Rfalconcam Forum

...is live for the season!  No eggs yet, but Mme owl has spent 3 days in the nest box!

http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/

score. major score. wow. deranged baby screech owls.

 :clap:

We're on day 4...looks promising!

Not to put too fine a point on it, Ei, but those of us who find THAT image promising-looking are going to go totally bazoinkers when we see immature bug-eyed aliens squinting and winking into the lens!

But that is what makes them sooo cute!

First EGG!   :clap:

The Owl is in the nest box right now - looking cute!

It's still early in the season, but I thought I'd call the attention of Chris' Screeches watchers to the permanent notice at the bottom of the main page: "If you are enjoying the Eastern Screech Owl Nest Box Cam' this season, please send a picture postcard from where you live. My address is..." etc.
Especially since Chris is doing this immediately after knee surgery, I think he deserves a picture postcard!

Great reminder and I do have some!  Thanks!

Why not!  :thumbsup:

Mom in there

2 round owl eggs...
Chris shows them from above (not the cam view) and blogs about it:
http://chriswjohnson.blogspot.com/search/label/Nest%20Box%20Cam

 :clap: :2thumbsup:

aaarrrrgggghhhh. long john hairy eyeball, is it?

Actually, she reminded me of my late husband's Polish grandmother...she'd give you a look like that just before she took the wooden spoon to your nether regions  :rofl:

 :arrrrr: :aaarggh:

Mme. Hairy Eyeball has laid a third round egg. Aaaaarrrggghhh

There she goes again... :arrrrr:

thank you, Ei.

and how would YOU look if you had to sleep on FOUR (yes, 4) round owl eggs?

The average is 3.75 so that is one serious treasure she's got buried there.

ps my computer is down and I'm writing at the evanston library where I can SEE (yes right now) a peregrine looking right into this room from the beam above the nest.

Nice view of the 4 eggs as Mme. leaves for her evening constitutional

Cam looked like it was stuck for a minute...and it was...switching to the attic view of 4 beautiful eggs!

there are little owls in those eggs...

aaawwwwww babies   :wub:

 :lookingat:

Ooooh dear. Oh dear. I don't believe I've ever seen an owl looking so...coy...
That's a bit much. Chris may have felt sorry for his fans and started running animated owls.

I have heard that some animals that sleep with one eye open actually are sleeping with half their brain. I wonder.

got avian lice?

Wouldn't an Owl have a feathery eyeball?   :laugh:

Sometimes she reminds me of a cat...



...and other times she creates a rather extraordinary abstract composition...

Nice re-entry!

Very Nice  :clap:  Look at those eggs!

pirate mom has been doing her bored-out-of-my-asymmetrical-skull dance. I just can't imagine what fancy brooding hormones she must be on for her to sit there for weeks like that.

she's looking preeeetttttyyyyy mean. who wouldn't be.

Wow, you're right!  Wonder what's got her feathers in a twist today?

And right from that to a demented cackle...those eggs better hatch soon!

Wonder if an egg goosed her?  Hatch should be soon, I would think

Oh the faces they make...cute Ei.. :clap:

These are at one-minute intervals. For some reason I find it very touching.

Hatching should start any time now...she's spent a lot of time today looking under her



...and then there's this look...

now that's a Look!! Hahahahaha...must feel funny down there.

I was actually intending to post this one (stupid work filters think flickr is a social networking site)



A bit more than feeling funny, I think!

Mme. Owl finally got up...no apparent pips, but her behavior all afternoon has me thinking the owlets are chirping at her...just a matter of time...

From Chris' website-
Start of Nesting: March 18 • Eggs: 4 • Weather
Daily News
April 20 - No egg hatched today, but I'll let you in on a secret that I just discovered: An egg hatched somewhere between midnight and 3:30 AM on the 21st. I haven't seen the hatchling yet, but I can report that it has a good, strong voice.

 :hatch1:

And a ceiling view of the sleeping baby!

and from the side

 :clap:  I love these guys when they are babies - no wonder Mrs. Owl was twitchy yesterday  :2thumbsup:

I think there may be more than one owlet hatched!

Chris has posted short quicktime films of owlet #1's hatching, from above and the side

http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/

so sorry, Ei, about your lilacs. they are my very favorite of all.

The little one is very cute.

"don't you people EVER sleep??"

two really nice ones. Check out the lizard face and hand!

Did anyone see what Mmme. Owl left at the camera end of the box?  Breakfast leftovers for later? 

