tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45205147020944856742024-03-06T11:09:51.918-06:00Forest Park OwlsObserving and describing the lives of a mated pair of Great Horned Owls and the amazing range of wildlife
found in Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.comBlogger152125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-1807479672788104592023-02-25T10:59:00.000-06:002023-02-25T10:59:17.618-06:00A Chapter Ends Too Soon And A New Chapter Already In Progress<p><b><u>February 25, 2023</u></b></p><p>When I posted on December 24, 2022 about Virginia, Charles's new mate, and how she was nesting, I had no idea that this would be the last day I would see Virginia. The complete lack of observations of Virginia for over two months now and the progression of Charles's behavior in this time makes it all to clear that Virginia has died. We do not know if she became ill or was injured and we are so far unable to check the nest for any possible insights into her demise. Adding sadness to sadness, without being incubated and rotated by Virginia, the eggs she began to lay in mid-December did not make it either. After the excitement of a new mate and the start of nesting with the hope of owlets, the loss of Virginia and her eggs is a very sad development. As always though, life continues on. Charles has been courting with a new female for well over a month now. The window for mating and nesting has closed for this year but I hope that this courtship is the draft phrase of a new chapter with a new mate for Charles.</p><p>On December 24, I went to the owls' territory and quickly found Virginia in the nest. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjlSdqp9wOx1S8FpiFqvJRzYxOXv84MXz6xbNLtvQdMCh19bzJaiurg5i9A938hP6ltn-SHBNjLzuwiuyA8S-ataHHLIOQXThovNpnvJEkyV8NGIgTwgB7djXllCvwdajd4nskEuvfV_0L7OIBwAzWayfKXYRSLEVK0Hyl50j3D99QwMFUGRMMX5sN61Q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjlSdqp9wOx1S8FpiFqvJRzYxOXv84MXz6xbNLtvQdMCh19bzJaiurg5i9A938hP6ltn-SHBNjLzuwiuyA8S-ataHHLIOQXThovNpnvJEkyV8NGIgTwgB7djXllCvwdajd4nskEuvfV_0L7OIBwAzWayfKXYRSLEVK0Hyl50j3D99QwMFUGRMMX5sN61Q" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>Virginia nested in a frequently used nest site. Sarah first nested in this site in 2008 having three owlets-Bart, Lisa and Maggie- and then again in 2012 with two owlets-Christopher and Velvet. Samantha nested there valiantly but unsuccessfully in 2020. Sophie nested in this hollow successfully in 2021 with two owlets-Neil and Lyle and again in 2022 with two more owlets-Betty and Sidney. <p></p><div><br /></div><div>I was happy to see Virginia, both in general and because I had not seen her come out of the nest the night before, December 23, for one of the few brief breaks that a nesting female Great Horned Owl takes. She and Charles had a good duet that night-hooting together for quite a while but not seeing her go out of the nest for a break was unusual and unsettling. Virginia had been regular in taking breaks after sunset and frequently heading to The Three Trees, where a growing spread of her whitewash (droppings) was taking shape. On both December 23 and 24 I waited well past sunset for a sight of her taking a break but it was not to be. My fears and concerns were somewhat allayed by the fact that it was bitterly cold and that she may have been especially conservative with her breaks. Simultaneously, my concern grew because on December 24, Virginia did not hoot back to Charles, who was his usual nesting season self and was quite vocal even hooting, as he often does, directly across from the nest. As my time in their territory came to a close on December 24, I wished them both well and hoped the next day would bring more answers and positive ones at that. </div><div><br /></div><div>I returned on December 25 and I did not see the female in the nest but she had shown that she was very good at staying low in the nest, demonstrating her PhD in hunkering down. I could not find Charles but some helpful folks had found him and pointed him out to me. Once I saw him, I was not surprised that I had not found him on my own! Charles was in an especially unprecedented and very weird spot immediately north of the nest. I have seen him perch in low spots many times but I had never seen him in this tree, which is in quite an exposed spot. Here he is this spot in mid-hoot.