Rfalconcam Forum

There has been visual confirmation of owls!
(The actual cam site isn't up yet - Chris posted just one picture of an owl in there)

That is great!  :thumbsup:

Chris has officially kicked off the 2011 season...Mme. O has been spending the day in the box, so eggs are on the way. The view is a bit obscured by debris the starlings have hauled in - that happened last year as well; eventually the stuff got moved back from the cam.

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

in related news, my sister and her family have been having a hard time sleeping because of two swooping hoooooligans in their back yard WHO have been very interested in WHO. Who cooks for them, who, who, who. Here's WHO, observed this morning in an abandoned redtail nest.

Nice dale, they can keep me awake all night, I would LOVE it. Any eggs yet? Oh you'll know soon! Fantastic for your sister!! Hoo gets all the good stuff in their yard and Hoo don't? ME!!! S hoo T. :(

the formal "welcome to my owlbox" ceremony

Looking at the second to the last photo, am I the omly one who imagines a thermometer flanked by two starlings to be a promising coat of arms?

Paul

'pends on for whom. I'm considering a computer mouse framed in dodos.
sounds like the birth of a great genre: item of technology flanked by something that flies.

btw Chris writes that it was he who cleared the big stuff (of starling provenance) away from the cam.
Thank you, Chris.

Looks like he didn't get it all!   :rofl:

 :arrrrr:

well, shoot, Eagle-eye Ei, you've already gotten the sine-qua-non captures for the season, we might as well close up shop right now!  Hilarious!

Not until we see 3 owlets copying Mom...then we will have truly captured the quintessential Screech-ness.

my favorites are always the owlets checking out the cam lens - when they turn into one huge eye? - and when they go through their Count Dracula phase - and of course rodent tails and snake bits are very attractive.

I cant offer the fun of the nestbox but Ive got several videos of Screech Owls including one with young. We have 2 sets that nested in a little park 10min from my home. Here is the first fall sighting of one of the Screech Owls. Found him by following the sounds of alarm calling chickadees. http://www.youtube.com/user/CPFFrank?feature=mhum#p/u/1/42lPA-MgVlQ (http://www.youtube.com/user/CPFFrank?feature=mhum#p/u/1/42lPA-MgVlQ) click see all to find more Screech Owl etc videos Enjoy BIGFRANK

Big Frank, that simple, patient video is just ... freaking...incredible. You do an absolutely perfect job of guiding us (including me - and I have some sort of acute congenital owl-blindness) from seeing just a plain old tree...into POP - there's an OWL!!! Thank you so very much for doing that so well!  Beautiful work, good teacher you are. I recognized that feeling from when I was in Peru. I was up at Macchu Picchu and for the first time realized that you can walk up to a plain old bush and stand there, and if you just stand, quietly, suddenly POP you see that there are birds crawling all over the place (and in Peru, it's birds you don't know!). Birds materialize, that's what, and this video demonstrates how that feels.  Also -  the "Screech Owl Nest 2010" video has such terrific shots of the little ones looking out of the tree and all squashed together on branches! Great job! Thanks again!  Dale

Check it out!

Brilliant, BigFrank!

First egg!  :2thumbsup:

Looks like Chris was visiting the new arrival!

Thanks for the very kind words Dale and Bobby. There has been a chainsaw massacre at the park,and since then we havent seen our Screech Owl friends. The weather has been lousy and they do hide well,so we are hopeful that they will show themselves soon. Im glad you enjoyed the owl videos. I try to include abit of helpful info for anyone who views the videos. I do wish I had a proper video camera,alas thats not in the budget. Stayed tuned,never know what I might find!

Does "chainsaw massacre" meant what I think it does?!

He was trying to fix the ceiling illuminators.
Just caught this one

Great video!  I know the trick of following alarm calls, but haven't been lucky enough to find a Screech Owl yet.  I did once find an otherwise well-hidden Red-tailed Hawk by paying attention to the Blue Jays mobbing it.

My sister just heard raptor screaming and got to watch a redtailed hawk trying to terrorize the GHO sitting on eggs in a tree in the backyard. It was reportedly a very loud episode. A squirrel was running around on the same tree trying to see what all the commotion was about.

That was one extremely silly squirrel!

this morning

Wonder if she's working on egg 2?

not sure, but this MAY be egg #2

well this is definitely egg 2

So many eggs already!!! Yikes. Thanks

we are soooo busted....

