from our deck. Fledging is likely within a day or two, usually around dusk.

Day in the Life

2009-05-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

I've put together a time-lapse video of yesterday (May 23, 2009) in the owlets' life:

This looks like non-stop action, but in reality, there are some long periods with no action. The motion detector software doesn't capture these, so it looks more frantic than it is. But it gives a little peek into what they do all day, from midnight to midnight.

One day I'll have time to learn how to slow down the action during feedings so they can be seen better, but this is a start.

In case you missed it, here's a video from when they were younger. This one has an audio track and annotations of what's going on:

Enjoy.

Stretching

2009-05-24T10:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a day for the owlets to do a lot of stretching and climbing. At times they hung their heads down in a comical fashion as they dozed. They stretched wings, stood up tall, and at several points, all three of them were up on the railings and off the floor. They are taking short stints in the doorway, looking out at the world. These are the first owlets we've had that have actually seen the world in a dramatic way before leaving the box voluntarily. We can only speculate what they must think of it all, and what they must think of people.

A bit of lizard tail hanging out of the mouth.

Happy Together

2009-05-23T01:57:00.000-07:00

The littlest owlet came home from the opthalmologist with a clean bill of health. The eyelid still has some swelling, but the eye is fine. So, we got him home in time for the evening feeding. All three are eagerly awaiting meals. Early on in the evening, one or the other of the owlets waited in the doorway to guarantee receipt of the food. When food arrived, the owlet often was pushed backward a bit, but usually held on and didn't fall or lose the advantageous position.

The Vet

2009-05-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

Working with our raptor rehabber, we've decided to take the youngest owlet to her, to take in to the veterinary opthalmologist today. He will be back in the box before feeding starts tonight, if all goes well with the eye exam. The eye is open but the lid is still swollen.
The remaining 2 owlets are getting quite acrobatic. One of them even sat in the entranceway for a few minutes.

Open Eyes

2009-05-22T00:27:00.000-07:00

The update on the bee saga is that right eyelid of the youngest owlet seems to be reducing its swelling. In the 2nd and 3rd photos, you can see the youngest owlet, which spent most of the evening on the rear railing, has its eyes open. Although it still has its left eye closed a lot of the time, the eye can open, and appears to have a nice pupil and iris. We are still monitoring it to see whether a veterinary opthalmologist needs to be consulted, but if things continue to improve in the next day, we think we're out of the woods.
The other 2 owlets continue to seem normal, although the oldest one still seems to have a swollen cere. We're not worried about it, as the nostrils seem wide open. None of the owlets are displaying any kind of abnormal behavior, being quite active, self-preening, and climbing around on the railings.
Soon, we expect wing-flapping and exercising to begin in earnest, as the owlets will begin to learn how to use their wings in anticipation of their first big flight to the tree branches within a week or so.

Cleanings

2009-05-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

Regular watchers of our camera will have noticed the fog that developed over the camera window yesterday. When we cleaned the box during the bee incident, we must have cleaned it inadequately. Today, I went up to clean it. I took the opportunity to check on the owlets, and only one of them now has an eye swollen shut. So, they're on the mend.

I also did a bit of research on the No Pest Strips that killed the bees. They contain a nerve agent, called dichlorvos, that the EPA has considered banning. It is a nerve agent developed around WWII, and has caused birth defects in rodent studies. It can cause lung, eye, and muscle problems, and death. The idea behind it's "safety" is that in low doses, it is much more toxic to insects than to people.

According to OSHA:
1. Effects on Animals: Dichlorvos is an anticholinesterase agent and may cause excessive salivation, eye tearing, sweating, constricted pupils, respiratory distress, anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, twitching, paralysis, a slow and irregular heartbeat, convulsions, coma, and death [Hathaway et al. 1991]. Dichlorvos also has reproductive effects and causes malformed offspring in rodents. The acute toxicity of dichlorvos for laboratory animals is significantly high; the dermal LD(50) for rabbits is 107 mg/kg and 80 mg/kg in rats; and the acute oral LD(50) in rats is 25 mg/kg [NIOSH 1995; ACGIH 1991; Sax and Lewis 1989]....
2. Effects on Humans: Dichlorvos is an organophosphorus pesticide and is therefore a cholinesterase inhibitor. Overexposure to this substance causes symptoms that vary by route of exposure. Inhalation causes ocular and respiratory symptoms. Ingestion causes gastrointestinal effects, while skin absorption causes localized sweating and muscle twitching in the area where entry occurred. If exposure is severe, muscle weakness, twitching, fasciculation, and paralysis may occur. Paralysis of the respiratory muscles may cause death. Cardiac irregularities, including complete heart block, may also occur [Hathaway et al. 1991]. Dichlorvos is easily absorbed through the skin, gastrointestinal tract, and lungs because of its high volatility [Parmeggiani 1983].