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPDqELdw5nSMaT2Qfx7kl3bqJlWOri-OKe-_oHZq-VsKicCHJIDxXXoZ-k-MkXyN6k3e4TEuM4XZAoIw74nuDAUEFs7D0GE7djpjaisK7-LCYzRPZb1OzqNmNs0ySelGes71yUwuTUiF3_fFTINKXzW7QQRJStMV4LAgtEFQJRO4f73FFi9UpQpgMg3A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPDqELdw5nSMaT2Qfx7kl3bqJlWOri-OKe-_oHZq-VsKicCHJIDxXXoZ-k-MkXyN6k3e4TEuM4XZAoIw74nuDAUEFs7D0GE7djpjaisK7-LCYzRPZb1OzqNmNs0ySelGes71yUwuTUiF3_fFTINKXzW7QQRJStMV4LAgtEFQJRO4f73FFi9UpQpgMg3A" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div>I did not like seeing him in this tree as it is very close to a busy intersection of the park's roads and being so low in this tree made this location even more dangerous. Charles eventually transitioned out of this spot safely but it was still scary to watch. So far and thankfully, Charles has not reused this tree. That night Charles was vocal but again I did not hear her and after a long wait in the freezing cold, I did not see her leave the nest either. I was concerned but again the bitter cold was my explanation for not observing Virginia at all. </div><div><br /></div><div>Over the next few nights my owl friends/mentees and I continued not to see or hear Virginia. Charles varied his perch and roost sites sometimes perching in a low spot in The Middle Tree directly across from the nest, which is something he had already done in the last several weeks prior to this. Charles was vocal to very vocal during these nights and I waited well past sunset in the biting cold but still no sight of or sound from Virginia. My concerns grew with each night but hope remained.</div><div><br /></div><div>Greater clarity and less hope about Virginia were to be found on December 30 and an unexpected development blew my mind! I was leading an owl prowl that night and I found Charles in The Middle Tree. We were soon joined by my friend and owl mentee Brenda Hente. Charles demonstrated the incredible opportunism of Great Horned Owls when hunting when he blasted off flying low and to the north some twenty minutes before sunset. Brenda and I turned to each other and said, "Predatory attempt." We all followed him and I soon found him on the ground about 100-150 yards north of The Middle Tree and the nest. No sooner had I found him when he came flying towards and past us with prey in his talons. Brenda saw that it was a songbird but it was too obscured to identify further than that. Charles landed about 20-30 yards away from the nest and hooted proudly declaring his predatory prowess. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh65bd-emvVRosYekDhPA86Kdg9JRvye-K8gr0LzjAeS5fWG_kUMKdekCazzW6u61ji6nVk-LtZ_-cD8ImyVg-QNUagPQCWDrlziL0krIXQfOV3QSIFu7bg0k92uu6ppveZ4tZ44CVw2UTsmoN4JiQRENB3g_gQysPHIz1E7iC_dqW2J-lqPsj0Evncjg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh65bd-emvVRosYekDhPA86Kdg9JRvye-K8gr0LzjAeS5fWG_kUMKdekCazzW6u61ji6nVk-LtZ_-cD8ImyVg-QNUagPQCWDrlziL0krIXQfOV3QSIFu7bg0k92uu6ppveZ4tZ44CVw2UTsmoN4JiQRENB3g_gQysPHIz1E7iC_dqW2J-lqPsj0Evncjg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Charles did not take the prey immediately to the nest but when he did so he hooted intensely at the edge of the nest and then he went into the nest with his hooting continuing at an intense rate. But we did not hear Virginia return any of his hoots. When a male Great Horned Owl delivers prey to the nest and hoots the female hoots back in return often for many minutes. To not hear Virginia hoot back to her dedicated mate bringing prey to the nest and so early too was very disconcerting. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>Charles dropped off the prey and flew out of the nest landing in The Northwest Span Tree when an unexpected development occurred and the start of the next possible chapter began. Charles was hooting when a female came flying in from the north and landed in the branch above him. They began to hoot together and I was not sure if it was Virginia or not. While the hoot of each owl is unique some hoots are more distinct than others and in the heat of the moment it was hard to tell from the hoots if this was Virginia or not. The female's behavior soon made it clear that she was not Virginia. She and Charles spent the next hour or so flying around his territory and duetting. The duets were intense and confusing. Several times it seemed like they might mate but then Charles would fly off in his playing hard to get manner but it became clearer that he was not interested in this female. In a latter stage of this whole process, he landed in a new spot and she landed right next to him and he took off immediately. I have seen Charles do this with all of his mates and potential mates but there was something about his behavior that made me think that he really was not interested in her and still holding out hope for and about Virginia. All of this action made for one of the most intense nights of owl activity I have ever seen since I began to study the owls in December 2005. It was a mix of excitement and sadness though as it was clear that this female was not Virginia but