I believe this is the first time I've caught an egg-turning with this owl!

we certainly are getting all the behavior on cam right off the bat.
midnight snack, anyone?

3 eggs!  WooHoo!

3 eggs ...and...a guest

Crazy starling!  I guess it wasn't enough to stick his head in...maybe his big brother dared him (or her).

Chris has been having the devil's own time with the cam - what he calls a combination of bad video capture software and hardware issues. Nevertheless, he reports that *** a FOURTH EGG *** has been laid, and we will see a capture whenever Quick Time - Java and the Powers that Be see fit to allow us to see one.

A couple frames from 3/8 - before Chris cleaned the grasses and things out.
I've never seen one of THESE in there while the owls were nesting! Starlings, yeah...

I guess I've been lucky to catch a frame or two...

I've seen that one-eyed owl a few times too  ;)
Between starlings, squirrels, and one-eyed owls, the nestbox is quite a scene!

I'll say!  ;D

they sure do seem bored, sitting there on all those bumps...

it would be so hard to get comfortable don't you think. Fear of cracking up the next generation.

well put, BC!

Chris's site is up and running again. Mme. Owl now has 4 eggs as of March 19th. I saw them a bit earlier tonight, but now she's back brooding!

yeah - the brooding stage always seems so crushingly boring - but who knows if owls bore.
Two I captured today

I have eggs. Who else has an egg?

...just waiting. patiently. for something...
with a tail.
a mouse. a texas blind snake. a gecko. a male screech owl. anything with a tail.

No, I mean, I'm really really really waiting...
get your tail in here...

SO bored she's brushing up on her imitations:
"Here's a penguin..."  "No, no...here. Here's a penguin..."

That's hysterical dale!! Great catch, so darn cute too!!  :hysterical:

Which can first the penguin or the owl?
So cute. Looks like she got into the rum last nite.

Rita
 :hysterical:

nah she is telling them bedtime stories

sure. "Once upon a time a penguin walks into a bar..."

these are both quite beautiful

ORLY?

what is THIS?

oh...right...

With temperatures so high does she really have to incubate them. Surprised they are not fried.
 :dead:

manicure-pedicure 

4-minute interpretive dance entitled, "Soccer Ball"

anyone have a caption for this?

she's doing karaoke

"I want to fly like an eagle, to the sea.
I want to fly like an eagle let my spirit carry me"

"I want to fly like an eagle 'til I'm free" :eagle2:

Dunno, this sure looks like OWLET(S) to me...

Holy mackerel!  I figured they were due soon, but still...

Yup...one sitting up in front of her, the other doing a face plant on the right

nice one, Ei. You got both. I thought I saw 2 there.

I see one egg too-the other is probably hiding

short spin around the block

Wow, that did seem fast...my sense of time is all messed up lately...thanks for posting the updates!

and this is...what, exactly? it's not a platonic solid, and it's not an owlet.
So what's it doing in the nestbox and why is Mme. Owl groveling in front of it?

Looks kinda pyramidish. Makes ya wonder how things get where there not suppose to.

Mme. Owl appears to have gone for some grub...2 for sure!

Won't be sure until we can count beaks (such as they are) but I think I see 3 owlet butts here

this looks like 3 owlets, 1 egg - right?
can't really be sure. may have one AWOL.

Are you speculating that an owlet or an egg has gone AWOL?  Tickled my funny bone -- I have a visual image of an egg trying to sneak out of the box in the dark of night...except it discovers that it has no legs or climbing appendages.

hahahaha. well, we DID have 4 eggs.
There are CLEARLY 2 owlets in there and one egg.
I THINK I see another owlet but maybe not. Doesn't it look like a lineup in that last capture?
But, as Ei wrote, until we have a beak count, parts are parts.
Also looks exactly like 2 owlets and a couple of cotton balls the third owlet strategically placed in there so she could...um...yeah, like you said ;)

Chris confirmed that that still I posted was indeed a lineup - 2 owlets facing south, one facing north (or vice versa), and one ovoid.  All accounted for, SIR.

He also mentions insects; he may open the box to make sure they're not fire ants;

he also writes  this:

"there's a free iPhone app. for watching the owl cam’ written by long-time friend and former colleague Chris Cooley. He’s incorporated a time-lapse movie mode that I've been meaning to support in the web interface for a while . . . I’ll be sure to mention when it becomes available. (It has already been submitted to Apple, it’s just waiting for Apple’s people to approve it.)"

