Chris' Screech Owls . . .

[Dumpsterkitty]

May 22, 8:19 PM – Everything is back to normal, although the owlets are currently lying around the floor of the box, resting after their big, fun, fascinating and scary adventure. (Sounds like anthropomorphism, I know, but I don’t think it is.) Fear not, they’ll be back to normal when the night’s food deliveries begin. And, of course, whenever they leave (and that could start tonight – when I brought the box down, one owlet climbed straight into the entryway and jump/flapped out to me) they have an “owlet rail� from which to plan that first big jump. Photos and video of their adventure will be available sometime tonight.

[dale]

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."

[dale]

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.

[Carol P.]

Thanks Dale and Ei for keeping us up to date on what is happening to the owlets.  Do hope they stay safe.

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

[dale]

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

[dale]

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.

[Kris G.]

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.

Those Owls are precious!  Love the chatty one and all of their expressions.  Thanks!

[Patti from Kentucky]

http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/2012/20120522/video/2012%20Owlet%20Family%20Portrait%20Video.mp4

The video was great fun!  Thanks for posting...

[anneintoronto]

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, including the mother pigeon sitting on two eggs in the nestbox!  Never saw any of them move so fast before!     Thanks for posting the video!

Annie in Toronto

[dale]

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.

[dale]

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

[dale]

Chris reports that owlet #3 branched this evening.

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

[Carol P.]

Chris reports that owlet #3 branched this evening.

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

Oh no!  Not the Geico guy!   

[dale]

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

[dale]

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.