And according to the New Zealand Environmental Risk Management Authority:

Dichlorvos is also very ecotoxic to aquatic organisms, birds and honeybees.

We decided that as small and fast-growing as the owlets are, it could definitely cause them some problems, so I took down one of the strips in the morning. With no additional bees by 2pm, we knocked down the other strip, and have left them toxic-free.

Bees!!

2009-05-18T23:46:00.000-07:00

It started a normal day, like any other in owland. Mrs. Owl spent over an hour in the box in the morning preening the owlets. One of the owlets even made an attempt to get to that interesting doorway where all the comings and goings are. What must that world be like out there?
Well, starting at 1:36, the world began to come to them. For 4 hours bees came in and out, investigating the box, with perhaps 25 or so present at any one time.
Then, suddenly, at 5:40pm, they began to swarm in by the hundreds, exploring the walls, the floor, and eventually clustering on the ceiling. The owlets seemed rather disturbed by all this, but eventually things settled down.
We became very concerned what would happen during the night with all the comings and goings of feeding. We called around to a wildlife rehabber, various beekeepers, and Fred Gehlbach (author of “The Eastern Screech Owl,” the definitive book). The general advice was to get a beekeeper to remove the bees, but the beekeeper we talked to had tried twice already this season with smoke, vacuum, and dust, and neither set of owlets had survived the ordeal. We were also told that there were cases of bees and owls peacefully coexisting, but this didn't seem likely, given the quantity of bees on the ceiling and all the comings and goings related to feeding. So, we took the advice to hang Hot Shot No Pest Strips, which smell foul, have a poison that doesn't harm birds, and was supposed to drive the bees away. We thought this would gradually drive the bees off, as they flew out and chose not to fly back in.
Unfortunately, what began to happen, though, was that the bees began to sicken, and fall to the floor, interacting with the owlets. The owlets began to flick their wings and twitch as if being stung or trying to get the bees off themselves. We called around quickly again, and made the emergency decision to bring the box down and remove the owlets, as the floor was now crawling with bees.
It is always best for baby birds to be raised by their parents if at all possible. So our idea was to clean the bees out of the box, get the owlets a medical checkup, and then return them the same night, or as soon as possible, to the care of their parents.
We gently placed the owlets in a cardboard box filled with wood shavings, and went to our friend Sallie, a raptor rehabilitator. She gave them a thorough checkup. Two of them had been stung on the eyelids, and the eyes were thus swollen shut. The other had been stung on the cere (the flesh that partly covers the bill and nostrils). But they seemed all right, if a bit shell shocked. They spent the whole time out of their nestbox very huddled down, hoping not to be noticed, and seeming very lethargic. But Sallie said they're just terrified, and exhibiting normal defensive behavior.
She then fed them some freshly carved mice to make up for their missing the best feeding part of the evening. She mostly had to open their bills and place it in their mouths directly, because they were so unwilling to move. They did swallow it on their own. She fed them in a box with an older owlet under her care, so he could reassure them with his confident eating behavior.
It is extremely important for owlets to eat whole animal food, bones and all. They need the calcium for their bones to develop properly. Many an owlet hand-raised by non-experts has ended up crippled for life by being fed hamburger or other inappropriate owl foods.
Upon returning home, we cleaned the box, refilled it with wood shavings (never sawdust!), put the owlets back in, and hoisted it back up the tree. Within 20 minutes, the parents began coming with food again. The owlets began acting normal, preening, reaching to take food, and probably happy that the nightmare was over, and the maid service had cleaned the box, to boot. You may notice the clearer view that the camera has.
More photos at Picasa.

Mother

2009-05-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

We found Mrs. Owl outside the box this evening. She doesn't spend much time in the box any more, as it is so hot.

We're sorry we haven't had much time to blog and post photos from the box this year. Things have gotten busy, but below is a little selection. The ants are now a constant stream, but they don't seem to be causing any hardship with whatever food scraps they must be eating.

