Katydids

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

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

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

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

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?

Four Eggs

We got a good look this evening at what we have suspected from shadows is four eggs. Unfortunately, this year, we didn't get the camera properly aimed before the season started. As Mrs. Owl has put the nest right next to the glass, we don't get to see the entire clutch. We suspect the fourth egg was laid a couple of nights ago.

Four eggs is an average size clutch, according to Gehlbach's book. 2 is the minimum, and 6 is the maximum that he recorded during his decades of study. As incubation began in earnest on March 18th, we can expect the first hatching about 30 days later, around April 17th.

Visitors to the Nest Box

In the wee hours of the morning Mr. Owl paid our Mrs. a brief visit during one of his food deliveries.
















And around 9am a curious squirrel decided to have a peek inside the nest box. He certainly got a surprise when he came across an owl, of all things!!

Down the hatch.

Mr. Owl Brings Dinner

Tonight we're seeing food deliveries brought to the doorway. This is a tasty grasshopper. Mrs. Owl takes very short outings now as her eggs must stay warm.

It was a beautiful first day of Spring in Central Texas.

Three eggs visible in this photo.
Will there be a 4th?

Incubation

The 3 eggs are staying nice and warm as Mrs. Owl has begun incubating them in earnest now. She came and left the box 4 times last night for 30 minutes at a time. We are not seeing Mr. Owl at the doorway feeding her much yet, so he is probably bringing her meals and calling her outside to eat them.

This is a photo of her gently turning the eggs just before she nestles her warm body upon them. Female birds have a hollow area on their breast called a "brood patch" which is extra warm for incubation.

Temps are expected to be in the 30s tonight.

Third Egg

Mrs. Owl came and left 5 times during the night and early morning.
During the 4 hours she was in the box from 12:46am - 3:49am she laid her 3rd egg.
And at 6:05am Mr. Owl came to the door and fed her. Now that she has what is considered a complete clutch, she will most likely be spending more of the nighttime hours incubating her eggs. Mr. Owl's visits will be more and more frequent because his new job is to hunt for her and deliver the tasty meals.

Today we had heavy rain and high winds.

She left for her rounds at 7:45pm.

A Windy Day

Mrs. Owl visited her eggs in the wee hours of the morning from 3:13 - 3:57. Through our open window, we were awakened to the sweet sound of the Eastern Screech Owls calling which sounds much like a whinnying horse.

She returned for the day at 7:15 am and sat snug in the nest box with blustery winds blowing up to 40 mph outside. The two eggs are getting turned and rolled and arranged often.

The trees in our yard are all suddenly bursting with spring green leaves and pink and white blossoms.
Mrs. Owl sits in the doorway for the last hour of the day before flying off just at dark.

a photo of Mrs. Owl shortly after she laid her egg before dawn this morning.

And Now She Has a Pair

Today Mrs. Owl laid her second egg shortly after returning to the nest box at 6:40 this morning. She has had a restful day with much cooler temps and a nice cloud cover.

We are pinching ourselves that this is really happening in our backyard. We had successful owl nests in 2004 (2 young fledged) and 2005 (3 young fledged). Then our nest box sat vacant in 2006 and 2007.

2008 is shaping up to be a very good year all around, we think.

a note: the Great Horned Owlcam that we posted yesterday has not been up for some reason today. Still shots can be seen at
http://birdcam.xcelenergy.com/dayinthelife.asp

Enjoy!

Egg Rolling

Mrs. Owl returned to the nest box at 7:20 am and spent the day sleeping, rolling the egg back and forth, and carefully arranging herself upon it.

She left for her nightly rounds at nearly 8 pm.

Our friend Ingrid sent us a link to a Great Horned Owl Cam in Boulder, CO.
you can view this one at
http://birdcam.xcelenergy.com/videoindex.html?cam=owl
a double click on the image will bring you to full screen in real time.
(you can press "Esc" to escape)

Enjoy Spring everyone!!

A scorcher

Mrs. Owl spent today arranging her egg. She spent the latter part of the day inside the box panting due to the 95 degree temperature we reached.

Generally 4 eggs is a complete clutch. We will look for her second egg in the next day or so.

Welcome

This is a photo we took of Mrs. Owl this evening.

March 11-13: Nesting Begins

Nesting has begun, and we are very hopeful. Mrs. Owl was in the box all day on March 11th. She had some problems with Blue Jays mobbing the box. The jays seem to be building a nest in the front yard, and this will be an interesting season if these two species coexist in our yard. She left at 8:10pm, and stayed out all night, returning only at 5:45am for 4 minutes on the 12th. At dusk, Mr. Owl came in, and then sat in the doorway and called to her. He left and she came in for a couple of minutes.

Then just after midnight on March 13th, there were many comings and goings. At one point she was in the box, and he fed her a gecko. She returned to the box before dawn, and was inside all day. We think the first egg may have been laid, but it is too close to the plexiglass to be certain. She ducked inside the box a few times when planes went overhead (we're in the airport flight path). She left the box just before 8pm.