Looking for the Owl Channel Blog? Click below please for the new location !: 9/21 to 9/22 Just the Factz Fling and Fly Report Treats FIVE (5) Another tough night for the gopher population of Chula Vista. Belle 2 gophers, Pearl 2 gophers, 1 mouse. Treats eaten in box, on porch and in tree.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

9/21 to 9/22 Just the Factz Fling and Fly Report Treats FIVE (5) Another tough night for the gopher population of Chula Vista. Belle 2 gophers, Pearl 2 gophers, 1 mouse. Treats eaten in box, on porch and in tree.

http://www.youtube.com/TweetKathleen videos from last night

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mONw1ZFNxzY&feature=uploademail
Owlfinn's video of Pearl closeup

Treats: Thank you Kat, Dodgers and everyone

19;25   Gopher to Belle from Rale (eaten in box)
21:34   Gopher to Pearl from Rale (eaten in box)
22:31   Gopher to Belle from Rale (eaten in tree)
22:55   Gopher to Pearl from Rale (taken on flyabout from perch to perch, eaten on porch)

Both Belle and Pearl toss aside their preys' stomachs, just like Mom :)

12:49am - Small rat delivery to Pearl in tree from parent . Pearl took to Hideout, played with it, pounced, inside then outside, ate on porch

Flyabouts/Activity:

19:02   Belle returns to the roof
19:07   Pearl returns to the hitching post
22:31-23:00 Owls on alert, Dale calling from lookout repeatedly, Belle held off eating treat until "all clear" sounded. Most likely cause was Sampson in background, who was lit up, seen running back and forth on camera.

Numerous trips to adjacent tree, back and forth, so did not record times to keep the report short. They love the great outdoors.

Thanks for the photo/video contributions: (You HAVE to see these. GREAT shots of Belle and Pearl on porch together, amazing detail thanks to OCG!!!)

Coulee’s photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/coulee/?saved=1

Emmie-jan’photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmie-jan/sets/72157627217485892/detail/

bluenoter’s photo http://www.expono.com/go/photo/941448_m.jpg

tres’ photo of Belle’s first treat http://www.flickr.com/photos/30690443@N06/6170712343/in/photostream

OCG’s photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/60261286@N06/

September 21st treat

Sept 21 1 11 am

Sept21st treat on porch

A Tale of Two Treats by Buggirl

When I joined chat, at about midnight, the back half of a rodent was in the back left corner of the box. I was given to understand that it was the remains of pEarl's 2nd known treat of the evening, delivered at 11:15. It was ignored until about 1:18 am, when Belle received a delivery of a good-sized gopher. She took it into the box, where she engaged in an enthusiastic pounce-and-kill practice session. When she tired of that, she noticed the half-treat in the corner, and picked it up. After playing with it briefly, she dropped it and picked up her treat again. Then, surprising all witnesses, she took it outside and flew off with it. Did she eat it somewhere else? Or drop it somewhere along the way? Not at all! After a seven-minute flyabout, she brought it back, took it inside, and put it in the left corner (where pEarl's half-treat had been). Then she put pEarl's neatly in the right corner and went outside.

Even though I was getting quite tired, I was really curious to see who would eat what, so I hung around. Both treats were left undisturbed until about 3:12, when pEarl entered the box, followed closely by Belle, went right to the corner where she had left her treat, and proceeded to eat ---- Belle's treat! Belle showed her disapproval by yelling at pEarl for most of the time, only leaving when pEarl was struggling to swallow the tail end. When the last bits of tail and feet were swallowed, pEarl happened to notice the remains of his/her (take your pick) own treat in the right corner. After studying it with what appeared to be puzzlement, pEarl picked it up, set it down in the left corner, and casually left the box. The half-treat stayed there, undisturbed, at least until I finally left about a half-hour later.

There were very few witnesses to these events - I don't know that anyone but me saw the whole sequence. So I guess you'll just have to take my word for it! :) (remember, I'm a scientist)

BugGirl

Thank you BugGirl! : )!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

12 barn owl fascinating facts

Discover 12 fascinating facts about the beautiful barn owl.
1 The barn owl was voted Britain’s favourite farmland bird by the public in an RSPB poll in July 2007.
2 Historically, the barn owl was Britain’s most common owl species, but today only one farm in about 75 can boast a barn owl nest.
3 Barn owls screech, not hoot (that’s tawny owls).
4 The barn owl can fly almost silently. This enables it to hear the slightest sounds made by its rodent prey hidden in deep vegetation while it’s flying up to three metres overhead.
5 The barn owl’s heart-shaped face collects sound in the same way as human ears. Its hearing is the most sensitive of any creature tested.
6 Barn owls are non-territorial. Adults live in overlapping home ranges, each one covering approximately 5,000 hectares. That’s a staggering 12,500 acres or 7,100 football pitches!
7 It’s not uncommon for barn owl chicks in the nest to feed each other. This behaviour is incredibly rare in birds.
8 In order to live and breed, a pair of barn owls needs to eat around 5,000 prey items a year. These are mainly field voles, wood mice, and common shrews.
9 Though barn owls are capable of producing three broods of five to seven young each year, most breed only once and produce, on average, only two and a half young. 29 per cent of nests produce no young at all.
10 91 per cent of barn owls post-mortemed were found to contain rat poison. Some owls die as a direct result of consuming rodenticides, but most contain sub-lethal doses. The effects of this remain unknown.
11 In a typical year, around 3,000 juvenile barn owls are killed on Britain’s motorways, dual carriageways and other trunk roads. That’s about a third of all the young that fledge.
12 Everyone can help barn owls. Leave a patch of rough grassland to grow wild thus creating habitat for voles, erect a super-safe deep nest box, volunteer for your local barn owl group, switch to non-toxic rodent control