I was wondering that, Ei, it seemed enormous.
But there's a ***LOT of news at Chris' place! He found fire ants in the nest box and had to take everything apart to exterminate them. He did it when the Pirate was out, and he has killer color photos up of the 2-day-old owlet in his hand, and a second of the owlet and a hatching egg that he believes was not entered by the ants. There are also a bunch of terrific shots from yesterday. Here's the links for the 2 color shots:
http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/2010/20100423/Owlet%202.5%20Days%20Old.jpg
http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/2010/20100423/Owlet%20and%20Eggs.jpg

...when the Pirate was out hijacking merchant ships on the open seas, that is...

 :wub:  How cute is that little one!

Whatchudoinoverthere? ? ?

hahaha. you must have just captured that one. I checked in a minute before or after and everything was moving in exactly that direction! lol

So, that explains the difference in nesting materials.  Adorable babies  :2thumbsup:  Oh!  AND major kudos to Chris on the ant find and extermination  :bow: :notworthy:

I got stung by a few fire ants when I was in the Peruvian jungle...I put my hand on the wrong tree while trying to navigate the underbrush.  The stings were really, really painful, and not very short lived...seems like the pain endured for 1/2 hour or so, but it's possible my memory is blown out of proportion since time always goes more slowly when you're in pain.

not out of the woods with that owlet #2, apparently. the fire ants may have gotten to it. Chris had to take the nest down and open some of the egg. the chick was peeping but there was blood. He may or may not make it.

Good night in owlese...

I hope that the little one will be OK.  Some fire ants got on my feet years ago when I was visiting my father in Florida.  I had blisters on the tops of my feet and in between my toes from the bites.  Very painful.

   

I can't figure out how many owlets there are right now...looks like at least 2.
We'd need a ceiling cam view to see if there are any eggs, but she's been stuck to them like glue all day.

My guess is two chicks, one egg and one MIA. I'd love to hear that there are 3 chicks and one egg, but I kind of doubt it...

Oh ALL RIGHT!  I'll let you see them...


Although I STILL can't for the life of me figure out how many there are...I think 2 for sure, probably 3...

#1 big enough to stand up by herself!

FINALLY!  A picture where you can actually see 2 distinct owlets and one egg still waiting...

I found this on the main page:

Eggs Laid/Hatched/Failed/Pending: 4/2/1/1

So, yes. There are 2 owlets, 1 egg, and the one shown trying to hatch during the fire ant episode didn't make it.  Otherwise, no news. He tried hard for that second chick - I feel bad about that.

two visitors - one is a starling, probably.
Who's the other?

LOL, it looks like a Gull.  :o

a nuthatch maybe  :confused:

My friend Paul Clyne said a nuthatch is too small for this big bird. This, he says, is a long-billed bird carrying something, since, say, a Wilson's Plover might have a broad-tipped bill, but he's not about to be poking his head into an Austin owl box (ps when I grow up I want to be able to think like this). Clark's Nutcracker is what he guessed next, since "it's in the crow family after all, and they go poking their business into everything" - but it's a long shot for that one to be messing around in Austin TX. His final guess was a female Golden-Fronted Woodpecker.

Chris says it was a red-bellied. close!

Doesn't she look like one of those things from the 60s, to keep the extra roll of toilet paper in?

She does AND I know people who still use those things! :o

WHAT?! You mean we are NOT supposed to use them??? (This is the kind of thing we can get while we wait...) ::)

Slainte!
Bobbie

I keep my extras (like a dozen) in a cabinet above the john - my Aunt Murial crochets the extra TP dolls!   ;)

I love your Aunt Murial! We all need someone like her in our lives. (And... just how big is that cabinet???)

Easily - 10 rolls - bought on sale with coupons :)

business as usual.

Is that a squirrel for lunch?

Is that a squirrel for lunch?
[/quote]

doubt it -- it does look enormous but these are dinky little owls.

Maybe a chipmunk?

Animal Planet meets the Sex Pistols.
have you ever seen such a punk rock sneer?

Sex Pistols - that's a group I haven't heard in a LONG time!   :lol:  Did you see the little one looking up?

Chris has decided the last egg is not hatching, so there are two owlets.
Plus occasional others:

ahhhh...nice and chaotic...that's how I like owl boxes.

hahahaha. she looks like she got WAY more than she bargained for!

where we are these days:
looking at the same thing;
pretending not to look at each other; and
"how did I get myself into this...I thought it would be fun to have eggs!"