A Busy Evening

2009-05-04T22:35:00.000-07:00

This has been a busy evening in a number of ways. After her evening break, Mrs. Owl returned with a gecko (photo 1). She began to feed it to the owlets. Merely 2 minutes into this process, Mr. Owl arrived with a lizard. He expected his usual reception, which is for Mrs. Owl to reach up to the doorway and grab it from him. However, her mouth was full of gecko, so he came down into the box. A lot of confusion resulted, in which he tried to hand it to her, as the owlet heads bobbed up and down in anticipation of all this lovely food. (photo 2). As he could get nobody to take his offering (the owlets being too small to grab a whole lizard), he left after about a minute (photo 3).

The next chapter of this unusual evening involved a fair bit of worry on our part. After Mr. Owl left, we heard a Barred Owl call in the back yard. Barred Owls are much bigger owls that eat, among other things, Screech Owls. There have been a pair of Barred Owls in our neighborhood since last summer, and on occasional nights during the last few months, we have heard their "YOOOOU-aaaall" or the full "Who cooks for you, who cooks for YOOOOU-aaaall?" song. We have been concerned that they might prevent or interrupt the Screech Owl nesting by eating one or both of the parents.
So after hearing the Barred Owl call tonight, we didn't see Mr. Owl for nearly 2 hours. During this time, Mrs. Owl went out several times, sometimes for as long as 23 minutes, and returned with food each time. We began to get concerned that perhaps something had happened to Mr. Owl, and she was being forced to hunt for the owlets' dinner. We began to speculate on what we would do if he did disappear, when he finally showed up with a food delivery. It turns out we missed a couple of deliveries that were recorded on the camera frame captures on the computer. But he was absent for over an hour, and Mrs. Owl's hunting behavior was unusual. Our conclusion is that it was a rather warm night (still over 70 degrees at midnight), and that perhaps she didn't need to incubate the owlets all the time. Perhaps she decided she might as well join the hunting effort. That or a bit of cabin fever.

Just the Three of Us

2009-05-02T05:14:00.000-07:00

It's definitely three owlets now.

In the second photo, Mrs. Owl feeds a baby.

In the third photo, you can clealy see 3 little fuzzy bodies.

The Egg and Us

2009-05-01T08:21:00.000-07:00

The owlets now have the strength to hold their heads up, though they spend a lot of their time snuggled up with their sister (or brother) inside the egg. Most of the day, they're not visible, but a couple of times yesterday, Mrs. Owl got up in the window and we could see the babies. We'll try to use Twitter to send instantaneous updates when the babies are visible. This is the only valuable use of Twitter I've discovered so far.
Last night, after a long, hungry day, the owlets got many feedings from their mother. You can see her feeding an owlet below, with eyes closed for safety. You don't want an overeager beak in your eye, when it is your best hunting asset.
Ants have also moved into the box, and can be seen marching in lines along the sides of the box. These are non-stinging Acrobat ants, and are only harmful to the degree that they eat any food that Mrs. Owl caches in the box for daytime feedings. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to clear them out, or prevent them getting in without disrupting the nesting, so they're here to stay.

And there are two!

2009-04-29T20:22:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-04-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-27T19:04:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-14T06:45:00.000-07:00

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.

Two Visits

2009-03-11T18:23:00.000-07:00

Early this morning, about 2:50 am we had two brief owl visits, presumably by Mrs. Owl. She did some looking around at the furniture, and a little bit of rearranging the nesting materials.

When we woke up, we found the box occupied, and thought nesting had started. But closer inspection revealed it was a squirrel, doing her own rearrangement of the nesting materials. We quickly went down with a long stick and tapped on the box, which sent her fleeing.

Both visitors looked like they were investigating a possible future home.

Visitor and Pantry

2009-03-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

We have now had one brief owl visit (7:30pm March 4th). Unfortunately, the motion detector software didn't grab it. We have increased the sensitivity, now that we know the owls are looking at the box.
We have also had another occasional visitor, a curious squirrel. We've managed to scare him off by tossing tiny pebbles at the side of the box. This is intended to avoid injuries, but get the box chewer out of there so the owls can feel comfortable with nesting, and not have their internal furniture turned into wood shavings.
The box also comes with a stocked owl pantry, apparently. This cockroach, if he sticks around, is likely to become an owl snack. Who can argue with room and board?

