Chris' Eastern Screech Owls cam...

[valhalla]

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

[Patti from Kentucky]

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.

[dale]

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.

[dale]

Good night in owlese...

[Kris G.]

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.

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.

[Dumpsterkitty]

   

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.

[dale]

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...

[Dumpsterkitty]

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...

[Dumpsterkitty]

#1 big enough to stand up by herself!

[Dumpsterkitty]

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

[dale]

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.

[dale]

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

[Donna]

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

LOL, it looks like a Gull. 

[Bird Crazy]

a nuthatch maybe 

[dale]

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.