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).

Dec. 20 - Huge relief

   At 4:35PM this afternoon, Olive hopped up into the opening of her box. At that very moment I was eyeing a large crow's nest in our big oak tree to see if there were any large (& unwelcome) owls in it. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement near Olive's box and was so overjoyed to see her, I almost whooped with delight. As I leaped to the scope to get a better look, she just sat there with her eyes closed looking completely at ease and content. She flew from the box at 5:07PM. Just before she left, I asked her to please be careful, to watch out for large avian predators and to come back to the box. I hope she listened.

Great Horned Owl story

   This story has pertinence, so bear with me!  In 1980 or 1981, when I was in graduate school at San Francisco State, a bunch of us went to Los Banos NWR in March or April on a field trip. This area is about 10 miles east of I-5 in the vicinity of the San Luis Reservoir and is a waterfowl migration stop. Great place in fall and winter for ducks and geese. We found a Great Horned Owl nest in a very tall cottonwood tree near the water and we could see that the nest had at least one young in it. We had no means to climb the tree (remember we were young and stupid at the time) so we decided to return the next day to give it a go. During the night there was a terrific storm with high winds in that area. When we arrived at the place of the nest, we were horrified to see that the nest, formerly in a (natural) horizontal position, was in a completely vertical position, perpendicular to the way it should be. We approached the base of the tree and noticed a largish ball of white fluff on the ground with an intact egg next to it. The fluff was a deceased baby Great Horned Owl. As an aside, in my Ornithology class we were required to "put up" 3 dead birds. This phrase means to prepare a specimen to be kept in a museum for possible taxonomic research. Most of the birds we were putting up were starlings (I guess they ARE good for something!), but Dr. Bowman, our prof. said that we could find our own birds if we wanted to.
   So, we took this unfortunate baby owl home with us and I took it to the bio lab to put it up. It caused a bit of excitement in the department because one doesn't often see a dead baby GHO, nor does one see such a creature being dissected. If I remember correctly, the owl was about 8 or 9 inches tall and was covered with white fluffy feathers. I was removing the internal organs when I noticed something big in the bird's crop. I made an incision and out came an intact adult Brewer's Blackbird! Dead, of course. Suddenly there were quite a lot of people in the room to see this! Dr. Bowman said to note down the blackbird's measurements as well as those of the owl and put both birds in formalin. The two birds were in the SF State Biology Department collection for several years after that day, but I'm not sure if they're still there or not.
   I relate this story to illustrate why the presence of a pair of Great Horned Owls anywhere near my yard has given me some serious dyspepsia! Olive is about 8" tall and could easily become a late night snack for a Great Horned Owl whose height varies from 18" to 24!" A Brewer's Blackbird measures from 8-9" tall. So, stay tuned. I'll post tonight about Olive's continuing presence in the box - or about the other possibility. Admittedly, if she doesn't show up in the box, it doesn't mean she's dead. She could have heard the GHO's last night - in fact she probably DID hear them - and may have decided to seek shelter elsewhere. I REALLY want to tell you, though, that she's still in the box!

Dec. 19 - New anxiety

   Each evening as I watch Olive before she leaves the box, I whisper, "Good luck hunting, be careful, and come back!" I know she can't hear or understand me, but it's my talisman for keeping her in our yard. She left the box last night (Dec. 19) at 5:05PM, looking so fierce, but so small. At 10:20PM, as Ivan and I were about to get into bed, I thought I heard some strange kind of music being played outside. I opened the sliding glass door to the yard and, FROM OUR YARD, came the unmistakeable call of a Great Horned Owl. The call was answered by another GHO who was a bit farther away. Great Horned Owls are VERY big and, no joke, they EAT Screech Owls. The GHO's called a couple more times, making me extremely anxious. During their calling, I went outside (it had stopped raining) and said, "Please go away. Normally we would be delighted to have you in our yard, but we already have an owl and we don't want you here." I will be very concerned until I see Olive tonight in the opening of the box!  Even then, if the GHO's stick around, Olive, Oliver and any kids they have this spring would be in great danger.  My fingers are crossed that the GHO's found a lovely nest tree about 10 miles away! I'll post again tonight after I've seen Olive (and given her more serious instructions re being careful).

Nov. 22 - Olive Watch continues . . .