Getting Ready for 2009 Season

2009-02-08T15:49:00.000-08:00

Last season, we weren't very diligent in taking down the owlbox after the owlets fledged, because we were so busy getting President Obama elected. In our neglect, a family of squirrels moved in and built this leaf nest.
They also remodeled to remove furniture that didn't agree with their tastes. This included the interior perch and the climbing ladder on the back wall.

Luckily our friend Max, who originally built the box, agreed to re-renovate it. He used a natural wood theme.

This weekend, we put the box back up the tree, and installed the cameras. Unfortunately, the video capture card decided to come unsoldered, so we need to replace that.

But after that, we put on the motion detector and wait!

Last 2 fledged!

2008-05-12T21:26:00.000-07:00

The two remaining owlets fledged this evening. The first one, in the first photo, fledged very early, around 6:20pm, when it was still quite light outside. Julia was watching the videocamera from inside, and saw lots of shenanigans going on inside the box. The owlet seemed to be playing games, and then all of a sudden was gone. She thinks he may not have intended to go so early. It was the youngest of the brood, as you can see by the extensive downy fuzz in the first photo.
It landed quite low, about 4 feet above the ground in a shrub. It didn't really move for the first hour, and we heard some bill clapping and vocalizations from the parents. They may have been telling it to stay put. There were active blue jays, cardinals, titmice, and squirrels, who from time to time fussed at it. We had to chase a neighborhood cat out of the yard, which was only about 15 feet from the owlet. We're not sure whether it had seen the owlet, but it definitely was a threat. As it got closer to dusk, the owlet made its way up the branches to about 20 feet in height, where we lost track of it in the dense leaves. The parents were both nearby, and may have been encouraging it to go a certain direction.
Meanwhile, inside the box, to our puzzlement, the other owlet slept on the internal railing. In the past the other owlets have been very curious about fledged brethren, watching them from the entrance as soon as they left. But this one had no interest in what was happening to its little baby brother/sister.
At dusk several food deliveries arrived, including 3 Texas Blind Snakes within five minutes. The owlet stayed on the railing, and made the parent reach way in to deliver these to it. Around 8:30, the owlet did start hanging out in the doorway, and at times leaned way out. We were sure it would fledge during some of these stretches, but it always pulled back in. It even took a little nap.
Then, to our surprise, around 10:00pm, it went back to the entrance, leaned out a few times, and then vanished. We did not expect a fledging during such darkness, as all prior fledgings had been near dawn or dusk. We rushed out, and turned on the porch light in order to find the fledgling, and make sure it had had a safe landing. We soon found it in a tree limb 20 feet out from the box, and at the same altitude. It must have made a level 20-foot flight, which is quite amazing for it's first foray. We snapped a few photos, like the one on the left, and then turned out the light to leave it to climb in peace. We were able to watch its little silhouette climbing the branch towards the crown of the tree. We saw a vigilant parent nearby. At some point, it squawked and buzzed us, and we knew it was time to head inside. So ends our owlcam adventure for 2008.
The owlets are only beginning their journey. They will spend the next few days mostly walking in the branches, and are commonly called "branchers." They will have a long summer perfecting their flight and learning to hunt from their parents. Then, as fall and winter approach, they will be forced from the territory to start families of their own.
We'll continue to look for them in the trees in the next few days. We'll also bring down the box soon to examine the contents, and will post photos of that. So stay tuned...

Two Fledged!

2008-05-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

Two of the owlets fledged overnight. One fledged around 8pm in the evening, and the other around 6:20am this morning. Although we missed the actual fledging event, we found the owlet sitting on a fence post shortly after he went. By a series of short flights and hops, he made his way to the compost pile, back to the nest tree, to a telephone wire, and back to the tree.
Last night was quite rainy, and when he first fledged, he ended up on a slick fence board lying at an angle. He had to scramble his way up that board to be able to perch on the top. You can see that in the first photo. From there, he took a short flight and ended up on the compost pile. We and the parents were all watching this with great interest. The second photo shows a vigilant parent.