I know looks are decieving, but the babies are looking good and getting big!   :clap:

 the shmoo cam has been turned on

check out those little wings

they sure do seem to be working on a punk band

They really are cute!

Boy do they grow rapidly......WOW!

Mme. Owl leaving for her day job, after practicing punk songs all night
http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/2010/20100504/mme-owl-looking-out.jpg

 :clap: Great pic dale.

I love that picture!

Chris writes:
This is Mme. Owl peering at me from the nest box, across about 100 feet to my house’s (closed) back windows, and some distance past the windows. Given that it was brighter outside than inside, that’s not easy an easy thing to do, but owl eyes are extraordinary organs. Note that her "ear" tufts are raised – this means she was either agitated, or trying to camouflage herself, or that she was doing the latter because of the former. I didn’t so much as open my back door since about 4 AM, so either she was keeping an eye on me (troublemaker-for-owls that I am), or she’s just keeping an eye on everything, and I was the most interesting thing going on at the time.

:ditto:

Smash! Bang! Wallop! WHAT a picture!!!

Truly award-winning, Dale!!

 :wow: :wow: :wow:

Slainte!
Bobbie

Awesome pic.    :flash:    :bravo:

I'll admit the creativity hat is feeling a bit underwhelming this evening...but I'm feeling something Country Western...with a hitch in the cry...

the owlets have left the shmoo stage (of a few days ago) and entered the vampire stage.

one more. Looks pretty intense in there.

These guys are getting pretty interesting - Mom (I think) was hanging out on the inside perch earlier watching the craziness below.  :clap:

band practice

wow! SOMEONE takes after her mom - "when I grow up I'm gonna be a PIRATE, TOO!"

These are the goofiest lookin' birds I've ever seen!    :gum:    :harhar:

Agreed...but addicting.  :paperbag:

hard to imagine it's the same creatures in these two...

These guys are great!   :thumbsup:

They haven't entirely left their schmoo-selves behind

that's what cracks me up; they morph.
If you look at the first vampire shot of the season (reply #105 below) and compare it to this one, it's hard to believe it's the same beast.

in today's news, owlet #1 sits on owlet #2's head and then gets hollered at by mom.

Wow!  My mom would have killed to have a referee's chair like that when my brother and I were growing up! She could have literally stayed above the fray, and still been able to hand out the yellow cards!

Talk about the intimidation factor - that poor youngster looks like he's getting yelled at by mom IN the principal's office!

Love it!   :clap:

I have so much to say about that pic, that I won't.   :o  It's the best though. Thanks dale  :clap:

before and after (these are two minutes apart)

mom shows owlet how to do the vampire thing.

I love the expressions and the shapes they "shift" into  :thumbsup:

 :wave:   They just plain crack me up!!    :gum:   

Oink, Oink, Oink!   :silly:   :handshake:

um...I guess these speak for themselves...

again, no captions really necessary here:

I know the camera distorts, but these guys look like little dustmops!  Love 'em!

So there's a subsidiary to the cheezburger cat site called dailysquee...cute baby animals...yesterday they posted a baby screech owl apparently found via the carolina raptor center

                                                                              

Hey Joe!  Dose cats are trying to steal our cute!              Don't worry, Stan!  We got dem beat wings down!

Thank you, Ei.
Both for the competition's Cute and the home team's rebuttal.

Dustmops!  Cute Dustmops!

Seems awful crowded in there all of a sudden...



Oh No!  The put up the privacy screens!



Ah Ha!  They were hiding Dad giving Joe a wing up onto the perch!

Brava! Hahahaha! Thank you!
I cannot believe one of the owlets was up there so early. Looks like it doesn't quite believe it either - entirely disassembled and sort of shoved up there. Must not be as much fun as it looked!

hi there!

Over the top CUTE!!!  Where IS that Cute Smiley? :crybaby:   :crybaby:

                 

From bird to schmoo in a wing-beat...

You two behave while I for some groceries!   Yes Mommy...we promise!



OK!  The coast is clear!

You two behave while I for some groceries!   Yes Mommy...we promise!



OK!  The coast is clear!



PARRRTY!

OK, Ei...you're pretty good at reading these.
Can you (or anyone) please parse this for me? Because I have NO idea what I'm looking at here.

It sort of looks like the two little ones in front, and either the adult, wings folded, pulling in a large pray item (with its body or tail just coming in the box), or else someone has entered the nest box.

Since both munchkins are currently curled up sleeping, I'm going with the first suggestion.