Olive is a puzzle at her easiest.  I didn't check the box until 4:45 this afternoon.  Sun had set, but it was still pretty light.  She was in the opening, staring intently at something a bit to her right (toward our back fence).  Try as I did, without giving away my prurient interest in her and her activities, I was unable to see what had captured her interest.  I can watch her for hours - she's endlessly fascinating in her visual preparations for departing her home.  I was, I might add, in my thin-stockinged feet - no shoes.  It was 50°, overcast, with calm winds, but the concrete under my feet was COLD.  She was giving all the signs of preparing to leave - yawning, looking around quickly, shifting her position in the opening.  Suddenly (at 5:00PM) she flew straight ahead out of the box - EAST!! - into the redwoods in the pool yard!  This after my post of Nov. 10 that she never flew east, always north or south!  Well, my brain saw an opportunity here, but I had to act quickly.  I ran into the house to the kitchen back door, slipped into my tennies, and ran - slowly - to the redwoods.  Checked Tree #1, no Olive, Tree #2, no Olive, #3 (they're NEVER in #3), and was about to turn around and give up when, in the looming dark, I saw her on a branch about 7' high, in Tree #4.  She was watching me, sitting quite still, but with her ear tufts up, possibly meaning she was a bit alarmed by my lumbering about.  I greeted her quietly with my usual "Hi, Olive" and backed up to Tree #2.  I REALLY didn't want to just go away, so I hid (in human terms) behind Tree #2 and watched her for as long as my poor human eyes could see her on her branch - it was getting REALLY dark.  Eventually, I decided I would probably score points with her if I humbly left the area and went indoors.  This I did, but I was filled with joy with the knowledge that she did NOT fly away when I showed up among the redwoods.  So, please change the assertion I made that she doesn't fly into the pool yard.  I hope she flies there every night - then I can head out there and see if I can spot her.  What an absolute delight it is to have her like our yard!

The Observation Set-up and a Tale of Adventure!

  This is what I would see if I moved off the little step just outside our bedroom where the "blind" is. The greenish shrub in the center is a forsythia in which Hermit thrushes, Bewick's wrens and Oak titmice fuss and forage. Photo was taken last spring and the ladder is no longer propped up there.

   This is the side of the "blind" I stand on. The odd-looking thing in the middle of the black cloth is where the scope goes and I pin the material around the lens, so Olive doesn't see any movement.

   And this is what Olive sees when she sits in the opening of her box. The green material is shade cloth which I put there several years ago. Obviously, the hole is for the lens of the spotting scope.
   On Nov. 2, I was watching Olive as she prepared to leave. Suddenly, as I watched through the scope, she became fixated on - what seemed to me to be - me! She stared at something that I could not see and dared not attempt to see. Then she flew - straight at me! In a second or so I heard a small scritching sound and then she flew to a pin oak about 15' from me, and in view of me without the scope! I ran inside and told Ivan that she had caught something and was in the pin oak. We rushed outside with our binocs and watched her toss some small thing into her mouth. The only thing we saw well was a short tail as it went down her throat! Mind you, where I stand - and where she had seen a MOUSE - is about 50' from her box. This all happened at 6:15PM, just after the sun had gone down and dusk was settling. Talk about remarkable vision!

Nov. 10 - Portrait of an Owl

   This photo was taken a few minutes before Olive left for the night the other evening. She's becoming sort of  predictable when she's about to leave. She looks left, right, up, down, then opens and closes her beak a couple of times. Finally, she seems to be adjusting her shoulders, leans out and flies away. I'm pretty sure that this bird is NOT Oliver, but whether it's our Olive, or another female, is not really known to us.  I think it's not Oliver for 2 reasons - one is that she always flies out of the box and makes an immediate left (for her) turn, flying north. The other reason I think it's not Oliver is that she sits in the opening of the box for only 10-15 minutes or so. Oliver used to sit in the opening for some 45 minutes each night. If we could get a full frontal view of her, we could see if she had the spots on her chest that Olive had, or we could see if she (he) has the spot that looks like an upside down hockey stick on her right side (which Oliver had).

Nov. 8, 2010 - Departures

Olive has been leaving the box just a bit earlier each night.  The overcast weather the other day seemed to make her think it was darker - and later - than it actually was and she left quite early, but these past few nights, her departure times hover around 5PM.

Nov. 2, 2010 - pre-departure

      I decided that the door to the box needed to be closed after watching (let's call him) Oliver prepare to leave the box. He moved around near the open bottom of the door and I was concerned that he was going to try to leave through that small opening! He surely had not entered the box that way! Anyway, he peered out that opening for several minutes before I saw him fluffing out his feathers and yawning. All of a sudden he was in the round - and proper - opening to the box. He sat there, as he used to, for several minutes before flying straight out to the redwoods. Ivan and I took the ladder to the tree holding the box, I climbed up, closed the door and latched it.  Now Oliver has complete privacy in the box. Maybe, without all the olive twigs in the box, it will appeal to Olive as a place to start their next family!

The month and day on the time stamp are reversed.
This photo was taken yesterday, Nov. 1.

Nov. 1 - a few minutes later . . . .

Look closely . . . !

Nov. 1, 2010 - He's back, maybe!