I haven't seen the ovoid today, but the cottonball lineup is pretty extensive...

yeah, I've been watching that. What a mess.

I keep thinking we are down an ovoid and up a cottonball.

Paul

Who you callin' an ovoid?

yes, we are looking a bit peaked, if not downright belligerent.

Paul, I believe you may be right - we may be 4 for 4

Oh, yeah - there's no way that's 3 birds.

Yup-it's official!

April 14 – Egg no. 4 hatched sometime prior to 12:48 PM. The owlet looks OK.

In view of the insect presence in the nest box (threat level still undetermined), it's pretty clear that what this nest needs is a Texas Blind Snake. Anybody got a spare I can have, or know of a source of them?

      

 :hysterical:

They do make some funny faces!  :silly:

 :clap: She's been in the rum again, I think.   :devil:

 :rofl: Very funny!  :rofl:

One up front, 3 toward the back...guess they don't need to huddle together for warmth!  :sunshine:

yup. four distinct aliens, resting after their long trip from another galaxy.

I don't know. As happens every year, it's starting to look like a Bosch painting in there.
I don't know what that is. People leave weird things lying around sometimes.
Which of these images is from 1500 and which from today?

4 cool shots from just now - sure does look like last call in certain establishments

Hey, I looked like that back in the day! Pretty funny these owls. Thanks.

that one looks like a huddle: "She's gone hunting!!!  Let's party!"

Looks like Chris needed to take the box down to deal with the ants...

April 17 – [4:30 PM] Don't panic about the owl box being open and empty; the owlets are sitting next to me as I write this. The youngest appears to have been injured by the ants that finally scared me into taking down the box to remove them. My raptor rehabber friend is on her way to take a look at the little fellow. The others seem uninjured, and before the box goes back into the tree, several steps will be taken to make it an ant no-go zone. BTW, I've given the owlets water, a tricky process, but at least partially successful, I believe, and they're currently enjoying the air conditioning. Needless to say, I want to get the box ant-free, re-stocked with owlets, and back in the tree ASAP, but the youngest needs an expert to have a look, and fortunately, my expert is on the way.

Ahh, hope the little guy is OK.

So tiny!  He does seem to go through this every year...

Owlets are back-can't count them quite yet-looks like he left them some grub too

  Hope the little one is OK and will be back with its family soon.

Looks like 3 are back...



Where the H^%!! were you?  I was worried SICK!

Chillin'...

Guess #4 is being held over. Poor little baby.

One nice feeding shot and one really insane-looking one, like spending the night in a museum.

All lined up for breakfast

I guess all the "museum pieces" from last night's interior decoration of the nestbox have been EATEN.

From Chris:

April 18 – [3:00 AM] As you can see, things are almost back to normal. The ants are gone, the bedding in the box has been replaced, the three neatly beheaded cedar waxwings which were cached in the box were rendered ant free by being submerged in a bucket of water for more than an hour (any ants remaining alive on them must have gills), each owlet received a detailed medical inspection and treatment for the tiny black parasites we found on all of them, the box is back in the tree, and Mme. Owl returned to the owlets about half an hour after I picked-up all of my stuff and cleared out of the area.

The only lingering problem was that the youngest owlet had injuries to the eyelids of its still-closed eyes, and some injuries to the surrounding areas. These appear to have been the work, not of the ants, but of the tiny black parasites we found on all of the owlets. The state of the youngest's eyes was uncertain, so my raptor rehabber friend Sallie took owlet no. 4 to her home for more intensive care. The hope is that the owlet will recover with no serious injuries, and can be returned to the nest in a week or two. So, for the moment, we're down to three owlets, and Mme. Owl was very upset about that when she first returned and did an owlet count. (Evidently, screech owls can count to four, or, at a minimum, they can differentiate between three and more-than-three.)

Since then, Sallie returned to her home with owlet no. 4 and started working on the little guy/gal. She has reported that the injuries to the eyelids and face were not as serious as they first appeared; a small, dark feather from one of the cedar waxwings had become, in effect, glued across the eyelids by dried blood and parasite feces. The feather is gone, and the affected areas cleaned-up. In the meantime, owlet no. 4 has been fed a bellyful of minced mouse, and is sleepy comfortably in an incubator. With luck, no. 4's actual injuries will heal rapidly enough to allow its return to the nest sooner than expected.

