As the Owl Turns

This is becoming quite a soap opera.  Saturday night I heard hooting in our neighbor's back yard so I set up the boom box, got the mouse, camera and waited.  Nothing.  After I bang my head against the wall, at some point I will say, "Owww!"  I decided to set up the platform in the back yard where I knew the owl to be. Boom box. Mouse on platform. Go to get the camera and before I could even turn, the owl came and grabbed the mouse. I followed the owl around for about an hour (I know...I need a job.)  She just hung around moving the mouse from her beak to her feet like she was playing. After about 30 minutes, he went to a low, private branch and swallowed the mouse whole (only after enjoying the head by itself-she must have been watching how cats eat...)  It took her two tries as that was a well fed mouse.  I turned my head and she flew away and when I went looking for her, she was not 10 feet from me.  I can only think that it was Nellie because: this owl was very tame and put up with me taking photos (will post soon) and being so near for so long. Because I got so close, I did not see an antenna nor did I see any leg bands since her fur covered them. I did use the transmitter to see if it was Ned and got no response. This owl seemed to hear the whistle and come immediately for the mouse as if she had played this game before.  The only odd thing was that if this was a nesting owl, I would have thought that she would have taken the mouse and fed the babies (both male and female feed their young). That's part of the reason I watched for so long, hoping she would lead me to the nest.

Monday night, I heard both a male and female owl in the same place calling to each other. So, my best guess would be that Nellie is back and is searching for a new mate but that is it too late in the nesting season to have babies so is giving this year a miss.

As I am writing this at noon on Tuesday, I hear a female hooting.  I see her but by the time I got set up, she had flown away.  It was definitely a female because they have that lovely trill at the end of their call.

I have several reports from other neighbors of hearing lots of owls so that is good news.

Giving a hoot,
Marsha
Update: for the last several days, I have heard lots of female hooting as well as more hooting btw. a male and female. Two neighbors report seeing two owls flying together.  Still best guess is Ned has gone to owl heaven and Nellie is trolling and may have found another mate but it's too late in the nesting season.

Still hope

Well, the good news is that we have seen and heard owls in the neighborhood.  On Hermitage Court, there is apparently some fraternizing going on based on the monkey type of hooting. Tonight, we heard two owls near our back yard.

I have the antenna and twice have gone out with my owl partner Walker to try and find Ned.  Remember Ned has a transmitter.  His frequency is 713 so we set the radio to that,put the antenna on the roof of the car, and off we go (there is also a hand held antenna that Walker has used to walk around Ned's usual hangouts).  If we come across Ned, the radio starts beeping.  Even if the transmitter is down (euphemism), the antenna can still detect it.  We have had no luck. Nor have I had any luck with the whistle and free mouse (both Ned and Nellie are trained to the whistle).

If one of the owls is gone, then the other one will find another mate quickly.  So it could be that they are out of their territory looking for a mate, and will simply start nesting later. If it gets to be more than another week or so, they will likely skip this year.

Fingers crossed.

UPDATE:I was just informed that another possibility of why we are not finding Ned is that the battery in his transmitter is dead.  It is two years old.  Dr. Rob is coming to Charlotte (now he is into ospreys, he can't let go of his barred owls) the second week in April to check up on his owls and do some banding and hopefully catch Ned to replace the battery.

So for you locals, keep looking up in the trees for nesting sites. Due to the time change, they are often out when it is still light and the male will have to feed the female if she is sitting on her eggs.  The next time we will have a chance to find them is going to be mid-April when they the fledglings owlets are out of the nest and crying for food.

The photo is of Hermione being banded in 2010.

It's such a nice house...

I have tried for the last 8 days to call for Ned and Nellie with no luck. It really is so odd since they were like clockwork for 10 weeks and now nothing. I did see an owl in our back yard on Wednesday and we shared a couple of hoots.  It's really hard to tell who (no pun intended- well just a little) is who unless they are together.  When they hoot, the male has no trill at the end of the "Who cooks for you" while the female has that trill.

Jen came out and gave me the antenna and transmitter (Ned has his own frequency) so I will try and find Ned.  Nellie is likely sitting on the nest and it is his job to feed her since she has to keep the eggs warm. So if we find Ned, the nest could be nearby.