I'm doing my best not to get my hopes up, up, up (I'm actually not doing it very well!), but there is a screech owl in the nest box!!  This morning I was alerted to something going on in that yard by the gang of titmice, wrens, warblers, etc who were scolding and scolding and all their noise was directed at the box.  About a week ago I checked the box (by climbing up the ladder) and found that a squirrel had brought a couple of pieces of shredded bark into it.  I swept those out and opened the door wide so they wouldn't go back in.  In the ensuing couple of days, the door has almost completely closed, but it's open enough that I could see the lovely shape and coloring of a screech owl!!  I'm going to see if Ivan will try to get a photo of the semi-open door and the owl lurking inside.  I am jazzed!

Sept. 30, 2010

For now, this will be the last report on our little Western Screech Owl family for 2010.  We've seen no owls for the past week.  I've done an owl check at least twice a day for the past 7 days and have seen none.  Yes, my heart was broken the first time I didn't see them, but Ivan and I both have confidence that they'll be back.
I think the olive sticks we had in the owl box had been brought in there by a squirrel, but those sticks are now gone and the interior is newly redecorated with - NOTHING!  I'm keeping a sharp eye on the box to be sure that no squirrels of any sort move in.  I'm also going to pretend I'm 8 years old and am going to climb trees #2, #4 and #5 to see if I can figure out which tree was the nest tree.  I'll post what I find - if anything.

Sept. 21, 2010

This took place just now, on 21 Sept. 2010 between 7:00PM and 7:18PM.  I went out to see if I could watch Olive leave for the night.  I had seen her this morning, but didn't see her on my later Owl Check.  At 7PM, I checked all the trees, sans binocs, but saw no one.  At about 7:10, I was walking very slowly back towards the edge of the wall, when I heard the soft trill of a Western Screech Owl.  It seemed as though the owl was in tree #2, right above me.  I was standing next to #3.  I waited.  I very quietly moved to #2 and leaned up against it, with my back on the trunk.  The owl trilled once again, then I saw movement.  From the top of #2, the owl flew to #5 and sat on the lowest branch, with her back to me.  I silently (to me) approached and stopped at #3, about 15' from where she sat.  She bobbed a bit and flew to the fence.  I heard her land on the fence and I walked extremely slowly and quietly to #4.  She sat for a few moments - maybe one minute - bobbed a bit and flew out of my sight.
I had been mourning the loss of our owls, understanding that they must move on, but missing them acutely.  Seeing Olive - or the owl I'm assuming to be Olive - was so reassuring, so wonderful that I will continue checking for her, or any other owl, in the redwoods of our yard as often as I can.

Aug. 18, 2010

       Ivan took this last night when we went to the redwoods to see if we could photo any of the owls.  We almost walked right smack into Othello who was sitting at about eye level watching us as we bumbled around.  I didn't see any of them and said they must have flown when Ivan spotted him about 5' away from us!  He sat quietly, watching, as Ivan took several photos.  'Smitten' pretty well sums up how I feel about this little guy!

Othello

Aug 17, 2010

         Olive has returned in all her diminutive loveliness!  There seems to be a new twist on the story of our little owls, though.  Last night when all three were preparing to go hunting, Oscar flew from his tree and Olive lit out after him in what I surmised to be a 'get-the-heck-out-of-here' chase.  I have no knowledge of whether she has done this before, but Oscar seemed a bit flummoxed by this turn of events.  He crashed into a couple of branches and when he attempted to return to one of our redwoods, she chased him away again.  This raises a couple of questions.  Is Oscar actually a female, and Olive wants her out of her (Olive's) territory now that (s)he (Oscar) is managing on her own?  Is Oscar a male and Olive wants him to find his own territory?  And what about Othello?  He seemed completely unfazed by Olive's aggressive behavior toward the affable Oscar.  Anyway, we still have three owls.

Aug 6, 2010

        Ivan and I have just returned from a 5-day trip to visit with family and friends in Pennsylvania, a quick, but really wonderful trip.

         For several days before we left, I had seen sometimes one, sometimes two, but never all three of the owl family.  I was sorry to note that Olive was the one we didn't see any longer.  I figured she had flown to wherever these owls go when their families are all grown up.  Ivan and I hoped that she would drag Oliver back here next February to restart their familial activities.  Oscar and/or Othello were seen each day before we left.  They had grown used to my visiting them a couple of times each day, sometimes calmly watching me behave like a raving lunatic when the blinkety-blank jays were in their hysteria mode.  We wondered what, if anything, would happen while we were absent from the yard.