We lost track of him for a few minutes in the compost pile, but eventually, he climbed to the top of the wooden frame. From there, he had to take a big leap of faith and flew toward the nest tree, grabbing onto the lowest twig of the lowest limb of a neighboring tree, hanging upside down. He recovered himself, and worked his way up that shrub, until he got to the rope that anchors the box in the tree. He climbed that rope to the nest tree, and then walked up the trunk, using his wings for lift. Once he reached the level of the telephone wire, he worked his way along it, before discovering that it lead nowhere useful. He worked his way back to the tree, and we lost track of him in the dark.Meanwhile, inside the box, as soon as the first owlet fledged the other owlets, who had been preening, wheeled their heads around to look at the empty hole. One of them instantly jumped to the entrance to look around. All 3 took turns watching. One of them came very far out of the box, and we were sure he was going to fledge, too. At one point, we could see all 4 front toes over the edge of the box. The owlet made some squawking sounds. The parents may have been quietly vocalizing, too. Eventually, the second owlet backed into the box, and didn't fledge.
Feedings came all night, and at about 6:20 in the morning, the second owlet fledged, but we weren't around to see it. So, now we have 2 in and 2 out.
W found one of the owlets in a tree this morning, but couldn't find the other. We only found one of the parents (fourth photo) keeping a cryptic vigilance on the box. As neither parent was near the owlet we assumed that it must be guarding the other fledgling. Normally, the fledged owlets are guarded very closely. Perhaps the second owlet flew off in a totally different direction and the other parent had to follow it.

Waiting for Dinner

2008-05-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the owlets in the window waiting for dark and food deliveries to start. We watched from the porch. The owlet spent a lot of time looking at us, but once we stopped moving, it looked all around, and eventually rested its head on the box. It likes to watch planes go overhead. Big noisy birds. It will also watch any bird that flies by at dusk.

Eventually, the food deliveries started, and I got lucky to catch this photo just after delivery of a bloodied gecko. We've seen geckos swallowed many times in the box, but never from the outside. This happened when it was too dark to see details, but I caught it with the camera on a long exposure.

In the box this evening, there was lots of activity. The owlets are practicing flying inside the box. They fly up to the ceiling, to the hole, to the perch. Obviously there isn't much room, but they are stretching their wings a lot and using them for these hop-flights inside the box. Fledging should happen very soon.

In the Door

2008-05-05T18:23:00.000-07:00

One of the babies showed us a face for the first time in the doorway, this evening. If he sits in the doorway once feeding begins tonight, he will get all the food the parents bring, until he steps down. If this happens, hopefully he will get full soon, and go down to have a snooze, so his siblings can eat, too. Fledging will likely happen this week sometime, so stay tuned.

Inside the box, the owlets have managed to smudge the plexiglass, so the view is a bit hazy, but you can still get a good idea of what is going on. The owlets are using the interior railing a lot more, and clambering around inside, strengthening their muscles. At one point one of them even climbed the slats all the way to the ceiling and hung there for a minute.

Stretching

2008-04-30T21:30:00.000-07:00

Lately, the owlets have been stretching a lot, getting a feel for their fast-growing bodies. They frequently stand tall, as this one is seen doing. They also lean forward in a stretching pose, sometimes, and often stretch their wings, which as you can see in the third photo, are getting nicely feathered. When they fledge in 1-2 weeks, they will actually be able to fly (though more like a glide), even though the feathers won't be fully developed.
They are also, as you can see, hungry. But with warm nights returning again, both parents have been very diligently bringing food. A couple of nights ago, when it dipped into the 40's, Mrs. Owl spent some of the night keeping the owlets warm. But with tonight in the 60's, she is out hunting.

Big and Hungry

2008-04-24T23:17:00.000-07:00

The owlets are getting big, and hungry. Now that the owlets no longer require incubation, both parents spend the evening hunting. Mrs. Owl even spent much of the afternoon outside the box. I was alerted to this by a screeching Blue Jay, who found her, and pestered her in her perch. She perched in several places, mostly within a few feet of the tree, but I even saw her do a bit of hunting this afternoon.
The owlets now have the dexterity to no longer trip over the nest material when they move, and have begun standing up tall at times, and stretching their wings. Growing feathers are visible on the wings, and their downy heads and bodies are darkening as the body feathers grow. But right now the owlets still seem 90% beak and stomach. At least to Mrs. Owl taking refuge in the back.

Four Heads

2008-04-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention that we have counted 4 heads, since at least yesterday. With all the bouncing and jostling, it is hard to tell when the 4th head appeared, but the 4th owlet is at least a day old now. Also, it appears that Mrs. Owl is hunting tonight, as the warm weather has freed her from incubation, at least until tonight's cold front and rains hit.

