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Sun, 04/06/2006 - 5:28pm
Observations of an Eastern Screech Owl's nest:Having discovered an Eastern Screech Owls nest,on Friday June 2,Ive been back as often as I can to view the parents with the hopes of a glimpse of one or more baby.
To go back,Saturday I saw the female Owl leave the nest for the first time,giving me hopes of seeing something in the tree cavity. To my delight almost immediately an obvious Owlet took the mother's place. It was fairly advanced and had only a little down on its forehead/head area.Wow I was thrilled. This confirmed indeed Id found a nest.
Sunday,I was over to the park at 7am
7am Arrive and find the male,who I have named Newfie,in the nest hole. When an American Crow in a nearby tree starts kaaing,Newfie ducked back into the nest.
7:10am Newfie(male) leaves nest for a pine tree nearby.He stays there almost the entire day,moving elsewhere while I was paying attention to the female,who Ive named Rusty as she is a Red-phase(morph) Screech Owl.
8:15am A Common Grackle comes near the nest and is calling,Rusty(female) stuck her head out of the nest cavity and the other bird flys off.
8:40am A Black Squirrel climbs the limb of the nest tree,so Rusty came right out of the hole to warn off the intruder. She mantled and tried to look as big as she could to intimidate the squirrel..it worked.
10am Rusty(female) is peering out of the nest,very intently staring down almost directly below the nest in the grass.
10:20 Rusty dives to the ground,appearing to have hunted,when a Blue Jay harrasses her and she flys in the same stand of pines the male is in.
An Owlet pokes its head out of the nest cavity,it is much more down covered then the first young one I saw.woohooo at least 2 babies!
12:45pm Rusty flew back into the nest.
2:00pm Rusty flys into the Maple tree above us.(friends Lynty and Carol met me at the park today)
330pm-4pm Various birds harrass Rusty at her perch.
515pm-6pm A squirrel starts up the nest tree,alert to this Chris,his wife Linda and myself watch Rusty to see if she is going to fly into the nest. To our dismay,the squirrel began to enter the hole. Only the did Rusty dive into the nest,almost appearing to grab hold of the squirrels backside as she entered. Mere seconds seemed like hours b4 our "National Geographic moment" ended,with the squirrel making a hasty,dissheveled exit from the nest cavity. I was quite concerned for the young owlets,so was hoping that some sign would be given that the young were fine. Rusty didnt look upset or concerned and eventually left the nest again. As she did,an Owlet popped into view at the entrance to the hole,the rather downy one. With confirmation the babies were ok,I was off for dinner! A great day,full of adventure and surprises. I had many photo ops,and soon as I get those back I will be sure and let U know.
[Owlet]
Ive added many more to my clubphoto site. http://members3.clubphoto.com/frank237849
[Mama Defends Nest]