         We got home very late on Wednesday evening, so the owl check had to wait until morning.  In the morning I got up while it was still dark and walked around in the redwoods as it got light.  I saw no owls.  I was sort of expecting that, but was disappointed nonetheless.  Much later, at around 7:45PM (beginning to be dusk), I did the nightly check and, lo and behold, there was Othello gazing down on me from a branch about 8' up Tree #3.  I spoke quietly to him and asked where his brother was.  He said nothing.  I took that to mean that perhaps Oscar was still well hidden.  (Pay attention now - this is the REALLY good part of this episode!)  As I continued my walk the jays began screeching and one of them was just above me.  I loaded a rubber band in my gun, aimed carefully through all the foliage and shot.  The rubber band hit him!!!  Took him completely by surprise, pissed him off and he flew away, hollering and complaining.  I danced a little jig and continued with the search.  (For those of you who may worry about my being mean or cruel to the jays, hitting the bird with the rubber band from about 12' away would be equivalent to throwing a marshmallow and hitting the bird.  The jay didn't even lose a single feather, but was he ever mad!)

         I walked around Tree #4 and, with my binoculars, I spotted Oscar waaay up, just under a tangle of branches.  He, of course, had spotted me long before that!  I told him how delighted I was that he was ok and I went back inside the house.  I told Ivan of their presence and he asked if they were in a good spot for a photo.  I said I thought Othello was, but Oscar was not.  We went outside around 8:10 (by now it was truly dusk) and both kids were preparing for their nightly hunts, both in Tree #3.  Othello stretched one of his wings, scooted out from right next to the trunk of the tree and flew - absolutely silently - about 3 branches away, but still in #3.  All of a sudden, a third owl - OLIVE! - landed on a branch near Othello, after flying about 3' above our heads!  I was outwardly quiet, but was shrieking with delight to see her.  She spent a few seconds looking at us and then she and the 2 kids were off.

         Telling these three owls apart is actually still pretty simple.  I KNOW Olive, almost on sight, and Othello still has his baby fuzz around his face.  As they prepared to go hunting, they had fluffed their feathers out and looked about twice their actual size.  When they're roosting during the day, they look so small and vulnerable.

         So, that's the latest from Owl Central.  We're off to Norway in about 12 days, so the owls truly will have the yard to themselves.  It would be so wonderful if they staked a claim to our yard and stayed here, or at least came back next season. 

July 27, 2010

       Yesterday was a stressful one, but in a good way, sort of.  All day I was battling with the jays.  Olive was sleeping in Tree #1, her usual  spot.  The jays don't seem to bother her much, maybe because she really looks like a part of the redwood tree where she sleeps.  In addition, she just doesn't move even if they do spot her.  Oscar and Othello, on the other hand, seem to poke a rage button in the jays and those jays are relentless.  Oscar has been spending the days in a tree in my neighbor's yard, across a dirt road behind our yard.  There are some really tall trees in his yard and I've not been able to actually see Oscar over there, but nothing arouses the ire of the jays like a cute baby owl.  Othello has his usual safe spot in Tree #2, but yesterday the only owl I could see, all day, was Olive.  Yet the jays were screeching and yowling all day and I could tell that they were in the yard behind us.  I hoped that the two kids were safe, but I knew they weren't hidden very well if the jays were on to them.
            Ivan and I had our supper outside as usual and, for once, it was quiet.  We went back inside around 7:30 and about 10 minutes later the jay racket began once again.  I knew the owls would be getting ready for the evening's activities, so I grabbed my rubber band gun and raced outside.  Olive was asleep in Tree #1.  The jays seemed to be concentrated around #4 and #5 and they were in our yard.  I ran over there, but had no clear shot so I was banging on the branches with my gun, and standing on the fence in my efforts to see where, exactly, they were.  I had checked the tops of the trees where the kids usually stay, but neither was there.  The jays were so strident, I just knew that they must have the owls cornered somewhere.  After about 10 minutes of racing around banging on branches and trying to make the jays go away, I paused and noticed that it was very quiet.  The jays had left my yard.  My heart was beating very fast as I climbed down from the fence.  I turned to go back to check on Olive and was absolutely astonished to see Othello, then Oscar, sitting on branches of Tree #4 about 5' from me!  Both were staring at me and they looked so tiny!  I returned the stare, dumbstruck, then walked away as calmly as I could.  I hurried into the house and told Ivan to grab his camera and come outside.  I figured the two owls would surely have retreated to the top of the tree, but they were still sitting on their branches.  These little guys are surely the cutest owls ever!  Below are 2 of the photos Ivan took.  Below each photo I'll tell you who it is and how I know.

This is Othello, the baby.  
Look at his chest - he has almost no vertical stripes, but has the horizontal stripes that he had when we first saw him.  
Still has some baby fuzz, though.  I saw him first yesterday evening and had to resist the urge to go over and touch him!

This is Oscar, the owl who was knocked out of the tree the other day.  Take a look at his chest.  
He, to those who don't really know him like we do, looks like an adult, complete with the vertical markings on his chest.  
His fuzz is gone.  Don't his feet look big?!  
I tell you, I'm just totally smitten with these guys!  
(NOTE:  Each of these little owls is about 6" tall right now.)