Photos and whatnot later.

I guess that explains why the museum pieces had a particularly avian quality...made me nervous a few times, but for the darker color...

 :2thumbsup:  goodnews:  ;D

oh, I guess not. When Mom moved, there they all were. She just redecorated HER way.

MAAA!!! She's touching me!

AWWW!! Kiss & make up  :wub: :wub:

[or bite your beak off  :devil: :devil: ]

 :clap: Pretty funny stuff Ei!  ;D

"I am so not in the mood for waxwing. Plus, Chris touched that one, ew."

Check out how the little one is cuddled up next to dinner. He's only like a week old and is already hanging out with the wrong kind of people, with no ambition, no drive, no brains...

the only bird sitting up is the dead one

 :hysterical:

contact lens?

 :-[

Yaaaayyyy!

April 19 – Owlet no. 4 has cleaned-up well and does not appears as though he/she will benefit from additional medical treatment, so the plan is to return no. 4 to the nest tonight.

 goodnews:

 :clap:

I don't hear anything...do you?

While rummaging through photos, look what I found from last year...



 :surprise:

I LOVE those shots...we get a couple every year. Can't wait.

Now that's priceless! :o

Darn, Ei ;) don't get me started...
Here's one from 2006 - one strutting its stuff and the others not sure how to take it

[11:23 PM] Change of plan: Owlet no. 4 will spend one more day with Sallie. At the moment, only one of its eyes is just barely open, and the other one is still shut. By tomorrow, both should be open and Sallie can examine them for any damage. No damage is expected, but if it's present, it'll be worth knowing about.

 :thumbsup: Better safe than sorry! These owls are so funny looking. It's almost like watching cartoons everyday.  ;D

Chris writes:
April 20 – It’s finally available: Chris Cooley’s “Owl Nest Box” app. for Apple’s iThings. It’s free, so if you have an iThing, consider it recommended, and go & get it.

A couple random frames:

I just downloaded it to my  ithing...cool, thanks!

open eyes (and beak)

must-see entry with incredible photos of the owlets, on Chris' blog
http://chriswjohnson.blogspot.com/2011/04/owlets-on-17th.html (http://chriswjohnson.blogspot.com/2011/04/owlets-on-17th.html)
on the owl page he says that his rehabber friend has decided to keep the owlet one more day.

How cute they are, love the yawning owlet. #4 does look pretty bad but thankfully it was a wing and not the ants eating at him. I love when people go out of their way to save an "anything" in need. Way to go Chris. I think I'll send him a postcard!  ;)

Thanks dale.

One look at these little creatures and how could you not help them!  :clap:

Don't know why, I think I like this picture the best  :silly:

Cuteness alert!  :yes:

Testing-I guess flickr just didn't like quest's picture-the guy in the back was doing that neck stretch thing for quite a while...

hahahahaha! he's still there now, but normal-shaped again.

this one cracks me up, from earlier. A very big head start on mugging the cam lens

doesn't it look like they're playing Royal Court?
"Your Majesty, I beg your leave to eat a dead waxwing..."

Two very nice feeding pictures. I've been noticing how she often shelters an owlet or owlets under her wing while feeding them. Here that's clear.

How sweet is that?!  ;D

The latest from Chris-

April 21 – As you may have noticed, owlet no. 4 was not returned to the nest last night, contrary to previous plans. Its eyes still haven’t opened. Sallie tells me that it’s possible for an owlet to naturally take this long to open its eyes, but that it is increasingly unlikely for the process to take so long. Neither of us know what, if any, conclusions can be drawn from that. Obviously, it does cause concern about what condition the owlet’s eyes will be in when they do open, so Sallie wants to hang on to no. 4 until its eyes do open and we know what that condition is.

In the meantime, Sallie has acquired another owlet a few days older than no. 4, and the plan is to place him/her in the nest at the same time we return no. 4. So, there'll be a no. 5 owlet. That should be an interesting surprise for Mme. Owl. Of course, an extra owlet will place an additional strain on the adults, so we may artificially supplement their food supply by providing a mouse or two per night. The great benefit of this arrangement is that owlet no. 5 will be raised by real owls in the wild instead of by a rehabber. Rehabbers do great work, but none will deny that an owlet, or any critter, is, all things being equal, better-off being raised naturally by and with its own kind. So this is a great opportunity for no. 5, and, in the meantime, no. 4 has some company (actually no. 4 currently has at least two “screechlets” to keep him/her company).

