Screech owlets!
We knew that the screech owl in our owl box was raising at least one chick and that it was getting big. Mama owl had moved out but was still roosting nearby, as was papa owl. But any chicks were being shy about showing themselves, so this week I staged a post-dusk stake-out on the deck with my camera. The first evening I got nothing, mainly because I lack patience, but also because the parent owls knew I was there and were shy about feeding with me so close. The second night, though, I finally got a good glimpse. So cute!
Only one owlet was brave enough to gaze at me through the entry hole. He was obviously impatient for mom and dad to deliver dinner because he kept looking around.
I think there are at least two owlets, though, because of a flurry of wing activity I’ve observed with the aid of binoculars, and what looked like the fuzzy, gray tops of two heads.
Mama owl has taken to roosting in a Texas persimmon along the back of the house since moving out of the owl box. I got some shots of her a few mornings ago.
Check out those talons.
She’s tolerant of the paparazzi, but if I get too close she flies to a tree in the lower garden, near papa owl.
Here she is again, two evenings ago.
As soon as darkness fell, she flew off to hunt.
And after an unusually patient stake-out (for me), I caught a single image of either mama or papa owl feeding the chicks. Although I can’t really tell which end is up — and the owls feed their young very quickly before darting into the darkness again — this is one of the parents popping into the box, to the scurrying excitement of the owlet(s) waiting inside.
The owlets will be fledging soon, I think. I hope I don’t miss seeing them make their first flights. After 4 years of watching owls raise chicks in our owl box, I’ve yet to get a good glimpse of that transition to independence. It always seems to occur over the Memorial Day weekend, when we’re busy with other activities. Do you think they plan it that way?
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Great shots of the happy family. After seeing your box at the weekend David decided to retrofit ours. It now has the round hole. If we don’t get an owl next year I think it is time to find a new tree.
I think so too, Jenny. Although maybe you just have a lot of natural nesting sites to compete with. —Pam
That is so cool, Pam…I’m so jealous of your owl family!
They are pretty cute, aren’t they? —Pam
Great pictures of the owlet staring out of the box, watching for mama or papa. It reminds me of when I was little, and my mom would leave me and my sisters alone in the car to play while she went into the grocery store. (No one does that nowadays.) When we got bored or annoyed at each other, we’d just sit and stare morosely at the grocery store door, willing it to open.
Yep, they’re waiting for the groceries to be delivered. —Pam
I think after 4 years you must seem like one of the family and should be allowed to chronicle life’s stages for the family scrapbook.
I agree! Actually, I don’t think it’s necessarily the same nesting owls every year. I’ve compared pictures of mama owls over the years, and their markings differ. —Pam
Great shots of a wonderful owl family! We have a fairly small yard at the moment, so no owls are nesting here. However, it seems the scrub jays are fighting for ownership of our yard! I’m going to keep watching and see which “couple” wins the right to put a nest in the Redwood tree out back!
May the best jays win! —Pam
I’m so excited for you that you are able to watch the family! Owls have always been one of my favorite animals and I so rarely see them now that I live in LA. Did you have the owls around before the nest box, or the box before the owls?
The owls were definitely around before the box, Sam. We regularly hear screech owls and great horned owls in the wooded area behind our house. —Pam
How CUTE!!! It is difficult to catch them fledging. They always are so sneaky about it. It would be great fun to watch though. I hope you get some photos.
I will count myself very lucky if I see it, Lisa. Fingers crossed. —Pam
I should move my owl box. I’m just afraid the squirrels will decide that it is perfect for them. Got too many squirrels, not enough owls. Great photos!
We’ve had squirrels (and bees) in ours, Cheryl. The owl evicted the last squirrel that was in it. —Pam
How adorable! And the wise owls probably do plan it that way….ha!
They probably do! —Pam
I live in the Bastrop area and put up an owl house last year after the fire. A couple of flycatchers nested in it last summer, but lo-and-behold, to my amazement, one evening about a month or so ago when I went out to see if there were any new residents, an adult screech owl was peering out. A couple of weeks after that, there were two owlets! I was thrilled. If they haven’t already fledged, they probably will soon. It’s been really fascinating to watch them. One question – do you clean out your owl house after they leave?
Congrats on your owl family! I don’t know whether cleaning the box is necessary or not, but we usually do so in October, before nesting season, because squirrels often try to set up house during the summer or fall. After cleaning it out, put a light layer of dry leaves in the box to make it homey for the owls. —Pam
Those are so cute! I am sorry if this sounds like a stupid question, but does the owl house need to be of a certain model or type in order for an owl to come and make it its home? Did you have to do something specific that would attract an owl (for example, if you want bats to come in the little house you built you must put it in direct sunlight in order for them to be warm)?
Thank you in advance 🙂
Valhobby, the Audubon website has the answers to your questions, and I’m happy to provide the links. To learn more about eastern screech owls and how to attract them, click here. For box-building instructions, click here. —Pam