a new and different female. </div><div><br /></div><div>I was more than confident that this was not Virginia because we had not seen her leave the nest or return to the nest. Furthermore, a nesting female would not be out of the nest and flirting with her mate for well over an hour for on a bitterly cold night putting the eggs at risk to predators and/or the cold. While watching Charles and this female I also noticed that this female was especially large. Virginia was bigger than Charles but not a huge female like Sarah and Danielle and this new female was a huge one. Subsequent analysis of the hoots of Virginia and this female demonstrated that this female was not Virginia. The new female ends her hoots with 1-2 especially long notes which Virginia did not. </div><div><br /></div><div>Over the next few nights, we continued to not see or hear Virginia. We saw the new female on December 31 and right in the core of the territory on January 1. On January 3 we saw a behavior from Charles that sadly underlined the passing of Virginia. That night, Charles went to the nest and <b><u>took prey out of the nest. </u></b> A male Great Horned Owl would not do this if all was well with his nesting mate. </div><div><br /></div><div>My owl friends/mentees and I have wanted to work with one or more agencies/organizations like the World Bird Sanctuary, Forest Park Forever and the Missouri Department of Conservation to take a close look into the nest for possible signs of Virginia and insight into her demise. We have been unable to do so because Charles often perches close to the nest and we do not want to disturb him. By now, if Virginia had died in the nest there would be very little in the way of remains left to examine but some information would be better than the little we have. </div><div><br /></div><div>Virginia was only in the area for less than three months and she and Charles were a mated pair for just six weeks. This is the shortest length of a time I have seen with one of his mates. Despite this short time, Virginia made a big impact on Charles and all those who watch and love the owls of Forest Park. We love and miss you, Virginia and thank you for letting us observe and document you and you and Charles together!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Charles and this new female continue courting but we have not seen them mate. Furthermore, while Charles has showed her the nest several times, she has not inspected it. We have only seen her perch twice in the core of the territory: on January 1 and January 13. We will have days in a row of not seeing the female and then days in a row of seeing the female. We see the female in two ways: Charles runs into her when he flies out west-northwest or north OR she comes from the north into The Arena-one of the core spots of Charles's territory. We have not found her perch/roost sites but this is an area needing more time and work. We have also had two nights of the female and a second female, January 13 and just last night February 24. Never a dull moment studying owls! </div><div><br /></div><div>Since Great Horned Owls nest so early as their young take an incredibly long time to mature and we are almost in March, the window for Charles and this new female to pair up, mate and nest has closed for this year. It is too bad that there will not be owlets but we have had years without owlets before this. Charles and company are more than fascinating and beautiful to observe and document without owlets even though we delight in those fluffy, fuzzy, and silly youngsters. I have seen Charles pair up with new females in the spring well after that year's nesting window and well before the next year's nesting window. He did this with Samantha in April 2016 and Danielle in April 2019. If it becomes clear that Charles and the new female are a pair, I will name her then but not before that. As always, I will keep observing and documenting and working with my owl friends/mentees to try and understand as much as we can. </div><div><br /></div><div>Thank you for reading and for your interest and support! </div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-66577507142792082522022-12-24T10:43:00.003-06:002022-12-24T12:01:39.280-06:00A New Female and A Name For Her! <p> <b><u>December 24, 2022</u></b></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">There are many new developments with the owls as the last
six months have been a non-stop roller-coaster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The biggest news is that that there is a new female! She and Charles are a mated pair and she is nesting!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only
that, after many weeks of searching and considering, I finally have a name for