More, including some photos, later.

Did ya hear?  They found us an EXTRA brother!  He's not here yet, but soon!

isn't that fun? I just saw.
I hope #4's eyes are OK

I hope so too dale and yay for #5!!

      

I don't know...I SWEAR I heard some giggling coming from that thing! :laugh:

Don't make me come down there!

Mom will be up there more when the other 2 get back! Oh boy!

 :ditto: The eyes are the most endearing thing about these owls!

April 22 – Sallie called to tell relay the latest information on owlet no. 4. On the 21st he/she was 63.0 grams and on the 22nd 80.9 grams. All of which is good. Unfortunately, his/her eyes haven't opened yet. The eyelids are now being treated with a long-lasting moisturizing agent intended for use on/around eyes. With luck, if there’s actually something interfering with eye opening, that’ll reduce its hold and allow the eyes to begin opening. In the meantime, Sallie is considering adding owlet no. 5 (the adoptee) to the nest ahead of the return of no. 4, just to give the adults some time to become accustomed to feeding four owlets, before they have to feed five (when no. 4 finally returns). I’ve taken some photos of owlets 4 and 5, and will make those available soon.

owlets #4 and 5 are going to ask Sallie to take them back...I think we have a bossy one.

over-the-top cool photos of all Sallie's screechlets. Wow.
http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/2011/20110421/ (http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/2011/20110421/)

Plus there is a new blog entry with the same photos: http://chriswjohnson.blogspot.com/search/label/Nest%20Box%20Cam (http://chriswjohnson.blogspot.com/search/label/Nest%20Box%20Cam)

On the nestbox page, this entry:
April 23 – Owlet no. 4 is reported to be starting to open its eyes, but it’s much too soon to determine what state they’re in. Meanwhile, owlet no. 5, the adoptee, might be added to the nest late tonight. (I know: promises, promises … but it could happen.) Whenever I next bring down the nest box, I’m planning on adding a vent in the lower-right corner of the far wall, as seen from the owl cam’. I’ve been watching the owls panting (technically, it’s called “gullar fluttering”) in the heat of the day for too long now. I think a little cross-ventilation could help enormously. Unfortunately, it will be a problem during cold periods, so, if the vent is installed, I’ll need to make provisions for covering it during the cold parts of coming years (I think we can assume that cold won’t be a major issue for the remainder of this nesting season). One other problem the vent might cause is adding bright light to the box in a place where it’s never been present before. Whether that’ll skew camera exposure for the worse, cause unexpected refelections, etc., is just something I’ll have to determine empirically.

Oh they are adorable, bless Chris for doing what he thought was right and helping. I feel bad for the little guy with the eyes. :( Thanks dale!

Awww, they are just as cute as can be!!   :thanx:

Some of these shots kind of look like a train station at rush hour. Yes there are four there. 1,2,3, and 5.


April 24 – [10:39 PM] Owlet no. 5 is now at home in the nest box, and has even received a nice, big gecko from Mme. Owl, who watched patiently with that gecko while I installed the new vent, photographed the kids, closed-up the nest box, hauled it back to its place in the tree, stowed all the cables, and put all my stuff away. After that, she was in there like a shot. The appearance of an exta kid gave her pause for thought, but she didn't wait long to feed the adoptee, especially since all of her own owlets were still playing dead after having their nest disturbed. No. 5 couldn’t have cared less about the disturbance, having become accustomed to people, so he/she was the only one paying attention when mom was offering the gecko around.  Also, I now have a bag of frozen my mice in my freezer, so I can supplement the family's food supply while mom and dad adjust to having four mouths to feed, again.

 :clap: Glad #5 was accepted. Thanks!

   

I don't know...whaddaya think?  Looks different than I remember him somehow...

   

I can't help it if I'm bigger  :( I think I'll just stand in the corner...

I think Chris might want to think about putting something over that vent hole!  :scaredblue:

Don't be sad...we're ready to play now!  :hysterical:

haha!  Good catch! First of the season like that. Now the fun starts...

Did Chris install a Starbucks at the far end of the nestbox or something?

It must have been a trick of the light earlier-I see there is a louver in the vent hole...

Guess they got tired of waiting for the barista...

Owlets?  What owlets?  I don't know nuthin' 'bout no owlets!

...she doesn't know nuthin' - the carpeting doesn't know nuthin' - nobody knows nuthin'...

