Hollow Obsession

Becoming interested in Owls it seems, eventually leads to scoping out trees for hollows/cavities. Especially on frequently traveled routes. First taking notice of holes big enough, then wondering how deep they are, sometimes they (the cavity) remove themselves because they don’t drain well and seep water out the front. A tell tale sign of this is a black streak leading down along the bark from the entrance of the hollow. Some look like a good bet, but nothing ever appears, well… until it does. Such is the case with this cavity, it always appeared like a candidate, and further peaked my interest in that it seems to be facing roughly due north. For years I have check it on my way to work, and until yesterday nothing was ever there. Now the fun part is to see if its a one and done or becomes well used.
anyway, there seems to be alot more hollows in use in the area, as evident by http://birdsofessex.blogspot.com/ far better photography than this site. Its always fun to watch screech owls in natural cavities, even if you don’t find them yourselves.

Hunkering Down

Site 1

Took a peek a couple times last night during the Blizzard, the female (gray) owl was gone at 5:30, but look like it was just a quick trip, as she came back to weather the storm out of the weather. Hunkering in the box at 9:45.

Barred Owl Still Around

Site 2.

This morning I saw a Barred Owl roughly 200 or so yards from site 2. Looked to be hunting by a near by farm, and was easily seen from the road. A Barred Owl was last heard at site Oct 11, 2010. Whether or not its the same one, who knows, but one seems to be sticking around. Maybe its time to see if a box can be added near by?

Trying to Confirm Pair

Got this report from
Site 8

Closer to confirmation of two owls using the slot box. The more lightly mottled individual is currently visible in the box today at 3:00 pm (12/15). The darker / more heavily mottled owl was in the box late yesterday afternoon / dusk. I just took photos of the ‘light’ one and hope to compare these with the owl photos taken earlier this fall and last spring. I should be able to differentiate the markings of each individual.

Phew

Site 5

After the night cleaning the owl in Maryland took about a month off from the box…I was getting a bit nervous that I spooked the owl some how, alas, I may have spooked it a bit, but whatever it was that kept it away was relatively short lived. As its been back in the box a few times since Thanksgiving.

Red and Gray in Black and White

Site 1

Its always nice having a mixed phase pair, for the obvious reason of locating and keeping track of which is which in a pair, or even if a pair exist in the first place. Its also possible to determine this black and white box cam. The red phase appears lighter and less streaked compared to the gray phase. The gray phase is the female and she spends more days in this box but the male red phase spend a day here or there in this slot type box.