her!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please join me in welcoming
Virginia! </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNrE3WkdcpbJujyatye1C_d6g0-o6RIIEr85gPyglKN_Dpx_rOVtcf7OnN9bO0mCco_yTwPcbLKCYgXgBnRHLwRar8tP4DcCYQRylVmLq3zvjxrurY7vVsCEYOFLqw3YQ3PfbCMXVTU5T1SM8kxFzvNtZ5Jlrd2lEqrkdZs6Rtpr9xF9_-ZeXNITQ9VQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNrE3WkdcpbJujyatye1C_d6g0-o6RIIEr85gPyglKN_Dpx_rOVtcf7OnN9bO0mCco_yTwPcbLKCYgXgBnRHLwRar8tP4DcCYQRylVmLq3zvjxrurY7vVsCEYOFLqw3YQ3PfbCMXVTU5T1SM8kxFzvNtZ5Jlrd2lEqrkdZs6Rtpr9xF9_-ZeXNITQ9VQ" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4RCRwnNWJa7jf2n3xW3BLRLmApwRHbNlRbhw0vsQmgwUrD7XdIx-RTpw8CDEE9GiogoctrDLGsX_fS-fhCeWsy_FJfZaMzsDgHD5LLR4G1WutFmQCKCyMl3UPxOJueRh3hLaFpGjXOFJ_qeWO7uIRyKn51BVFbWzW0tZ6UYYrE3LQOM3bec0OpZGiIQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4RCRwnNWJa7jf2n3xW3BLRLmApwRHbNlRbhw0vsQmgwUrD7XdIx-RTpw8CDEE9GiogoctrDLGsX_fS-fhCeWsy_FJfZaMzsDgHD5LLR4G1WutFmQCKCyMl3UPxOJueRh3hLaFpGjXOFJ_qeWO7uIRyKn51BVFbWzW0tZ6UYYrE3LQOM3bec0OpZGiIQ" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBF6RNJvKwnqkFBIsxv1EXlL_kk8H8yx6vWC6k1c7iN70Nb5yoSImclrgd3NHay1nMZmyGs7I47WhnINlTSLHimo4kixEJUcbNSQ4DUda8iopaYqm0iBGgns-kJY8_JAnxhcvsGqcwFKKcpS6ZBHiPoudo34EvalPPIGqdNxuHp_SJbE-uq17AJ6wbUA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBF6RNJvKwnqkFBIsxv1EXlL_kk8H8yx6vWC6k1c7iN70Nb5yoSImclrgd3NHay1nMZmyGs7I47WhnINlTSLHimo4kixEJUcbNSQ4DUda8iopaYqm0iBGgns-kJY8_JAnxhcvsGqcwFKKcpS6ZBHiPoudo34EvalPPIGqdNxuHp_SJbE-uq17AJ6wbUA" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal">The inspiration for her name is multi-fold. I grew up from ages 2-15 in northern Virginia
and that is where I began to study wildlife.
I have always liked the name and have always kept it in my collection of
names for a female, human, owl or otherwise.
The genus and species for Great Horned Owls is <i>Bubo virginanus</i>. <i>Virginianus</i> refers to the state of
Virginia and this name was employed when the species was first described by
Western science by J.F Gmelin in 1788.
As such, all Great Horned Owls are a Virginia whether they live in
Maine, Missouri, Manitoba, Mexico or Alaska, Alberta, Argentina, or Alabama. </p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let’s continue with Charles’s
previous mate Sophie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you may know,
Charles and Sophie nested successfully in 2021 and 2022, having two owlets both
years, Neil and Lyle and then Betty and Sidney, respectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were the first successful nestings
since Sarah’s last nesting in 2015.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sophie
did a disappearing act from mid-July 2021 to October 2021 and this summer we
lost sight of her on June 8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We wondered
if this was a version of her disappearing act of the year prior but we have not
observed her at all since then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do
not know if she left, became injured or ill or died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sophie now joins Olivia and Danielle in a
group of Charles's mates who have disappeared and whose status is unknown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We hope she is well and thriving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sophie’s absence was still early in the maturation of the
owlets; Betty and Sidney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thankfully,
with much help from Charles and themselves, the owlets flourished through the
summer and into the fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Betty
dispersed in September and Sidney in October and we hope they are making it in
the big, wide world. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On September 28, we saw a female and immediately, by her
markings and behavior, we felt confident that it was not Sophie but a new
female.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She and Charles had an
incredibly intense courtship duet that night and it went on and on as they
moved from tree to tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was like
they closed down one restaurant on their first date and then went to a bar with a
3:00am license and began working on closing down that place!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of my friends and owl mentees were out
that night and eventually we had to call it a night as Charles and this new