Chris writes: April 26 – [9:30 PM] Owlet no. 4 has returned home, replete with a pair of working eyes, thanks to rehabber friend Sallie. Both Mr. and Mme. Owl have delivered food since no. 4’s return, but I don’t think either one has noticed that they now have five owlets (or that Sallie and I left a dead mouse in the nest to help them feed the family). Unless screech owls employ a "1, 2, 3, many" counting system, Mme. Owl should notice the extra owlet before too long (actually, I’m surprised she hasn’t noticed already). I wonder what she’ll think.

Coulda sworn there were 4 a few minutes ago...

one is little; last night I kept seeing the ones near the cam, who look huge and hulking, eclipse one or two. But then they move. There sure are 5 shmoos in there.

I think she figured it out, finally.

For some reason today they're reminding me of those nesting dolls-matryoshka I think?

that's a really funny picture, Ei. Looks like there are SIX

I thought it looked like there were six too!

I think you're seeing the "shoulder" of the right rear screechlet...sometimes all you see is one...sometimes there's more than there are!   :silly:

Nope, just 2 of us here...me and my buddy, Fuzzylump

whooooaaaaaa! score! long skinny one!

pretty funny

looks like mom is counting them, too---"are there4? 5? 6? good
grief do you think here will 7 by tomorrow?

happy wing day
(the lower wing was photographed in my sister's yard)

the tough one

Funny, oh how I love their facial expressions!

see there's the 6th one in the back 

"Must've been that frijole-waxwing burrito. Sorry, you guys..."

 :hysterical: It looks that way too!

The Hieronymus Bosch moments have begun...

(cannot find the comparison picture-I think it's a piece of Garden of Earthly Delights)

are they as crowded as they look? that nest box looks small for 5

It is pretty crowded in there, but they'll be up on the perch in no time. 

oh, most definitely (see reply #91, back on p. 7 of this thread - April 16).

two cool action shots from today, plus one silly one

I like the unusual head angles on these.

I think they need a condo!

Speaking of funny head angles...and I'm not sure I can explain this in words, but I once attended an owl program at a local nature center.  The raptor rehabbers brought a handful of education birds and did a classroom thing, then we went on a night hike in the woods with flashlights to see if we could find any owls.

Anyway, in the classroom they did one thing that amused all of us.  I think they largely did it to illustrate what is means that owls can turn their heads 270 degrees.  They got two owls out at the same time; one was an Eastern Screech Owl and the second was a Barn Owl.  The Screech Owl is small enough to be potential prey for the Barn Owl, so the Screech Owl was keeping his eyes glued to the Barn Owl.  The Barn Owl was well fed, and didn't seem particularly interested in the smaller owl.  They kept the Screech Owl stationary, and started with the Barn Owl at the front of the room, and as the lecturer was talking, he did an entire clockwise turn about the room with the Barn Owl...of course the Screech Owl followed the Barn Owl with his eyes and his head...first 180 degrees as the Barn Owl reached the back of the room, then he kept turning his head in the same direction until the Barn Owl reached the left side of the room...a full 270 degrees!  It was quite stunning to watch.  The little owl finally had to relocate his head as the Barn Owl continued back to the front of the room.  Pretty fun!

they have one!


That's so great. I never get used to the head trick. I was watching the GHO nest at my sister's the other day; the owlets both had their hulking huge backs to me, but the wind was strong and kept messing their back feathers around. Suddenly one owlet whirled its head around a full 180 degrees and tried to press the feathers down. It was breathtaking.

My favorite thing in these last photos from Chris' box is the owlet that is looking straight up so we see its jawline from below. The other angles are nice too.

This one proves that they read this forum. "You wanna see head angle? HERE'S head angle..."

love the story about owl head twrilling---but one question---
how do you get cuter than a baby screech owl?

Not mentioning any names...but SOME people are still asleep...


and the ones that aren't are dropping like flies

no comment necessary, I believe

I find this hilarious

they are like some great comedy team--they give a new and better
meaning to cute--i love them

Oh yeah!  ;D

it finally hit me--they aren't screech owls from austin---they are the marx brothers
harpo, chico, gummo, zeppo and groucho--and somebody is writing these routines
for them

this may be pricklier than it looks

Oh - see - it was prickly

Looks like life is pretty exciting in there

Caption, anyone?