I've actually seem similar before...one of the parent's is arriving with food...they're perched sideways on the box wall with a wing still in the opening.  Screech owl version of a food drop.  Oh...and a classic whirly head.

OK, as long as no one thinks it looks like a miniature beaver is coming to tea.

In a coincidence of webquesting, I found a web log mentioning Chris (http://brp-journal.blogspot.com/2010/03/no-one-does-it-alone-part-ii.html) on the Bamberger Ranch Preserve (http://brp-journal.blogspot.com/) in Texas.  Evidently he has kept the blog for the ranch going, after the death of the founder's wife. (See bottom of the article.)

It looks like he's been working hard, and is enjoying a break!


Thanks, Chris, for all you do!

You know, I hadn't quite seen that...you may just be right!

:laugh:

I wasn't going to say anything, but that was my first thought!  Glad I'm not the only one.

Colleen, it's like they say, "if you see something, say something!!"
Those beavers are trying to take away our freedoms!

business as usual

The little guy in the bottom photo kinda has a Groucho Marx look to him...

Helen P.

Chris writes:

owlet no. 1 has not only begun climbing in recent days, but has reached the entry hole (a major accomplishment). The upshot of that is that owlet no. 1 should be leaving the nest sometime this week. As of today, the 16th, he/she is 25 days old, so the age is consistent with that conclusion. So, watch carefully. This week will be the most interesting of all.

(for chris)

stages of being amazed at the stupid things a younger sibling can say

These facial expressions are beyond words.  I just sit here and laugh and think how much they'll be missed when they fledge.

Wonderful drawing, Dale!  Chris will enjoy that.

For all you owl aficionados, here's the perfect gown!

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/owl-dress

Gayle

Ah, if I were 50 pounds lighter, I'd wear it!   :2thumbsup:

Here's someone who REALLY likes the hooters dress!

I knew they reminded me of someone

Loved H&J as a kid!   :clap:

looks fun, doesn't it?

Love the pair on the perch!  :clap:

did one leave the box???

I think so.  When I looked at 5:30 this morning it looked like there was only one, but I couldn't figure out how to post the picture, so I just kept quiet.  Then when I got to work there were two, so I thought maybe one had been hiding.  Now I'm thinking he's been coming and going?  Do they do that? ???

Well, wherever he was, he's back now.  I think he may have just been hiding...I don't think they really come & go when they're first branching.

jeez, Ei, that's that funny cross-eyed falcon look Mariah got sometimes.

Speaking of funny looks,

The camera is so decieving that I think the missing owl was either hidden be the other one or was scrunched up under the camera.  These 2 are still (where is the cute smiley) cute!

And, for my next role...Count Chocula!

that's so funny - Ei, you beat me to posting that by seconds.
Isn't that incredible?

They really can bring a smile to your face!



Hey, Stan...if we hide under this thing they'll think we BOTH took off! 
Yeah! Let's try it!

Look at those skinny legs!  They are the funniest looking creatures ever.

 :scaredblue:  Yikes!  It really won't be long now!

DUH!  The hole is on the OTHER side!  Stupid boys...never listen to directions...

DOH!  I can't watch...really...I just can't...



I mean, really!  Would YOU want to go out there?  Didn't think so...

I tried...

I'm going to miss these guys - love the faces!   :heart:

Chris writes:

May 20 – [3:02 AM] I brought the owl’s nest box down early this morning and attached the owlet rail outside the entry/exit hole. This was done in anticipation of the eldest owlet leaving the nest soon, and in the expectation that having a perch outside the hole must make that critical leap from nest to tree easier.  This also gave me an opportunity to open the nest box and take some family portraits.

Eldest Owlet.http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/2010/20100520/_MG_0039.jpg
Youngest Owlet, badly photographed. http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/2010/20100520/_MG_0012.jpg
Owl Box on Ground with Owlet Rail Installed. http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/2010/20100520/_MG_0003.jpg
 
There’s a paper towel temporarily to stuffed into the entry/exit hole to calm the owlets, but, otherwise, the box looks much the same once it’s been returned to its rightful place in the tree.
Needless to say, this threat to the nest and owlets resulted in repeated attacks by the adults, from which my scalp probably carries a good number of scratches, all well-deserved. And all in a good cause.

[1:21 AM] Here’re the promised photos of the adults. Don’t ask me which is the male and which is the female – unless I was lucky enough to observe sexually distinctive behavior (like tearing up prey and feeding it to the owlets, which only the female will do), there’s no way for me to know.