lady showed no signs of flying out to hunt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Here's Virginia where we first saw her that night! </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7CT_sLPDRIi4gTZtdU5Ray84jnFdDKBPZDh2JifcInPh60F690R1avAzgLSoLDzY3O2RAH6DGVRxgUpecxzsgD0uYjlPS1mrKaBJraGDXwbzkCx5PWurgvubEBkIP2OD6qpSRJWphbaDp7A5w9PGNKO487ASMQD7qQGHsa9cZd74PCT_lD1emu36JVQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7CT_sLPDRIi4gTZtdU5Ray84jnFdDKBPZDh2JifcInPh60F690R1avAzgLSoLDzY3O2RAH6DGVRxgUpecxzsgD0uYjlPS1mrKaBJraGDXwbzkCx5PWurgvubEBkIP2OD6qpSRJWphbaDp7A5w9PGNKO487ASMQD7qQGHsa9cZd74PCT_lD1emu36JVQ" width="320" /></a></div><br />Their courtship continued through the fall and had some
challenges with an intruding male in the area, the same from last year-now
dubbed with the less than flattering name of Numbnuts, but it was clear that
she and Charles were on the road to becoming a mated pair. Mate they did on November 10 and we have seen
13 matings so far. She began to nest on December 4 and December 15 was the
first sign of egg laying. Like last
year, this is especially early mating and nesting! Here they are mating on December 10!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MrxvjRe9C5c" width="320" youtube-src-id="MrxvjRe9C5c"></iframe></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u>If you know where the nest is, please be sure to stay 30-40+
yards away from the nest so as to not to disturb the nest and to not put yourself at risk of being
attacked by a large, aggressive nesting female Great Horned Owl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></u></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thank you for reading and I hope to see you out in Forest
Park! Happy Holidays! <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal">P.S. Here's Charles last night! </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgq1BLqKwYcsOjorz2C8NgAyoioAlqonOCRaNoI5GUbjHHStnWvQrZA7RCVXqYDF9DWieF-T5HDNyTxNcpwCjQavrWVDSsofxlY8Fj7N7iroMlO2DKqwJz3TaSuxD-25m7_NzjxQ2kwK5UUiXL5YJEzWd1uK44OtlxYMfQ8gNYEqhmOcpFoNZIrHbJfYw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgq1BLqKwYcsOjorz2C8NgAyoioAlqonOCRaNoI5GUbjHHStnWvQrZA7RCVXqYDF9DWieF-T5HDNyTxNcpwCjQavrWVDSsofxlY8Fj7N7iroMlO2DKqwJz3TaSuxD-25m7_NzjxQ2kwK5UUiXL5YJEzWd1uK44OtlxYMfQ8gNYEqhmOcpFoNZIrHbJfYw" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><b><u></u></b><p></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-85055204634532116042022-03-13T10:08:00.000-05:002022-03-13T10:08:07.890-05:00A Very Brief Update-Charles Has A New Mate And They Have Owlets!<p><b><u>March 13, 2022</u></b></p><p> After being single for over nine month since Danielle disappeared in mid-March 2020, Charles courted and became a pair with a new female named Sophie in January 2021. She nested in the same nest that Danielle used in 2020 and Sarah used in 2008 and 2012. They had two owlets named Neil and Lyle. It was so exciting to see owlets for the first time since Charles and Sarah's last pair, Grace and Harold, in 2015! </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1GdCm7Zq3HHJUdrr6RApNxxCR0i89n0b9vU32WTJcdyT_-mJry4DZTDWGDbvJ_qUDGePhD-TTvN0hTLS2oZ65XyhacmBPnFLSR2cLSaN7RczNjG3Ms3WyHnWstnJ5gGG7yXB_la2h4FLL_C10B03t-zdoqpoGiTCToRDHUqPGdM4EPUSXiF1mFaxGKQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1557" data-original-width="1833" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1GdCm7Zq3HHJUdrr6RApNxxCR0i89n0b9vU32WTJcdyT_-mJry4DZTDWGDbvJ_qUDGePhD-TTvN0hTLS2oZ65XyhacmBPnFLSR2cLSaN7RczNjG3Ms3WyHnWstnJ5gGG7yXB_la2h4FLL_C10B03t-zdoqpoGiTCToRDHUqPGdM4EPUSXiF1mFaxGKQ" width="283" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhBoNIDgB5mDjUyloV4eAhQmg4Mjp7hGhfoqWXSvkm6VixXmCZapdL_hvr9U3ZG405hM0PhL3IxvKkdBQ2ybPrTogQTKAagvIiEMoWTpNdHuUAGyyCxxCeLc_MMD389laRL4YjdUb1-bilfVwu4KBN0VrBppNOa6NJ1R8LJUy6Rlj5dF_2yD8fhVTu4YQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2081" data-original-width="2025" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhBoNIDgB5mDjUyloV4eAhQmg4Mjp7hGhfoqWXSvkm6VixXmCZapdL_hvr9U3ZG405hM0PhL3IxvKkdBQ2ybPrTogQTKAagvIiEMoWTpNdHuUAGyyCxxCeLc_MMD389laRL4YjdUb1-bilfVwu4KBN0VrBppNOa6NJ1R8LJUy6Rlj5dF_2yD8fhVTu4YQ" width="234" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQHUMJ4z2woVtINj8mPE6LJCkpK86aYR1km8vNfe5omCgYgZ9D6crdoaPEL5YRzuFm3it01wXLPmppmUhj4sNiW_udWM5saA2VAi_rqV_TqRltcfYd0TEzRncv4ZvT1kM2C06mqdvDR10-ZJPBo7k5k3tdN2HouffWZITbR5wTi2fkyGH1ps2PX6yQ6A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1929" data-original-width="2817" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQHUMJ4z2woVtINj8mPE6LJCkpK86aYR1km8vNfe5omCgYgZ9D6crdoaPEL5YRzuFm3it01wXLPmppmUhj4sNiW_udWM5saA2VAi_rqV_TqRltcfYd0TEzRncv4ZvT1kM2C06mqdvDR10-ZJPBo7k5k3tdN2HouffWZITbR5wTi2fkyGH1ps2PX6yQ6A" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Sadly, Lyle died on June 29 from a double-whammy of a bacterial and