(I have a boatload of great pics of this bunch-hope to post some this weekend)

mmmm--- too stupid-tired to come up with a caption, but I do know what happened after that:

first of these I've seen this year...

OH my....

Oh my is right!  :o

Has left this owl the nestbox?

I don't know, Annette...I only see 4 now and they look mad, but then they look annoyed a lot of the time, they can't help it, they're owls. And another could easily be hiding behind them. I believe there are still 5.

I've seen times where you'd swear there were only 2...

I was just about to post the same picture...



Too young, you say?  We beg to differ, thankyouverymuch!

Pretty sure we've got all 5 in this shot (one frame prior to the last posted)

 :mbanana:  :bguitar:

            

They had quite the party in there last evening  :martini:



Last screechlet standing  :dead-horse:

My count-2 behind the perch, 2 on the left, one on the floor...


And here we're down to 2...

OH, yes. BIIIIIIG party. What a mess. Thanks, Ei!!

clearly 5.
All I can say about those 2 in the lower shot is that either they or the laws of optics are going to be arrested on many counts of aiding and abetting SOMETHING....

And then there was one!


BWAAA HAAAAA HAAAA!!!!

Silly featherless bipeds!

Yes, I was talking to you!

dale's pix from today show 4 owlet heads and one emormous bottom

...and the 5th reappears again for a brief moment...

is the one on the right the adoptee? he deems larger than than his siblings--or do
i have the wrong hutch altogether?

oops--clutch not hutch

You have the right bunch.  The camera distorts them so much it's hard to say which is the adoptee most of the time.  But I'd wager it's the one getting up on the perch & visiting the hole since she's a few days older.

Count us...if you can!!!

that's perfect. I don't think I've ever seen one just like that! yow.

and here's a new, rather ironic take on things:

Hey... you behind that camera... are you catching this?

Despite a trip to view the great outdoors...


...there are still 5 screechlets at home

And they sleep... all 5

There are 5.  Mme. Screech laid & hatched 4 eggs.  While the youngest was in rehab (ants in the box & a bloody feather stuck to his eyes) the rehabber got more screechlets in.  One was the same age as these, so it was fostered into the box.

Remember yesterday we were surmising the climber was the adoptee, being the eldest, since "our" screechlets were too young to be climbing yet?



WRONG!

looks like maybe Mme. had a dalliance with a spider. We've got a crop of creepy crawlies!

Practicing for American Idol tryouts - nest box edition?

i'm no better than A---dividing my affection between rfalcons and ascreech owls---i
confess i love them all

Two silly screechlet shots and one for Mother's Day, from my sister's back yard (the second monster's hiding in the nest)...

Beautiful owls your sister has!

7:33 central time, Chris is apparently putting up the owlet bar; I see his hands in there. check it out now.

Had a feeling he'd be doing that this weekend, what with 2 of them climbing to the top now...

taking pictures :)

HAHAHAHAHA

Nu-uh!  I'm not going out there again!

He looks traumatized.

What the %^#$ was that?

and you KNOW it's the way their eyes are built.
I mean, I'm sure they're a bit flummoxed. But no harm is done by these photo shoots, and the owlet bar is a HUGE boon in terms of branching safety.

they're already falling asleep in there

I can hear the snoring from here...

but they can wake up at a motion's notice!

Oh, that's a beautiful picture.

I imagine the pace in there as really frenetic, punctuated by periods of catatonic laziness.
I also imagine it smells less than fresh.

A reason to return...

check out the position of the owlet in the foreground. It's a bit dark, but nice.

You did see Chris' post today...#5 the adoptee left the nest box last night...

no! I didn't see that! thanks.

"Good luck, you splendid little punk," Chris wrote. Check out the great blog entry.

In the first he's like an obedient little soldier; in the second, I'm not sure ;)

Um...I'm not sure, but I think the butt branched, and the soldier followed orders immediately afterwards???

is everybody going out tonite 'cept me? :wave:

Love the pic and what a success fostering #5!  Kudos to Chris for a job well done!

And for taking good care of the Owlettes when the ants invaded. Not many cam owners would do that.   :bow:

"you came back!!!"
There is an indeterminate number of owlets back in there.

aha. so I was right. owl went outdoors, owl came back:

May 9 – [8:45 PM] Remarkably, one of the owlets stepped entirely out of the box and onto the owlet rail, stood there for about ten minutes, then went back inside the box. In my previous experience this has never happened. In this case, it may make sense, however: The owlet was not the eldest of those remaining in the nest and was occupying the entryway apparently for the purpose of monopolizing food deliveries. It was pushed out from behind by one of its siblings who either wanted to leave, or wanted to do its own monopolizing.

but what is THIS a picture of?