Another possibility I do NOT want to think about is the Nellie has gone to owl heaven.  Most city owls die when they are going after a mouse and a car hits them but the other way they can die is by people putting out rat poison (or even toxic yard chemicals) and mice or voles eating that and then the owls eat the mice.  She is banded so I would have hoped that someone would have reported it.  If Nellie is gone, then Ned will be looking for a mate so he may not be in the neighborhood around feeding time. It's almost too late now to nest so he may have to wait until next year.

Cool owl websites

Really good article about owls (barred owls are specifically mentioned) in
Tuesday's NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/science/long-cloaked-in-mystery-owls-start
-coming-into-full-view.html?_r=0

They talk about the Global Owl Project which is more of an academic pursuit
and has some good links.
http://www.globalowlproject.com/

I tried two times last week to entice Ned and Nellie with a mouse with no
luck. Best guess is that they have found plentiful food nearby and are just
not in hearing range. I will try again tomorrow (Monday) a little after 6.
They are very near nesting time and we check every day to see if Nellie has
taken her place.

Some of you may not know about Fum and Gebra-a real like Owl and Pussycat.
They are a very unusual pair and play together. Great videos
http://www.fumandgebra.com/

Video of Nellie grabbing a mouse

This is what happens on Sunday nights when we feed the owls. A big thank you to Christina Markey for videotaping Nellie grabbing the mouse. You will hear Dr. Bierregaard's recorded whistle that he used to train the owls to come to the mouse. At 26 seconds, Nellie appears on the willow oak tree and after Alina Bartlett moves her head, you will see Nellie grab the mouse and take it to a nearby magnolia to eat in peace. Note-not for the faint of heart...It is the circle of life and the mouse had a wonderful meal before hand.

Nellie checks out the box 3 times!

Nellie has checked out the nesting box 3 times now so we think the time is getting near for her to start sitting on eggs. We think it is Nellie rather then Ned coming into the box because this owl seems bigger, does not have an antenna transmitter, and perches and jumps in the box differently.  We are going to feed Nellie a mouse tonight just to further encourage her to choose the nesting site that Ned has recommended.  What's the big deal?  The really fun part comes when the babies come out of the box (probably in April) and we get to watch them learn to fly and hunt for food.  See above. Plus, when they are in the box, we get to see them grow and feed and play.  I will be posting videos soon and Ned and Nellie checking out their (hopefully) new home.

I will prepare a place for you.

The male barred owl does the house hunting. Ned first checked out the box on Dec. 29. [note:the camera is motion activated with a time and date stamp]. He came back on January 20 and spent about 5 minutes looking all around and then went inside to sit a spell to make sure it would be comfortable for Nellie.  He came back again on January 23rd and went in and out of the box twice-one time taking out a leaf. [NOTE: On Feb.2, Ned came back for a 4th time to check out the box. This time we were able to see his transmitter so we are certain it is him. ANOTHER NOTE: Ned came Sunday, Feb. 3rd at 7:00 a.m and spent about 2 minutes inside the box. About a half hour later, squirrels starting building another nest so we get to see how the trap door works.] I am very hopeful they will come back. They usually nest in hollowed out tree cavities (which is why Myers Park is ideal) but I am hoping a free mouse each week will be the deal breaker.
We have been feeding the owls a mouse every week for about 6 weeks now and we are pretty sure it is Nellie grabbing it. This last time, we played the whistle twice and she was there.  As soon as the mouse was put on the platform, she grabbed it before Mike could even turn his back. She is now waiting at dusk for the mouse so we need to cut back to every 10-14 days.  We don't want her to be dependent on free mice. Yesterday I was working in the yard and didn't realize she was there.  I walked by the platform and she came to sit in the tree above waiting for the mouse.  While it is adorable and cool as heck, I cannot oblige her.
Barred owls will not nest if there are squirrels in the box so we have had  the leaves cleaned out twice. At 30 feet in the air, it is a task. I have a big stick to bang the box if they start to build again. I've also put up some flashing to prevent raccoons for getting at the eggs. We did see a raccoon last year visit the box so we know they are around. Eggs generally get laid in late February/early March.  Nellie has usually been one of the early nesters.

Ned checks out the nesting box!

In the owl world, the male does the house hunting.  This is Ned checking out our nesting box and deciding if it will be a suitable home to raise owlets. We hope that he comes to his senses.  The tree that they have nested in the last two years was partially cut down and eliminated their roof, so between that and getting a free mouse once a week, it's a very attractive abode.