viral infection. This was the first time I have seen an owlet die and it was very sad and tough. I am most grateful to the World Bird Sanctuary for the necropsy they performed and the St. Louis Zoo for the tissue analysis they did. If so moved, please donate to the World Bird Sanctuary <a href="https://www.worldbirdsanctuary.org/donate/" target="_blank">here</a>: and/or to the St. Louis Zoo <a href="https://www.applyweb.com/public/contribute?s=stlzooaf" target="_blank">here</a>. </p><p></p><p>Thankfully, Neil soldiered on and finally dispersed on November 2011. In the meantime, we saw very little of Sophie for most of the summer and the first half of the fall Sophie was not found on June 26-30. Lyle died on June 29. Sophie not found July 1-3 but found to our great relief on July 4. Sophie was only found on 5 nights in July, 1 night only in August, just 2 nights in September and not seen October 1-20!!</p><p>After Sophie was not seen for most of the summer and the first part of the fall, my records indicate that on September 24 Charles was in the nest hollow of the now 08-11-20-21-22 Nest Tree and that Sophie was in The Middle Tree. They had a long duet until Neil gave a vivid display of <i>duettus interruptus</i>. After almost of no sign of Sophie for the next few weeks, my records show that on October 21, Charles had a long duet with a female-most likely Sophie. On October 29 a female was found in The Middle Tree. On October 30 when Charles had moved to The Double Aught Tree a female was heard once to the south. </p><p>November 3 was that amazing and crazy night of finding a female in The Wooded Area and she and Charles duetted and the intruding male was nearby and their was much interaction with him. If that was not enough, 2 Barred Owls began to duet in the other portion of The Successional Woods aka North Korea. To cap it all off Charles and the female mated on this night-the earliest mating I have ever observed. In early November we had a pretty even mix of observing the female and not finding her. On November 9 we started to observe her every night and she began her residency in The Overlook Hotel on November 15. </p><p>With Sophie's long absence (and other factors) we were not sure if this female was Sophie or a new mate. I have never had this much difficulty identifying one owl and especially for so long! I have also never had a mate all but disappear for over three-and-a-half months!! Just yesterday, I made the call (and leaving the window open that I am wrong) that the female IS indeed Sophie! I want to thank all of you for your patience, analysis, discussion, observation and documentation during this challenging, confusing but stimulating time. </p><p>Last but not least Charles and Sophie have two owlets! They are seven weeks old and cute as the Dickens! Please say hello to Betty and Sidney! They are named after Betty White & Sidney Poitier! If you come to Forest Park to see them, please keep a far, healthy and respectful distance from them & Sophie. And Charles! Here are some recent photos of Charles, Sophie, Betty and Sidney! Enjoy and thank you! :) </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOcowCMWQMvYLe5RRXr2mkKRfVuWZ3_Rb1YFdoo2r3IVAWuV-6J5wx1L5nSuSnv5Jrlp56zTUACZoKgLKz_wYRshtpz-3xmcFOBbnzDrpcIfVrzyPIRC0qPT7TdT20WokCrkM_t0UiYkcpNFGysHTlU2sNEmcZO7HYEfn6Od8B2dW4QA9vM_ESbumBYw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1473" data-original-width="1465" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOcowCMWQMvYLe5RRXr2mkKRfVuWZ3_Rb1YFdoo2r3IVAWuV-6J5wx1L5nSuSnv5Jrlp56zTUACZoKgLKz_wYRshtpz-3xmcFOBbnzDrpcIfVrzyPIRC0qPT7TdT20WokCrkM_t0UiYkcpNFGysHTlU2sNEmcZO7HYEfn6Od8B2dW4QA9vM_ESbumBYw" width="239" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXzmjXA7eIRsM2SSA6cMPj9rheoyV3KKJ0qhr-JLmx5oyby6_chhfSRtPhmkW2tMQpl7GWFPIB8_F-ucKuQdA87DujCEPWHdU6C3c7f4CnWHqmYHKHfp3nYLlKbc0S6tTpVQ1mLnmzf2y47VZVpMdGDJ7SlH16RFpTVIO-eidLg-EzbxFnprLnApQkZA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1353" data-original-width="1413" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXzmjXA7eIRsM2SSA6cMPj9rheoyV3KKJ0qhr-JLmx5oyby6_chhfSRtPhmkW2tMQpl7GWFPIB8_F-ucKuQdA87DujCEPWHdU6C3c7f4CnWHqmYHKHfp3nYLlKbc0S6tTpVQ1mLnmzf2y47VZVpMdGDJ7SlH16RFpTVIO-eidLg-EzbxFnprLnApQkZA" width="251" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiAzUCGEoiNL08BNw2BUCtA6Bl0SOX05jxVafX3DIiSfOY1r1oK4tA_yV7MQYuXzS15WOIGBgXup0W4KOFmSo9Kp6e7rCLy1zYs6G5x1Zc7-ru8-PuVbgTckKdYklbV7JWB7-N2LbpiGiMijDzNjR4a5Mx19a2cIgDrbF_T1yKu4PWSQtuI8vLxC3uZAw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1870" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiAzUCGEoiNL08BNw2BUCtA6Bl0SOX05jxVafX3DIiSfOY1r1oK4tA_yV7MQYuXzS15WOIGBgXup0W4KOFmSo9Kp6e7rCLy1zYs6G5x1Zc7-ru8-PuVbgTckKdYklbV7JWB7-N2LbpiGiMijDzNjR4a5Mx19a2cIgDrbF_T1yKu4PWSQtuI8vLxC3uZAw" width="263" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1437" data-original-width="1613" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg_-BH5RHzzDJnlRgK8B63vBaqW9u2GbjwjxXpaQq7rlhTeQNKhnyXB7KtgGxC5q8jZisEwrFruOBz3_7qL6o6qe0yQRFoRQmwm02oFQPTOp0RkBFcAs2SXUJgj0QUXh9oAcCBUf-oLf65KMwyPGR52Aopl6e2i_NTyxUB1DTA6-FCfA-FvJvK0T7uyFQ" width="269" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhquFFBxFJjmBb2R0FRfz2ToNXUnduCPpnXvRpGxMeVjXju9OURrlDZFBF6s1BJ1cJ9orgJ-XMrUmx2wME4c1I1lAyvhRKgMotMkwTVjpLSgeLl8XMkpLxgwWJoTJKmTdhWFDcW3xYCMGsh45qirgNSLeFpaPgvwOgx-352NICwB0ABMi7GUvqqEUD8Lw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhquFFBxFJjmBb2R0FRfz2ToNXUnduCPpnXvRpGxMeVjXju9OURrlDZFBF6s1BJ1cJ9orgJ-XMrUmx2wME4c1I1lAyvhRKgMotMkwTVjpLSgeLl8XMkpLxgwWJoTJKmTdhWFDcW3xYCMGsh45qirgNSLeFpaPgvwOgx-352NICwB0ABMi7GUvqqEUD8Lw" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzYI0eu6z2x25bxIUBaa2XvDHCxEeQ31uIYKq9auna9Lkfy5Ih1MnAGpCuBuFn79JlD5iTxdkS5XSwkyqKLyLHlHcwMEXbkroyQpTlQOUNXLninW777vHQN1GF9xnFy3YOBwsru9zNL1QYu2bQrgvshBqYLtYTqmxm9MhmpPwVQYiTCB5yHPCpMkmjmw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1573" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzYI0eu6z2x25bxIUBaa2XvDHCxEeQ31uIYKq9auna9Lkfy5Ih1MnAGpCuBuFn79JlD5iTxdkS5XSwkyqKLyLHlHcwMEXbkroyQpTlQOUNXLninW777vHQN1GF9xnFy3YOBwsru9zNL1QYu2bQrgvshBqYLtYTqmxm9MhmpPwVQYiTCB5yHPCpMkmjmw" width="312" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><p></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-66022961871437213982020-07-17T16:27:00.000-05:002020-07-17T16:27:07.436-05:00Charles Is Back!Charles is alive and well! I have seen him back in his territory on two of the last four nights; first on Monday, 7/13 and then again on Thursday, 7/16. I am beyond certain and convinced that it is him. His hoots, markings, posture, vibe and behaviors separately and cumulatively are unmistakably Charles's. I am completely thrilled to see him and share in his magic again! It is also a super cocktail of emotions and thoughts to have him back! I cannot stop shaking my head about this overwhelmingly welcome development. The biggest question of course is: where has he been for the last two months?!? My friends and I scoured many different areas of Forest Park for six weeks but never found him. <br />
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In my last post I wrote, "I am leaving the window of possibility slightly cracked and that Charles has moved to an as yet un-found area but only as a remote possibility." His reappearance underlines the importance,in any and all fields of endeavor, of always being open to the prospect of being wrong and/or not knowing what is going on even after years and years of diligent work. I have never been so happy to be wrong!<br />
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Here's a shot of him from Thursday, 7/16. He looked at me with this quizzical tilt of the head for several minutes. Perhaps he was wondering if I was the weird two-legged critter he knew but had not seen in the last two months! 😊 (Be sure to double click on the photos to see a larger version of them)<br />
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Here are two montages of photos and videos from these two nights. Please take a look:<br />
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July 13:<br />
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July 16:<br />
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Compare the hoots from Monday night and Thursday night to any and all of these videos of Charles hooting:<br /><br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FOlYBpvu_R0" width="560"></iframe></div>
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It's the same hoot in every manner, shape and form. I have shared this week's footage with several of my closest friends who know Charles and they agree that it is Charles without question. </div>
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Before going into greater detail about finding him, I want to take a moment to thank everyone who expressed their condolences about Charles and their gratitude for his life and my work studying him. I have received e-mails, Facebook comments, Twitter replies and more from hundreds of people from all over the St. Louis area, the country and the world. I cannot emphasize enough how much your kindness means to me and how much of a help it was especially at the most trying times. I am humbled and honored at the impact that Charles and my work with him has had on so many people and in so many ways. </div>