The Whole Thing

2008-04-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

I was watching live, and saw an amazing thing. Mrs. Owl was out on a break, and Mr. Owl brought a gecko, and one of the babies took it and ate it whole! You can see about 3/4 of the gecko sticking out of his mouth in this photo.
Male owls do not know how to tear up food for owlets. Normally, at this early stage, when the female owl is out of the box, and the male comes with a delivery, he will look stupidly at the owlets, perhaps trying in vain to feed one of them the huge morsel, and then give up and fly away with the food. Sometimes, Mrs. Owl will come in soon afterwards with the item, having received a handoff of the item from Mr. Owl outside the box.
Today was a very warm day (in the 80's), and Mrs. Owl has been taking long breaks from owlet incubation, sitting up in the window and watching the world. When the air is this warm, she doesn't need to keep them warm with her body. This evening, Mrs. Owl has taken some long breaks outside the box.
We heard one bizarre related story in which the female owl of a nest box died while the owlets were young, and the male, not knowing how to feed them continued to drop food items into the box. The dead owlets were found under a pile of uneaten insects and other prey items when the box was cleaned out later in the season. So, the survival of the owlets really hinges on both parents. Mr. Owl must continue to bring the food, and Mrs. Owl must continue to feed it to them until they grow large enough to tear items for themselves. An accident (neighborhood cat, roadkill) would doom the entire brood. This is one reason our cat, Nimbus, is strictly an indoor cat. Her own health and safety is the other reason. More on this issue is at: http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/cats/

Three Hungry Owlets

2008-04-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

It's been looking like popcorn underneath Mrs. Owl when we get our fleeting glimpses of the babies. In this photo we can definitely see 3 little heads. Mr. Owl has been extra busy. He is in the doorway with one of many nighttime food deliveries in this shot.
She took her longest outing since the owlets began hatching this pre-dawn for 6 luxurious minutes. Then it was back to the nest to keep the owlets warm and incubate the fourth and last egg.

More Hatching

2008-04-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

Sometime yesterday or last night another egg (or possibly 2) hatched. In the first photo, you cansee the tiny head of one owlet, resting on a second owlet. There was one point where we thought we might have been seeing 3 heads, but that is not very likely, as the other eggs shouldn't be hatching yet. Their bodies are about the same size as their heads, so it's very confusing.

In the second photo, you can see a delivery of a large food item, either a mouse or a bird. We couldn't quite tell. After prey items arrive, we see a lot of activity as Mrs. Owl breaks off tiny pieces to feed to the owlets. We can't really see what's going on, because she is on top of all the action. But we do see her head moving a lot, reaching underneath her body where the owlets are.
In the last photo, you can see Mrs. Owl getting ready to take her only 2-minute break at 6:46am. The dark object below her is the large food item she received earlier. The fuzzy objects below her wing are the owlets. We can't really see any of the shiny eggs any more. They've either been pushed close to the glass or are hidden by the owlets.
Our birding day yesterday included a trip to Hornsby Bend to see a rare bird, a Reeve (a female Ruff). This normally European bird occasionally gets blown off course and shows up in the lower 48. This was only the 25th or so ever seen in Texas. We also had a tiny baby Killdeer wander right past our feet.

First Hatching!

2008-04-12T10:58:00.000-07:00

Last night Mrs. Owl stayed in the box for all but 1 morning break of 100 seconds, and for a very good reason: her first egg hatched! In the first photo, you can see her with an eggshell in her mouth at 4:32 am. She most likely ate it to recover the calcium. In the second shot, you can see the tiny little wings raised of the owlet. This was snapped when she took her morning break at about 6:30 am. Because she spends most of her time incubating the owlet and the other eggs, we have only a handful of poor shots of the little tyke, but we hope for more views soon. Your best chances of seeing the owlet live would be 8pm or 6:30am if she takes a break or sits in the entrance then.
For the first 10 days or so, the owlet will need its mother's warmth before it can self-thermoregulate. After that, there will be many more views of the growing owlets moving around. It's a happy spring day in the owl box!

This hatching was earlier than we expected. Hatching normally takes 28.5-32.1 days (according to Gehlbach) once incubation begins. We went back and looked at our photo logs, and found that she did do some incubating on March 13th, the day the egg was laid. Even though she didn't incubate continuously, the outside temperature was in the 90's, and so development probably proceeded as if she were sitting on them. So, 29 days is quite a normal hatching time for that egg. We anticipate the rest will hatch in 1-2 day intervals.