Adult One http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/2010/20100520/_MG_0077.jpg
Adult Two http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/2010/20100520/_MG_0085.jpg

Alternately, if both owls suddenly took leave of their senses and let me get hold of them, I might be able to determine their sex by weighing them, because females are generally heavier than males. However, there’s some overlap of their normal weight ranges, so even weighing them doesn’t guarantee an answer. Fortunately, somehow, the owls have it all figured-out.

Chris needs an Rfalconcam hardhat!  If we sell this (question to our marketing folks  :happy:), I'll be happy to buy one for Chris! 

Wow...cool pics of the Owl family. One brave guy for sure...getting scalped!  :o Thanks dale.

each conspiratorial wink could be the last of the year...

Sigh!  It's always over too soon...

I have this sneaking suspicion about how #1 gets up there every evening...

??

Yup. This time I was right.
Chris writes:

May 20 – [8:53 PM] Owlet no. 1 has left the nest and is safely perched in the nest box tree. He/she flew from the rail to a nearby tree limb with no difficulty.

[9:48 PM] As soon as I finished writing the previous entry, I went outside with a powerful hand-held light and my camera to try to get a photo of owlet no. 1, but he/she was nowhere to be seen. Both adults were present - they moved around the yard keeping a constant watch on me, and they protested verbally when I walked under certain areas of the canopy of the two big hackberry trees at the back of my yard. That suggests that owlet no. 1 flew from the nest box tree to one of the hackberrys, a flight of something like 25 feet, if he flew between their closest branches. If so, that’s good; the dead nest box tree can’t provide much shelter, while the large, vibrant hackberrys can provide no end of places to hide.

At this age, a screech owl should be a very poor flier, but I saw this one easily gain altitude on both of her/his first two flights, so, perhaps, being one of only two owlets meant that he/she was fed so well that he/she developed more rapidly than the typical eastern screechlet, who would be competing with three siblings.

So, all indications are that things are going great for owlet no. 1. Next we’ll see how long owlet no. 2 (≅3 days younger than no. 1) remains in the nest.

I really have appreciated Dale and Ei for keeping us all posted on the Screech Owls.  Great fun...thanks you guys!

Patti

what they said  :thumbsup:

Yeah!  :thumbsup:

I agree with all above that it's been so much fun to watch these 2! The expressions and captions have been priceless!   :clap:

Won't be long before #2 is on his way...

This one had to be a screen shot of all 4 frames...trying to get out through the top of the box...then reassessing the situation  :2funny:

and then the OBVIOUS solution...

Oh really?  And that would be? ? ?

Well HIDE, of course!

the new O RLY owl:

 :yes: :bravo: :flowers: :notworthy:

Do I stay?



Or do I go?



What do you think?

"...Chris says it's hard to tell girl owls from boy owls...boy is he right!"

OK...just back from the periodontist and all that's coming to me is O Solo Mio!

Any other suggestions?

just pure silliness, unless it's an attempt at chin-ups, in which case it's just pure silliness.

I was still trying to get over what owlet #2 was doing with its head in the previous post's picture, and now THIS ... careful study of the first of these photos leads me to suspect that the bird has its head turned around 180 degrees.  Am I right?   
Careful study of the other photo leads me to believe that a large fish is trying to enter the nestbox.

 :hysterical: yup, that's a fish alright! Pretty funny dale.  :steff:

I think the last owlet has left the building! :laugh:

Oh, Ei, this one has really got me laughing!   

nope. his or her front (i.e., eating and looking) end leaves the building from time to time, but apparently this whole "leaving" business needs a lot more thought.

do owlets snore?

I don't know about snoring, but they sure do put their soul into it when they belt out a tune!

I think it tried again to see if it was a girl owl or a boy owl and actually figured it out!!

The large "mouth" bass is back

Wonder what happens if I lean just a little bit more?



WHOA!!!  I'm not ready for THAT yet!

well, this is what happens ...

Chris writes:

[9:46 PM] Owlet no. 2 has successfully left the nest box and is climbing in the nest tree under the watchful eyes of at least one of the parents.
http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/2010/20100522/_MG_0050.jpg

Very nice!    :thanks2:

I'll miss them and their expressions.  Good luck to the little ones!

Wow, they grow up quick. Good luck little ones.

Just a reminder, in case anyone wants to let Chris know they enjoyed the owlets this year, he likes to get picture postcards from your town; under "Things to know about" at the bottom of this page: http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/  is his PO box address.