All eggs hatched. With 7 mouths to feed Dad is doing his best to keep the rodent population in control. He's been averaging 8 rodents per morning the past few days.
It's clear that we all enjoy mother owl nourishing and protecting her babies. If you are at all squeamish, don't watch this video of a soccer player and the other team's owl mascot.
The player is facing jail time & a $26 fine. CNN report here.
Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
Watching the Owl Cam, I've seen Mel bring in gophers and such half a dozen times. And each time before he leaves, he jumps on her back and... It's pretty funny.
The owlets are getting bigger -- they are quite a sight when Sydney stands up.
One of the owlets, probably the 1st hatch (Meltilda) is starting to feed itself and noticable bigger than the others. What a difference 2 weeks makes in the hatching order.
Interesting video. Are there two different girls in that video or are they one and the same?
Where I live, I'm not far from the hills and canyons. There is a fair amount of wildlife near. On walks through the neigborhood a few years ago there were a few heads of cats on the sidewalk. The first thing I thought when I saw the bodiless cats is people who hate cats and hurt cats; however, recently I read that owls prey on cats and if they choose to pick up a cat that is too heavy for them to carry in flight they will bite the cat's head off. Oh my, that was a shocker. I keep a close eye on my cats and I watch the sky for big birds.
I have lost many cats to Owls and Red Tailed Hawks. They also kill their other competition for food,snakes.They usually don't kill cats for food but to eliliminate their competitors.
Rod, thank you for the info on Owls eliminating their competition....makes sense, I never thought of their preying on cats for this reason.
Steve, I love the live web cam of the owls. Thank you for posting it. There happens to be another live web cam from Starr Ranch in Corona, CA. At work, employees have been watching the San Clemente and Starr Ranch web cams. Starr Ranch is a really cool place. The company I work for took all the employees there a few years ago. At the ranch, employees compete against each other in teams. We rounded up cattle with a bull in the pen, we fired shot guns at clay pigeons, we had quick draw competitions with bullet proof glass between competitors (we may have been shooting blanks??), we had a huge BBQ, and lots more.
If you need a break from the news of the world, check out the webcam of the "owletts". So far, all 6 have not only survived but are thriving. All full of white, puffy feathers. A few nights ago, between Mon & Dad, the family was able to share 24 rodents. These babies are well fed. 6 Future rodent patrollers!
Amazing! I was just watching the live webcam for not even 2-3 minutes, and Papa Owl enters the nest, mounts Mama Owl, and ... well, you get the idea! And right in front of the litle Owls, too! Looked just like a couple of cats going at it. It was "wham, bam, thank you ma'am", and about 30 seconds later, it was over and he left to do whatever it is Papa Owls do next!
CaT
If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracle of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it.
- Lyndon Johnson, on signing the Wilderness Act into law (1964)
You mean he's still doing that? I saw that repeated time and again the first few days after this thread started. It seems that his his standard operating procedure, every visit. Mercy!
...on another note: I'll bet it really stinks inside that owl box!
The male owl IS displaying standard operating procedure in his "greeting" of the female; you see this across the board with all of the owl boxes. Comments by the experts have been that it is more of a "ritual" act, rather than one of procreation.
The body betrays and the weather conspires, hopefully, not on the same day.
I've been watching the OwlCam the past couple of weeks as the owletts started to go out and fly around. Last night was the first night only 3 stayed in the box and this was the first night all 'flew the coop' so early in the evening. Not much time left before they are all out on their own.
Gotta say thanks to wagga for posting the link. It's been a lot of fun to watch them grow and take flight. At one point the parents were bringing and average of 20 rodents/munchies per night to feed them. That's about 140 per week. Not counting what the parents ate for themselves. Have to think that part of Oceanside has a minimal problem with rodents/small critters.
Sorry to hear about the eagle hit by the landing aircraft. I hope the father can keep them going.
I got the following from wazzu:
Originally Posted By: wazzu
I've been watching the owl cam frequently. On Easter Sunday, the owner of the box/cam glued some plastic Easter eggs and a purple peep Easter bunny on a board and put outside the owl box. There were 5 owls in the box, and the owner probably thought the 6th owl was out for good. Well, the last owl came back in daylight after the Easter treats had been put up. The attached picture is the stare down between the late returning owl and a purple peep. The owl eventually went into the box for the day. And the owner removed the Easter treats before sundown so the owls would feel safe to go out in the evening.
I met a bird person yesterday when I took a Mockingbird baby in for rehab. She had just rescued a Cooper's Hawk and a young Barn Owl fledgling. She took the Barn Owl out for me to see.......an absolutely beautiful bird.
For those that might be interested, the 6 owlettes have left the box for good more than a week a go. The parents, Mel & Syd, are making a good effort to start the next clutch. (I had no clue owls could be so 'affectionate' with each other. )
Syd, has been staying in the box during the day which indicates she is getting ready to lay eggs.
Yes, those are owl pellets or horks. Owls can swallow a mouse whole and then horks up the fur & bones.
Some schools use the pellets/horks for science projects. The kids dissect the pellet and try to reassemble the bones. I think I would have preferred a owl pellet over the frog dissection that I had to do.
Very interesting! ...are you sure "hork" is a scientific term?
I tried it in Google, and didn't come up with much. But in Google, after typing "owl pellets" Google adds "for sale" as a suggested option. Amazing again!
I learned the term 'hork' from the Mel & Syd message board and explored other owl message boards and it is a common term. It was a new word for me, as I was taught owl pellet.
I knew of the composition of owl pellets from high school biology, but being able to purchase owl pellets is new to me. When I first saw a ad for owl pellets, the first thought was 'how are the pellets collected?'. How do you write up a job description for collecting and selling owl pellets? What is the job title?
Forgive me for my lack of skills for posting videos. I hope you all can see this video by copying a pasting this link or hopefully you'll be able to click on the link in this post. This is a great video of a cat and an owl playing. Enjoy.
Interesting about that "runcible spoon". According to the web page above:
Quote:
VOCABULARY: Antique Words: "runcible" The term runcible appears in English for the first time in E. Lear's nonsense verse. As the Oxford English Dictionary notes, the word has taken on a life of its own.The Oxford English Dictionary2 on CD-ROM Copyright Oxford University Press 1994 provides this definition and citations:
runcible, adjective. A nonsense word used by Edward Lear in runcible cat, hat, etc., and esp. in runcible spoon, in later use applied to a kind of fork used for pickles, etc., curved like a spoon and having three broad prongs of which one has a sharp edg
Looked just like a couple of cats going at it. It was "wham, bam, thank you ma'am", and about 30 seconds later, it was over and he left to do whatever it is Papa Owls do next!
"Turtles, Frogs & other Environmental Sculpture"
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