The courting frenzy begins now and we should be hearing lots of hooting and hollering.  We will continue the weekly feedings that will usually be on Sunday night.  The next two Sunday nights are not good for us and if you want to know when the alternate day is, contact me. The time will normally be close to 5:30.  Nellie is starting to get a little nervous (as is her namesake) with all the people around so we may need to stand further back or in a different place.

Please drive slow around Edgehill Park and the surrounding areas.  When owls go after prey, they do not see cars coming, only the tasty treat they are after.

Owl board on Pinterest

For those of you who do Pinterest, I have an owl board that features more photos and some neat (in my small mind) owl things.  It's under Marsha Gaspari. And for this year, we are going to try to get Nellie back to her real home (in our yard) by putting chicken wire in the tree cavity where she nested last year.  I have Rob's owl call on my ipod and the mouse platform and I am waiting to catch some mice to see if I can train Nellie to come to me (but not too much that she gets dependent-just cocktail entertainment).  This is one of Nellie's babies who has been rousing so she looks a little "undone" but it was hot that day.

Nellie and babies April 2012

Nellies babies

Nellie has 2 babies and a note from Dr. Rob

Again, Nellie decided not to use the luxury high rise we have provided for her but I was able to find her nest.  In the interest of privacy, I cannot reveal where it is but I can say she choose well. I have seen two little owlets peeking out and crying for food. They will stay in the nest for another two weeks before they come outside where mom and dad will teach them how to fly and hunt. I will post some photos shortly.

Below is a link to Rob's screech owl videos and a note from him.

Rob's screech owl videos

Greetings from my new home range in the Philly 'burbs!

I'm sending this out to my old Barred Owl email list. Many of you know that I did my 'trailing spouse' thing again and left Charlotte last summer. We are now settled into a nice, shady, tree-filled property with a stream running through it just north of the Philly city line. Perfect habitat for Barred Owls. Only one problem. There aren't any Barred Owls in the Philly 'burbs. Very strange. The habitat is perfect, but somehow the Barred Owls (and their diurnal counterparts the Red-shouldered Hawks) haven't discovered this big block of great habitat like they did in all the big city suburbs down south. Must be something about the (real) lack of southern hospitality up here (there are signs on the roads warning "Beware of Aggressive Drivers"!).

So, having heard Screech Owls calling in the neighborhood last fall, I downsized and built a box for Screech Owls. I put it up on Feb 10th. Naturally, it has a camera in it. On the 20th I was out in the yard and when I looked up at the box I saw something in the entrance hole. At first I thought it was some sticks and leaves that squirrels had brought in to usurp the box. When I looked a bit closer, I realized I was looking at a Screech Owl looking at me.

So I checked the recordings and discovered that they'd moved in about 9 days after I put the box up. (I still have my owl mojo!) I don't think I'll get this streaming on Cornell's nest cam site this year, but hope to do so next year. In the meantime, I'll be posting selected video clips to my YouTube channel (http://bit.ly/wOjTY1). In one of the most recent clips (Screech Owl nest prey delivery) you can see the first egg, which was laid night before last. I confess I missed it the first couple of times I saw the video, but now can't see how I did. It's very obvious in the very beginning of the clip). There should be 1-3 more eggs laid over the next week. Incubation should start with the next egg laid.

If you're interested, you can subscribe to my channel and get notifications when I post new videos.

Love Philly but still miss Charlotte and all my friends down there (feathered and not!)

It's courting time!

It seems that Ned and Nellie had taken a little sabbatical as they recovered from raising three owlets.  The juveniles have gone to find their own territory.  December and January is courting season for owls.  It is Ned's job to feed Nellie all she craves (men:take a lesson here) and it is Nellie's job (ladies: just ignore this lesson) to well, receive Ned's offering in ways other than food (how's that for our young Hooter followers?).  At dusk, you will often hear them hooting and hollering.  Last Sunday, my husband and son were raking leaves in the back in the dark (planning skills not one of their finer points) and Ned and Nellie were above them hooting.  My guess is that Nellie was saying to Ned, these nice men have stirred up all these mice so go grab me a triple decker NOW. Oh, and take those nasty tails off so I don't have to regurgitate them. So for the next two months, Ned will be hunting for two so he will be out and about with Nellie hooting to say "Here I am, you old fool."

