This evening, when she flew (of course, along her normal path), I donned my utility apron which held a mirror, pliers and a small flashlight and I quickly went to the ladder. Climbed up, opened the box, and was disappointed, but not surprised, to find no eggs. Closed the box, descended and came in to do my notes.
So that's where we stand as of this minute. Will she have eggs at some later date? This year? Is she really a he? I have no idea. I do know that having her here, in the nest box which we put up, is one of the most supreme pleasures I've experienced in my bird-watching life. I do hope she has a family this year, but at the very least, we have a unique opportunity to closely observe one of nature's smallest owls as she goes about her life's activities.
Monday, November 1, 2010
April 9, 2010
Olive is a most interesting subject. She's still departing the box at times that I'm recording in a little notebook. Her departure time gets a little later each evening. Last night, she and I had an interesting, for me anyway, interaction. I wanted to see exactly where she leaves our yard, so I stationed myself at the far end of our yard near where I've observed her to fly over the fence. I found her with the scope as she sat in the opening of the nest box. She was looking right at me. In spite of my best efforts to wave away the mosquitoes flying around my face, efforts that I thought were calm and reasonable, she saw me each time I moved. When she flew from the box, instead of flying past me, as she would have if I hadn't been there, she took an immediate left turn and departed our yard heading north (normally she heads east). Experiment #1 with location change - resounding failure!