View of the 4 Eggs

2008-04-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

Probably the first photo we have showing all 4 eggs and not just shadows.

Meals with Wings

2008-04-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

Mr. Owl delivered several winged creatures for Mrs. Owl's dining pleasure overnight.
There was a loud dispute by our resident raccoons just before midnight. This didn't seem to phase the warm nesting going on inside the owl box, but it kept the humans and feline in the house awake.

What a Good Mom

2008-04-05T21:37:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Owl keeps busy turning her eggs and keeping them warm. The first egg could hatch as early as April 15.

If you haven't had a look at the Great Horned Owl Cam lately, go see:
http://birdcam.xcelenergy.com/videoindex.html?cam=owl
and click on Owl Cam

Amazing.

We're back

2008-04-03T22:20:00.000-07:00

Our blog has been pretty silent, lately, mainly due to demands of being political activists. Both of us were elected last weekend as delegates to the Texas Democratic Convention representing both our neighborhood and Barack Obama.

But in Owl land, things continue in blissful ignorance of all the politics. Mrs. Owl has been getting regular feedings, largely of katydids and other insects. She still takes short dusk and dawn breaks (usually 2 breaks at dusk, and 2 at dawn), and sometimes comes back wet from them. I don't know where she bathes, but it is likely either in our backyard pond (which used to be a swimming pool) or the 1 acre pond 2 doors down. She often preens her feathers when she returns from a break, especially if she has been bathing. Then she settles back on the eggs for more incubation.

We hope to post updates a bit more regularly. But until the eggs hatch, it is pretty much the same thing every day, unless something interesting is brought in, like a bird.

Katydids

2008-03-27T07:33:00.000-07:00

The evening of the 26th was a katydid feast, with Mr. Owl bringing 5 between sundown and midnight. Mrs. Owl was out of the box from 8:02-8:10pm for her evening break, and briefly again from 10:05-10:09pm.

Then after midnight, it seemed to switch to dark bugs, perhaps June bugs or even spiders, but only 3 total. So, the observed total was 8 good-sized insects for the night. I wonder whether that was the sum of the calories she ate, but it is very possible Mr. Owl provided something during one of her breaks. She took morning breaks from 5:45-5:51, and 6:57-7:02.

Blind Snake Delivery

2008-03-26T07:06:00.000-07:00

A Texas Blind Snake http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/bulletins/uc/uc-007.html was fed to Mrs. Owl overnight. It is very beneficial for the nest if a blind snake happens to fall into the nesting material instead of being eaten. The snake then acts as housekeeper, eating any mites or other small insects which would otherwise be parasites to the baby owls.

Around 5am there was quite a ruckus in our backyard. We could hear scampering (a nocturnal squirrel, stray cat??) in the leaves on the ground with Mr. Owl chasing whoever it was, all the while doing what is called "bill-clapping".

Annoyed or quite upset, they will snap their bill making a little clapping noise. Some argue this clapping is actually tongue-clicking.

Big Prey

2008-03-24T06:49:00.000-07:00

Mr. Owl brought something large last night at 3:26. It is too close to the camera to tell whether it is a rodent or a bird. Mrs. Owl had to spend several minutes tearing it up to eat it. She actually left the box for 3 minutes with the last chunk. Either she wanted to finish it there, or was full and wanted to offer it back to Mr. Owl.

Gift of the Gecko

2008-03-24T06:42:00.000-07:00

Mr. Owl has started bringing more Mediterranean Geckos. These small pink geckos are an introduced species, that is now widespread in the southeastern US and many tropical areas. It is nocturnal and hangs around light fixtures, eating the insects that congregate. We like watching the geckos on our window screens hunting moths. Our owls use them as a major food source.

Nothing unusual transpired in the night. There were increased feedings. Mr. Owl has to bring all the food, as Mrs. Owl is only left the box about 3 times total, for fewer than 5 minutes each time. But his job is still relatively easy, as he is only feeding 2. In mid-April, he will be feeding up to 6, and those geckos will come in very handy.

Insects

2008-03-22T22:33:00.000-07:00

Mr. Owl is delivering meals of what look to be dragonflies or grasshoppers.
Evening and pre-dawn outings made by Mrs. Owl are under 1/2 hour now.

Let's not take the wonders of Spring for granted, shall we?