Chris -- SCREECH OWL nestbox 2013

[Bobbie Ireland]

Ant eviction underway

Scratch. Scratch-scratch-scratch... Scratch!

[Donna]

Ant eviction underway

Scratch. Scratch-scratch-scratch... Scratch!

Just wondering if he can get in trouble for interfering with nature. No one else does what he does, in that sense. Guess it depends on the individual? So used to hearing not to interfere, let nature take it's course. I'm more confused now! I think it's great what he's doing, feeding, taking care of the cleaning of the nest. I'd do it too, 10 fold!

[Dumpsterkitty]

Everyone back home!

He usually takes photos when he has them down...can't wait!

[Dumpsterkitty]

Ant eviction underway

Scratch. Scratch-scratch-scratch... Scratch!

Just wondering if he can get in trouble for interfering with nature. No one else does what he does, in that sense. Guess it depends on the individual? So used to hearing not to interfere, let nature take it's course. I'm more confused now! I think it's great what he's doing, feeding, taking care of the cleaning of the nest. I'd do it too, 10 fold!

I don't think he'll get in trouble. E. Screech owls aren't endangered. The box is on his personal property. Not what we're used to, but it's what he's been doing for years with the guidance of a friend who is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.

[Donna]

Ant eviction underway

Scratch. Scratch-scratch-scratch... Scratch!

Just wondering if he can get in trouble for interfering with nature. No one else does what he does, in that sense. Guess it depends on the individual? So used to hearing not to interfere, let nature take it's course. I'm more confused now! I think it's great what he's doing, feeding, taking care of the cleaning of the nest. I'd do it too, 10 fold!

I don't think he'll get in trouble. E. Screech owls aren't endangered. The box is on his personal property. Not what we're used to, but it's what he's been doing for years with the guidance of a friend who is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.

Good to know, thanks!

[Dumpsterkitty]

March 18 – 8:26 AM CDT - Mme. Owl left the nest not long before dawn. Since I was still up and watching when she did that (having been attempting to nail down the details of laying and hatching times for the owlets), I rushed out to bring the nest box down, find-out where the ants were based, remove them, and make sure they didn't return.

Couldn’t find a nest anywhere. Nor was it evident from watching them where they were entering and exiting the box. In the end, I pulled out all the modules (roof, and both sides) to dust their sockets with Sevin-5 pesticide. Ordinarily, I don’t use pesticides, but to keep owlets safe, I’ve done it before, and will do it again. This stuff is what eliminated the first ant invasion the of the nest box a few years ago. No surface to which the owls or owlets is directly exposed was touched with the pesticide, but I hope that whatever pathway the ants were using is now lethal to them.

My friend Sallie, the raptor rehabilitator, recommended Sevin-5 for this purpose, telling me that when she receives birds in danger of dying from being covered in parasites, fire ants, etc. that are too numerous to attack and remove individually, she’ll actually dust the bird with this stuff, on the grounds that the parasites will kill it for certain, so anything that buys the bird a chance to survive, is better for the bird than the alternative.

Having played Mme Owl to the owlets and the unhatched egg (some body had to keep them warm, since I don't happen to have an incubator lying around), I can say that the three hatchlings are active and look perfect, and the egg is alive, peeping, and portions of its surface are cracked in promising ways. There was no hole, but I’m assuming the cracking is a step in that direction. The owlet weights are 20.9, 22.2 and 18.9 grams ±0.2 grams. The egg is 15.1 grams, with the same margin for error.

Photos later, if any of them are worth a darn.

[dale]

excellent! thanks!
I want to see owlet pictures. like, real soon.

I just read this: (!!!!)

Regrettably, I did have to remove a cache of four geckos (some part eaten, some not), because I couldn’t be certain that they hadn’t been touched by any of the hastily applied Sevin-5 dust, so there’s no food in the box anymore. I’ll give Mme Owl a mouse later today, to make it up to her and the owlets. I could do it sooner, but I think she’s been through enough this morning. Although, until the songbirds woke-up and noticed her observing the box cleaning process from a branch about fifteen feet from where I was working, she was calm and made no protest; she just kept an eye on me, and, undoubtedly, listened to the owlet and egg sounds coming from the inside pockets of my jacket (owlets in one pocket, egg in the other). Unfortunately, as soon as a bluejay noticed her, she had to head for cover.

Owlets in one pocket, egg in the other...wow.

[Dumpsterkitty]

March 18 – 6:38 PM CDT - Making-up for confiscating her cache of geckos this morning, I injected a mouse into the nest box via the entry hole. Mme. Owl did not fly out in panic, this time. Instead, she stayed put on the floor with the owlets and merely raised her ear tufts in annoyance at the disturbance.

4:19 PM CDT - Owlet no. 4 hatched successfully.

I thought I saw a good sized crack in the egg earlier!

[dale]

all four. How great.
this is a really unusual one

[Dumpsterkitty]

How teensy!

[carly]

How teensy!

They look like little cotton balls 

[Donna]

How teensy!

They are so cute! 

[Bobbie Ireland]

How teensy!

Look at those little sweeties!!!

[dale]

if you use the daily viewer (click a calendar date http://gargravarr.cc.utexas.edu/owl/2013/) there are 500 still shots for each day that you can go through fast or slow, forward or backwards. If you do that for yesterday's date, it's constant movement! Owlets crawling around nonstop! Here is one of the only ones where Mme. Owl seems to have composed a tidy shot for a nice couple-day-old family photo...think again!

[dale]

a few from yesterday. I do recommend the daily viewer (access through the calendar dates)
I saw some deliveries, but I'm wondering if that objet in the last picture is something Papa Chris hurled in.