(when I first posted this Mary could be seen delivering the eyases back to the scrape at
http://www.epl.org/falconcam/)

one of the eyases, after being returned up there, was such a slug that lay on its back recovering for a very long time. It eventually managed to right itself, after a wiggly struggle. Porker.

Buffers a lot.

Maybe that's why the site calls the live footage "compulsive" -- it's compulsively buffering.

Cool barn owls though, thanks. these b&w images are so . . . well . . . 

Chris posted:

Beginning the process of sifting the few interesting movies from the worthless mass of automatically recorded dreck, I offer a food delivery movie from April 3rd (MPEG-4, 30 MB), while incubation was still less than halfway complete.

http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/2012/20120403/owl-20120403-022742.mp4

May 29, 8:53 PM – I searched for owlets at dusk, catching sight of one silhouette, and at least three overlapping, but distinct, food begging calls. Regrettably, both from a photographic standpoint, and an “I don’t trust my owlets with other people� standpoint, they (or their parents) seem to have decided to camp in a tree very near one of the back corners of my yard, but, nonetheless, not in any on my property. So, unless they all decide to stand around at the end of the one branch I can see directly, I’ll have to settle for silhouettes, sounds, and the knowledge that all four of them are probably doing well.

The Beauty of Pollination - Moving Art™

"Oh my head is spinning"

that's a weird black one. never saw one like that.
Maybe it's not a whirlyhead. Maybe that's what falcons look like when no one's watching.

Owlet 4 is out and safe up in the leaves, Chris reports.

Chris reports that owlet #3 branched this evening.

found this while going through my saved captures from the season.

Chris' video software or hardware died yesterday, so no more more new live images this season. The second owlet branched last evening and disappeared into the foliage. Two more to go. Chris says he will continue providing sets of photos for each day, to be found on the calendar on the cam's home page. There still ought to be some terrific still photos forthcoming, from the same outdoor session when he made the wonderful 4-minute video, which I highly recommend seeing (link in an earlier post) if you haven't. It's smashing.

One reminder, if you enjoy the owlets and care to send Chris a picture postcard from your locale, he seems to love getting them. As per his site,

Chris W. Johnson, P.O. Box 8446, Austin, TX 78713-8446, USA

That is an awesome foursome!  The one, doing the vocalizations, was quite the spokesowlet!  I have to add that the sound track cleared my balcony of pigeons in 1 second flat
Annie in Toronto

oh, that's so funny!

check out this capture from this morning. I can't believe owlets play around with cameras like this too - I thought it was only drunk tourists who did that.

the camera image quality went south yesterday, but one owlet's out, Chris expects another to go this evening, and onwards. He's pretty sure the branched owlet is safe in a neighbor's tree, based on the adults' behavior.

there is a smaller download of the 4-minute video of the owlets, if anyone had trouble with the huge one.
http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/2012/20120522/video/2012%20Owlet%20Family%20Portrait%20Video%20720p.mp4
The video is very, very worth watching. Lots of clacking, defensive ill-temperedness on the part of one owlet; clearly someone died and made him king of everything. The other three are sitting quietly and going about the business of calibrating their brand-new owl headsets.

So, do you think they'll recognize each other out side the box?  

who knows...who knows what recognition means for aliens and zombies. This one doesn't even seem to recognize his own foot . . . and I can't even recognize some of that stuff in the other shot as owlets!!

Chris made an absolutely spectacular video of the owlets outside on a branch, when he took the box down to install the owlet rail for branching:

May 23, 1:09 PM – The four minute HD video (1080p) shot during the owlet family portrait shoot this afternoon is available for download. It's a hefty 1.39 GB, so it's not for everyone, but it must be for someone ... you know who you are. Enjoy.
http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/2012/20120522/video/2012%20Owlet%20Family%20Portrait%20Video.mp4

YOW!!

May 22, 8:50 PM – The first owlet has left the nest, and, after a long pause on the owlet rail, made a perfect jump to a nearby tree limb. At least one of the parents was monitoring the situation the whole time. There was one bizarre aspect: while the owlet was on the rail, a starling landed on the rail next to it in order to investigate it, peck it – I couldn’t be sure (it was dark, so I was watching silhouettes). It then flew to the other side of the owlet, and was gone (good riddance). Cats are frickin’ everywhere, but the owlet is safe for now.

Ei - Thanks!!! I'm so glad you caught all that; I was out and couldn't watch. I love those frames, the big hands, the glimpse of outside. Can't wait for the annual "portraits."

four -- these from Sunday.
the owlets are climbing up to the hole and looking out already.
I hope that Chris gets to put the owlet rail on the box and use the opportunity to take portraits of the owlets, as he has done in the past.

Mme. Owl is a really talented huntress...first an armadillo, now a nautilus!

hahahaha.
Here are the other 2 I had put aside to share: