The Camera Doesn’t Lie

Posted on April 9, 2016 by Tina

The camera may not lie, but it doesn’t work, either–more about that later. Back in December, we installed a bird camera in the nesting box for “our” Eastern Screech Owl, Megascops asio, couple.

Bee Daddy perched precariously…

Wrapping the wiring around the tree…

After The Bad Squirrel Incident in April 2015, we thought it wise to keep a third eye on our Screech Owl seasonal residents. This spring, with the camera up and transmitting to our desktop and Mama in the house on a regular basis, it was a fun, if not somewhat addicting, to watch her preen and rest in her little nest box.

On Sunday, March 6, Mama laid her first egg.

Here, Mama is peering out of the box, with her wings ready for take-off early in the evening after a hard day’s egg-laying.

The second egg came on Wednesday, March 9,

…the third,

Friday, March 11

…fourth,

Sunday, March 13

…and fifth.

Wednesday, March 15

The eggs appeared on an every-other-day schedule and that is typical of how Screeches deliver. The egg photos were taken shortly after Mama left the house on each of those evenings. You can imagine how exciting the prospect is of observing and chronicling the owl family as it grows and develops. The gestation for Screech Owls is approximately 28 days, so by this post, if all are healthy, three owlets have hatched, with the other two hot on their heels–or shells.

Alas, there were some heavy winds here a couple of weeks ago and the camera went dark. Boo! We’ve re-configured and manipulated all the connections and wires, opened up the house (when Mama flew out for her brief foray into the night) to diagnose the camera’s issue(s), and eventually removed the camera itself for further inspection.

It seems that our bird camera has pooped out.

This photo was taken with Bee Daddy’s cell phone during his last scramble up the ladder and tree limbs to remove the camera permanently.

Mama landed on the branch Bee Daddy straddled, just a few feet away, to keep her two big eyes on him. Once he removed the camera and we realized it’s not repairable, we decided not to interfere with the owls further this season.

I still see Mama the old-fashioned way,

…as she peeks out for a breath of fresh air, weary, and momentarily away from those hungry beaks. Just after that series of shots, Mama yawned. I don’t know if owls yawn, but that’s what it looked like to me.

Mommy-work is hard.

Dad Owl keeps a close watch each day, all day in a neighbor’s tree which is a quick swoop away if he’s needed.

Dad Owl snoozing in the last rays of afternoon sun.

Daddy-work is hard, too.

Five growing and hungry owlets are a big responsibility. A favorite food of Screech Owls are pond toads, which there are usually plenty of in our garden, but the toads haven’t noisily appeared this year, which is odd. Toads are a ready source of “big game” food that our owls hunt directly and since they’re not yet available, I imagine the owls’ menu is consisting mostly insects and the occasional rat, mouse, or bird from wherever Dad Owl can find them. He’ll do all of the hunting until the owlets are so large that Mama can’t stay in the box and then she’ll join in the meal runs for the little ones.

The owlets will fledge in May and we’ll see (hopefully) how many of the babies have survived to that point.

Winkin’ and Blinkin’

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Tina

What a pair these are, owls and eyes that is. Dad in the tree,

…with one focused, though squinty eye at me, and the other mostly closed, with a little red glare, either his or the camera’s, I’m not sure which. Mamma is cozy in the brood house,

…snoozy with one eye alert to the activities of world around her and one eye shut, the signal of her days of dozing.

My resident Eastern Screech Owl couple: Winkin’ and Blinkin’. Where is Nod? Maybe in one of the unhatched eggs. Stay tuned!

A Quirky Owl

Posted on March 17, 2015 by Tina

Since Mama Screech vanquished the squirrel-squatter, she appears to be settling in for brooding quite nicely. In the past 7 years of hosting these beautiful birds in my gardens, observance of the parent owls has been limited to early mornings (REALLY early) and evenings as one or the other parent quits the box for the nightly hunting forays. Typically, I can observe one, or both, owls only for a few minutes, mostly as flashes and ghostly quiet movements between trees.

The mama owls that I’ve had in my gardens stay inside the brood house during the day for some of the time once eggs are laid, but I have rarely seen the mammas peering out during the day, except for early evening as the sleepy heads are awakening from the daily snoozing and before they’re “on” as nocturnal critters. As the time approaches for the owlets to hatch, the mammas tend to spend more time in the brood box and once the owlets hatch (April-ish), mammas are in the box full-time, with dads posted in nearby trees, attending fatherly duties and keeping a close watch on their little owl families. It’s during this time that I have regularly seen the mammas, their little Screech Owl faces positioned in the hole of the box, for longer periods during the day. If birds are squawking, squirrels are curious, or there’s any action in the garden, the mammas appear and are alert and visible to ward off possible dangers facing their owlets.

Each year that owls have settled in and raised a family has proven different from the last. The first year, the owls were all over–I saw that couple and their offspring almost daily. Last year, the owls were shy and discreet and I barely knew they were in residence and that was true for both the parents and their owlets. Other years, I’ve regularly seen owls in nearby trees, sometimes not at all.

This year there is a different dynamic unfolding.

I fretted that Squirrel Nut-twerp would inhabit the box before the owls could lay their claim, but that’s no longer of much concern. Now I’m anxious that Mama isn’t getting a good day’s sleep as she prepares for motherhood. She’s awake and semi-awake, her little face perched in the hole throughout daylight hours. Here’s a brief pictorial of Mama Owl in her various moods these past few days:

pensive,

…curious,

…concerned,

…annoyed,

…and really annoyed.

My theory on her diurnal awake state is that she’s a new mama and is keeping close tabs on her surroundings–but I could be totally off-base. She’s not bothered by anything in particular–she watches the cats and dog when they stroll into her line of sight and pokes her head out when the birds are especially noisy, but seems nonplussed. One morning, I saw a squirrel (Nut-twerp?) scramble along the branch and stand on the top of the brood box. Mama Owl clicked her beak in warning and retreated into the box. The squirrel skittered off.

Mama Owl isn’t unduly upset with us humans, either. I had friends over Saturday evening, (for pi/pie day, what else??) and they all trooped out to look at the bees and the owl–she wasn’t fazed at all by being the center of attention and their oohing and ahhing at her darlingness. She just looked at us, unimpressed, and blinked her big sage-green eyes.

She’s retired into her box more in the last 24 hours, so I’m hoping she’s getting some much-needed rest. Mama work is hard–especially when you work the night-shift.