Fond farewell to the screech owl family
June 04, 2025 By Memorial Day, the screech owlets in our garden had flown the coop — on the same timeline as hatchlings in years past. I caught a few last glimpses of the trio on May 24th or 25th, as they perched in the live oak near their nesting ...
Screech owlets ready to fly away
May 24, 2025 Aw, they grow up so fast! All three screech owlets have left the nesting box and are roosting in a nearby live oak. One owlet hangs out on a low branch, next to its parent. When it’s tired, it rests its head on the branch, splayed out ...
First owlet leaves the nest, two more in box
May 20, 2025 Several times a day and night I pop outside to check on and photograph the screech owl family nesting in our front yard. I’m obsessed. Since I first spotted them using the nesting box back in April, I’ve followed their progress with the eagerness of a new ...
Night owls
May 15, 2025 I’ve always been a night owl, and right now we have a family of them in the garden. They sleep by day… …and wake in late afternoon, ready to hunt. I get a kick out of watching our screech owl pair deliver meal after meal to the ...
More fox and owl action in the garden
May 12, 2025 I’d seen her, but my husband hadn’t. So yesterday evening, we did a fox stakeout. As the sun went down, we parked ourselves on the front patio, watching and listening. Then — a scratching sound behind us. We turned to look, and there she was, perched atop ...
Owls, lizards, finches, and fox at home in my garden
May 11, 2025 It’s Wild Kingdom in my garden right now. Watching wild creatures make their homes, hunt, and raise their young in the garden hugely motivates my gardening efforts. There’s nothing better than watching a hummingbird zoom in to sip from a salvia, or a bumblebee bob among skullcap ...
Screech owl in the box and garden anoles
May 04, 2025 Over the last few weeks I’ve been keeping an eye on the screech owl box in the front yard. A nesting pair has chosen it, and even though I haven’t seen owlets yet, I believe they’re in there. The mother owl spends more time in the doorway, ...
Athena the great horned owl nesting again at the Wildflower Center
April 28, 2025 A great horned owl has been nesting at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for 15 years, laying usually two eggs each spring in a planter niche high on a wall, sheltered by a spiny Wheeler’s sotol. See her up there on the right, under the blue-green ...
Cactus flowers, lizards, and another owl sighting
April 23, 2025 It may be peanuts, but that’s a good thing when it comes to peanut cactus. My peanut (Echinopsis chamaecereus) erupted with starry orange flowers last week, and they’re still going strong. They are eye-poppingly orange-red, like molten lava. Cacti have such stunning flowers. This one was a ...
Screech owl nesting in new owl box
April 15, 2025 We’ve been sadly without a screech owl family for several years after losing our owl-box tree and having to move the box. We actually have two owl boxes now — one in the front yard and one in the back. Since January (when nesting season begins) I’ve ...
Merry Christmas from Austin
December 23, 2024 We went downtown last Wednesday for a holiday show by Texas troubadour Robert Earl Keen. Since we were in the neighborhood, we strolled down 2nd Street to view Kempelen’s Owls, a pair of owl sculptures by the Butterfly Bridge at Central Library. I adore these moveable owls, ...
Checking out the new Academic Quad at Rice
November 05, 2024 This Owl flew back to Rice University in Houston last weekend for Homecoming. Under rain-threatening skies, I walked around the beautiful campus to see what was new. I always admire this sleek barn owl sculpted by Geoffrey Dashwood, which sits behind the Rice Chapel. But what I ...
Screech owl still hanging around
October 16, 2024 The screech owl is still hanging out in the owl box each day, dozing in the doorway each morning or alert but relaxed each evening. It seems comfortable with me walking around below, staying put when I move trash bins or get the mail. I enjoy watching ...
A screech owl in the new box
October 11, 2024 A screech owl has been hanging out in the new owl box for a couple of weeks. Our daughter told us about it while we were gone, and I’ve been on the lookout since coming home. Yesterday I finally saw it. I was rumbling the trash and ...
Nature subdued in new work by Kate Breakey
November 17, 2023 Patchnose on Lace One of my favorite contemporary artists, for over two decades, is Australian-born photographer Kate Breakey. I fell in love with her Small Deaths series when she was still living in Austin. She’s been in Tucson for many years now, but she still shows new ...
Screech owl visitor
February 16, 2022 A few days ago I looked up and noticed a screech owl hanging out in the door of our owl box. First sighting of the season! At this time of year, males are scouting for nesting sites, and perhaps that’s what this little guy was doing, when ...
