I find it interesting that the female has only spent time roosting in the normal style box on the purple martin pole, she has been seen consistently since mid august, but has yet to spend a day in the SQR type box, which is used for the nest. This is also similar to last year, where fall she seems to prefer the pole box as a roost.
Month: October 2011
Figuring out who’s who
ahhh, sorry for the cliche owl pun, after all screech owls don’t ‘who’.
Anyway I got an email update from the owner of site 8, complete with photos, thank you!.
Hi Scott.
We saw our first owl on Sept. 20, 2011 and it has been seen on 13 of the past 26 days. Due to dirty windows and folliage it was difficult to see at first. I didn’t get any photos until Oct. 5th & 7th. I’ve made another composite photo to compare this owl with photos from last season. This owl is very similar to those pictures from last year, but there are also subtle differences: There are tinges of red in the ear tufts that are apparent in a couple of these photos, this may be attributable to lighting, but I am hesitant to assert a definate opinion just now.
My preliminary assessment of the photos, is that this looks very much like the female aka..(whiteface) from last year, and in the composite looks to be the male 2 on the left and female the 2 on the right.
10/18/2011 update from owner:
The owl hadn’t been seen for several days, but at 7 this morning it was seen and heard calling from the slot box. An uncommon daytime serenade.
after hearing this morning’s serenade, i decided to keep tabs on the owl after sunset to see/hear if it would call out a reprise. alas it was silent, but i did see it leave the box at 6:06pm … a fitting end to a fine ‘owl’ day.
Nice to See
Last year She was first seen in the box October 13. This year 2 days earlier, but still remarkably consistent, saw some first of the year Junco’s here as well. Anyway the cam got damaged during T.S. Irene, so no box cam yet, there is a possibility there won’t be one for a while. So enjoy the photos. All three massachusetts nest sites from last (2010-2011) season now have had owl activity for the new season.
Female SIte 1 first sighting since fledging
Solving CSI?
A bit of a retrofitted post, I originally wrote this April 2011, and it sat in the drafts folder, just found it again.
come to find out, this nest of great horned
was 0.5 miles as the crow flies from site 2. Although circumstantial, it does push the verdict in the Great Horned Owl direction for this crime
Owl Oasis Trail 