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Saturday, January 14, 2012
1/13 to 1/14- Make that 11 bunnies and a night of porch kissy face, and Egg Watch 2012 continues!
January 13th: Roy and Dale Stunning photography by Owlcamguy
Roy and Dale had a relaxing uneventful evening, without any visitors from MO (Mystery Owl) noted at this point. Roy spent much of the time away, hunting, guarding the perimeter, while Dale preened and organized the nursery. We welcome some new chatters to The Owl Channel, including bubbleoffplumb and Noitev.. if you are a lurker, please come in and join our friendly G -Rated chat: )!
Overnight Activity: Roy returned from flyabout @ 6:41 pm He left again @ 6:52 pm Dale had dined on leftover bunny 9:25 pm Roy & Dale bonded 9:27 Roy left 9:28 Dale left 10:13 Dale returned 10:42 Roy returned Couleedam's pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/coulee/sets/72157628845913893/ Thank you Coulee!
12:00 am Both owls departed for a flyabout..a fairly new treat was returned at about that time, a bunny.. making that number 11 for this clutch (Thank you Lonestar for that observation!)
Lonestar also observed that Dale shredded two horks and arranged them on the floor, preparing a soft cushion for Egg Arrival. Female Barn Owls prepare the nesting area by shredding Pellets (Horks). Overnight from Lonestar (*)
Overnight Jan 13th-14th Significant Events 12:35pm to 3:55am Overview: Roy and Dale more active tonight, in and out a lot, and lots of flyabouts (by both) Dale spent some time nest-keeping, working on horks and shag. 12:35-1:30 Roy and Dale in and out to porch several times, mostly on porch allopreening 1:30-1:40 Dale shreds 2 horks, works on nest with beak and feet 1:58- Roy and Dale both return to Hideout after being away; Roy has partial-rabbit, gives to Dale, bonding, she "stores" rabbit in left back corner pantry 2:00-3:30 Dale and Roy leave and return a couple of times On leaving at 3:55am: Dale had returned at 3:04, still at Hideout asleep inside Roy flew back to HP at 3:25, left at 3:26 LoneStar
4:47 am Dale downs the 11th bunny delivery of this Second Clutch...screenshot by Sher67
Eggscellent Contest guesses for Jan. 14th - lawtown--2:36am, Diane Steele--7:05 am, owllady52--8:00am, curiositykitten--9:00am, bugsstink--9:35am, M.B.--11:30am, YTQ1--11:45am, lid324--8:09pm, Jowlee--9:30pm, and zbergie--10:00pm
MEMORY LANE- Roy and Dale's First Clutch Dale Lays her First Egg- Video capture by OCG
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
March 12th Dale and Ellie 2012
In Memory of McGee 2010.. 2012
March 5th 2012
Three Little Heroes Beak Festing by TwoOwlWingz 2/27/12
