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