Up Early

Yesterday, at 5:18PM, I was beginning to think about preparing dinner. I thought about checking to see if Olive was in the opening of her box. I scoffed at the notion, mostly because she has been appearing later and later each afternoon. Normally she would be in the opening around 5:30, but I thought I'd give a look - and there she was! She held her eyes in a squint and looked around very slowly, so I figured she had just awakened, but what made her come out when there was still so much light was a mystery. I dashed into the house, grabbed my little camera and digiscoped 2 photos of her. Really, there's no news today - just a photo. She did do something I thought to be odd, though. In the space of less than one minute, at 5:38PM, she wiggled around in the opening, made herself very thin and popped back into the box. About a nanosecond later, she hopped up into the opening, looked around quickly, then flew straight out of the box into the redwoods! Not sure what that was all about, but I guess she has her own reasons. Hope you like the photo!

Jan. 9 - BIG Event!

What an evening we've just had! I've been sort of under the weather for a couple of days and had even wondered if I should check on Olive since it's so chilly (for Fair Oaks!) outside. In spite of that, I went out around 5:00, looked through the scope, didn't see her, so I went back inside. I went out again at 5:05, didn't see her, so I decided to sit in a chair in plain view of the box and wait. One minute later, Olive hopped up into the opening and sat there looking so sleepy I decided she would be there for at least 10 minutes so I went back inside. I went out again at 5:18 and her behavior had changed to pre-departure, looking around quickly and shifting her position in the opening. Suddenly, she leaned forward and flew straight out of the box. I looked to my left across the little pond, hoping to see her as she flew into the redwood yard (where last year's brood had been). She had a surprise - actually more than one! - in store for me. She landed on a branch of the pin oak that's next to the pond - and about 15' from where I was standing. I slowly rushed into the house to tell Ivan where she was. She sat quietly as Ivan got some good looks at her. He then went back into the house to get his "night vision" binoculars (actually a toy and not much good for owl watching). I remained watching her and was a little alarmed to see that she was looking straight down into the pond. Suddenly she actually flew into the pond! She was at the surface for only a split second and then flew into the big oak tree. As Ivan returned I heard the soft trill of a female WSO coming from the place she had flown. While Ivan was trying to see her in his night binocs, a SECOND Screech Owl flew in and landed near her! We watched in the growing darkness, feeling really lucky to have these two owls here and really hopeful that they'll raise another family in our yard!

Jan. 7 - 2 photos

This is Oliver - of that we are certain.

This is NOT Oliver - of this we are pretty certain! The streaks above each owl's left eye are very different.
Whether it's actually (last year's) Olive will probably never be known for certain.

January 7, 2011

Olive has been showing up at the entrance hole of her box each evening like clockwork. I'm keeping a record of when she's in the opening and when she leaves for the night. I don't always see her enter the opening, but she sure is cute when she (apparently) hops up to the bottom of the 3" hole and surveys her world with a demeanor that can best be described as sleepy at first, then increasingly more and more alert, looking around, peering intently at things unseen by me as I watch from behind the black cloth. Just before she flies away, she seems to become agitated, looking around quickly and adjusting her position, then leaning slightly outward and off she goes!
Now I have an issue about which I WELCOME comments/suggestions/observations. Next post will display 2 photos - the one dated in April we know for certain is Oliver, the Dad of last year's trio. The other one, dated in November 2010, is, I think, Olive, the Mom of the trio. I think they are 2 different owls, but am still not 100% convinced!  There are some behavior differences, but those can be explained by circumstances. For example, Oliver would always fly due east when he left the box, but that was because he was meeting up with his family in the redwoods. When she leaves the box, Olive seems to choose her direction randomly. The only direction she has not flown is west.  Olive also spends only a short time in the opening, sometimes only 5 minutes, before departing. Oliver used to sit in the opening for up to 45 minutes, but then, he was waiting for the wife and kids to get up! So, I took a photo of Olive's face and one of Oliver's face and compared them. Ivan is 100% convinced that they are different owls, and I agree, but I'm having trouble trying to figure out why Olive went into the box. Yes, it's a nest box, but she has no knowledge of it or experience with it. I guess it's possible that she saw the box and decided to give it a look-see, liked it, and moved in. OK, enough of this speculation! Please look at the two, rather poor-quality photos of the 2 owls who have, at different times, been occupants of the box and let me know what you think. I guess we'll just have to wait for Screech Owl nesting to begin before we can know for certain that the one in the box now is Olive (or maybe Olive-2).