I think this is either Mom or Dad sticking their head in, with a delivery (tail exposed?)

I love the look of the one on the wall, with his wing extended...

Sure does look like he's sitting on his sib's head!

Looks like a line to get out! "And get your head outta......"

 :clap: These owls are funny to watch all by themselves but I have to give kudos for the captions. Good job ladies!  :notworthy:

A little cabaret performance before leaving the nestbox

:hysterical: :bguitar: :2funny:

Still 4 at home...

 
Ruh roh!  A bit of a "discussion" about who will hog the food at the hole...

I don't know about the rest of you, but these owlets are the BEST  entertainment!   These owlets are the comic relief of this site...especially with all the drama going on with our "Falcon Crest/Peyton Place" Pefas. 
I've looked before, but I am paying attention to these posts this year, and they are a "hoot"!  Can  I really say that?   ;D ;D

margaret - I just love this buster-keaton charlie-chaplin screech owl cam.

sadly, the season's drawing to a close. We seem to be left with one entire owlet and one downy butt.

Good luck, owls.

I hope Chris can catch a glimpse now and then over the next days...

yup. "there were three more warm owlets here just a while ago..."

That butt in the porthole may still come back in for the night.

Chris writes:
May 10 – Owlets 1 and 2 (presumably) left the nest this evening. I've located one of them, who is safe in the nest box tree. I can't find the other one, but that's nothing to worry about - I can't find no. 5, who left on the 8th, either. Hiding is one of a brancher's jobs, and so not finding them is to be expected. Still, I would like to at least catch a glimpse of my three branchers, no matter how unlikely that is. The adults are around and being hyper-protective, just as they should.

Oh they are bad bad bad. LOL

Chest bump!

Funny.

NOT!

Chris:
May 12 – All three branchers were sighted at the same time in the same tree (the tree in which I deposited owlet/brancher no. 5 after it left the nest on the 8th). The brancher that appeared largest had its own perch, while the other two (presumably owlets 1 and 2, who left the nest together on the 10th) were perched together on another limb. Those two had to cross perhaps 75 feet of "open" space (the ground is littered with limbs fallen from the dead nest box tree) to get from the nest box tree to the tree they were in, so everyone, whether or not they're skilled distance fliers yet, is getting around with apparent ease. They certainly did a good job of being somewhere else everytime I managed to get my light and camera pointed at where they had been. So, the entire family is accounted for and is doing well. I always worry about them, even as I assume they're doing fine, so this confirmation is a welcome relief.

While I was out searching for, and ultimately photographing, the branchers (well, trying to photograph the branchers), I had three thawed mice in my pocket, with the idea that I’d inevitably end-up with at least one of the adults watching me (rather than just attacking me), and could then deposit the mice in some convenient place for it to pick-up after I was gone. It took a surprisingly long time to be certain I was being watched carefully enough for the owl to realize what I was carrying (to pay attention to the rodent dangling from my hand, rather than just perceiving me as one big threat) and to note where I deposited the mice, but I eventually convinced myself that those criteria were met, and left the mice on top of a fence beneath the tree in which the branchers are roosting. I was probably worrying needlessly—if owls are anything, they’re first rate observers—but I wanted to be as sure as possible that the mice would get to where they were needed.

My scheme must have worked, because around 7 AM one of the adults appeared in the nest box. Upon hearing that, I arrived at my TV (which is pretty much continuously tuned to the “owl channel” these days) in time to see a mouse tail disappearing into a satisfied looking owlet.

funny - I just checked Chris' site a couple of times last night, but I do believe I caught that moment!

I love people that help out animals. Chris is one of them. Ace in my book for sure. Thanks dale.

nice pair of proto-branchers. the little kids.

they've all branched. the cam is no longer linked, maybe no longer on; chris' "final" entry for the season can be found here
http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/ (http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/)
although he often adds reports of sightings later on.
If you have enjoyed the owlcam, he likes to get postcards from your location -
Chris W. Johnson, P.O. Box 8446, Austin, TX 78713-8446, USA

thanks--it couldn't have been better or funnier---i'm sad that it has
ended, but can't wait for 2012---thanks for it all