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!