It is also interesting to note that owls do not like sirens. You will often hear and siren and then hooting afterwards.

Saving the Macrame Owl

Saving the Macrame Owl

60 second video of an owl approaching....

This is a one minute slow motion video of an eagle owl (which I think is the largest owl) coming in to grab some prey (which you never see) .  It is really dramatic and it’s cool to watch the feathers at the end.Click on this to see a slow motion approach of an owl

Ned and Nellie are still around. The best time is at dusk when they wake up and are hungry.  Last night I heard several cardinals around the car entrance to the Duke Mansion sounding the alarm so I knew one of them was around and then I saw Ned fly to a quieter tree. Tonight I heard Nellie in our back yard calling for Ned.  The triplets have left to find their own kingdom. 

Starting around Thanksgiving, Ned will begin courting Nellie and bringing her prey in exchange for…well, you know.

Mom and baby hunt

I do not have a difficult time deciding between bunny rabbits and owls.  Bunnies win.  A neighbor called to tell me there were two owls on the roof of her front porch stalking a rabbit.  I went over and sure enough, Nellie and one of the babies were there.  A rabbits' defense is when they are being preyed upon, they usually don't move.  For an owl to hunt, they need to see movement so the rabbit was safe but I took no chances. The owls moved to a neighboring tree and I shooed the bunny to a safe place...for now anyway.

30 seconds of adorable baby screech owls  Trust me.

Letter from Dr. Rob and the latest on the triplets

Even as babies, their talons are razor sharp for hunting.

I don’t think Rob would mind if I shared his last email with you. It is below.

The triplets are still in Edgehill Park.  Usually Ned or Nellie wake up first around 8-8:30 p.m.and hoot (to say I’m here, where are you?) and they are off hunting.  Around 9, their young are left to try and hunt themselves. They spend a lot of time on the low lying branches around the various groups of pine trees by the tennis courts.  They do a lot of hopping along the ground and swooping back and forth.  Last year with two owls, they were often together side by side.  Having three seems to change that dynamic.  One owlet seems to be the odd one out and whenever he joins the others on a limb, they take off.  He is also the one that seems to cry the most.  It is tough being the youngest.

Drive slow. They will be around for a little while longer before they will need to find their own territory.  Urban owls tend can mate as early as their first year and that will start in December.  If you have a chance this summer, head out to the Raptor Center and see these creatures up close.

Many of you read in the Observer's very nice send off for me

(http://bit.ly/lcZfMq) that I am leaving Charlotte. Sad, but true.

I'm doing my trailing spouse thing again, as my wife got a job up in Philly and I'm heading up Friday morning along with my dog and all the junk that we didn't throw away or put in storage.

Two nights ago we trapped Mrs. Prince over on Rockbrook to take her old, dead-battery transmitter off. She was one of the first young we radio-tagged and we have been following her since 2002! She's feeding

2 babies this summer.

Yesterday we hung the last 2 nest boxes I'll put up and did some maintenance on a couple of boxes.

My last grad student, Jen Bates, will be tracking owls this summer and into the fall, wrapping up our 10-year study. It has been really interesting and fun owl-packed decade.

Thanks to all of you who so graciously let me and my students traipse through your backyards. I meant to come by and personally say goodbye to as many of you as I could. Selling our house and packing up left me time for none of that, sadly, so this will have to do.

Apologies to the rather long list of people I promised to put owl boxes up for and for those of you with email questions still back among the 2,500 emails in my inbox. When I get to Philly I'll try to catch up with that mess.

We're moving to a nice suburban neighborhood just northwest of the city. There's a lovely stream through our soon-to-be new property.

You can rest assured that I'll be putting an owl box up in the yard while the movers are unpacking the van!

All for now. Have to go make another run to Goodwill or the Raptor Center or someplace.

Best,

Rob

Who's watching hoo? | CharlotteObserver.com & The Charlotte Observer Newspaper

Who's watching hoo? | CharlotteObserver.com & The Charlotte Observer Newspaper

And then there were 3 again

Tonight we saw all 3 owlets swooping around trying to find small prey in front of our house and the Miller vacant lot. The owlets were likely born a few days apart which is perhaps why one can already hoot and the others are still crying. The owlet that was hit was likely from the next territory over.

One of the babies taking off

This is photo of one of the babies at Edgehill taking off. It was taken by Kathryn Gibson, one of the owl followers.