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In the weeks since June 25, when I stopped searching for Charles after not finding him for six weeks, I began a new process of owl observation and study. As before I would arrive in the park about an hour before sunset. I would first search The Wooded Area, the core of Charles's territory, to see if any owls had taken up residence there even temporarily. I did not see any owls there in the last few weeks and as in the six week search for Charles the absence of bird warning calls continued. From The Wooded Area I would walk over and look for the new male Great Horned Owl I found on June 10 aka The New Guy. In the first few weeks after I found him, I would see him 2 thirds of the time. However, in the last few weeks I have barely seen him at all with only three sightings so far in July. Finding The New Guy is an especially all or nothing prospect. Either you found him in 30 seconds or you spent 45 minutes looking all over for him without success. With one exception, when I found him he was always in the same tree using two different branches 99% of the time that he was in this tree. With only three sightings in July studying The New Guy has been especially challenging. However, as I learned quickly with Charles and Sarah, the first few months are often the hardest. It took me a couple of months to find them more than 1 out 10 attempts. </div>
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On July 13 I was just about to finish my search of The Wooded Area and go look for The New Guy when I heard a hoot. At that moment I was concentrating on not getting too close to a family that was walking on a nearby path so when I heard the hoot my focus on it was less than complete. I was pretty sure it was a male Great Horned Owl that was nearby in The Arena; a key component of Charles's territory. I started to search The Arena but was not finding any owl. Ten minutes later I heard another hoot I honed in on the location within The Arena. I was reasonably sure that the owl was in The Middle Tree or The 08-12-20 Nest Tree. I scoured these trees from multiple angles but could not find anyone. These trees have been used by Charles as summer perch/roost sites sometimes using a couple specific spots with healthy consistency and other times perching in a terribly obscured spot. The owl remained quiet for a while but I continued intensely searching for the him. Such was my concentration that I did not even that my buddy Jeremy Knollhof and his dog, Shadow, were coming over to say hello. I just noticed some guy and his dog nearby. Jeremy is one of many folks I met by pointing out the owls to them one night and then, happily, they returned to see and learn more and more of the owls. I finally recognized Jeremy and updated him about the hoots I heard and the thus far invisible owl. As we talked I realized how long I took to recognize Jeremy and apologized. True to his good nature, Jeremy told me not to worry about it as he could tell that I was concentrating deeply.</div>
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We heard another hoot and I was able to hone in on further on the owl's location as being in The Middle Tree-but where? What made finding him even harder was that there were no warning calls from any birds. The owl was hard for me to find but why had not any birds found him? I kept working the angles and finally found the owl in a high and most likely unprecedented spot in The Middle Tree. The angle was from the owl's right side. In recent years I have noted a row of white dots on both sides of Charles's body running down from shoulders. Either from the angle or how his wings were positioned I could not see these white dots. </div>
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As the owl began to hoot more I said to Jeremy that it might be Charles! The owl looked at me and I felt more confident that it was him. </div>
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I wanted to find a more straight on angle and a few minutes later I found one. With each hoot and this new angle I became more certain that it was Charles!</div>
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As I became progressively more confident that it was Charles I said to Jeremy, "I don't know how I feel." Of course I was elated about this development but to find Charles with a modest amount of effort after weeks of intensive searching and the grief about his loss mixed a potent cocktail of conflicting emotions. </div>
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A different human reaction to the louder and more frequent hoots of the owl indicated further that it was almost certainly Charles. Two groups of people came over to see what was making this hooting sound and at what we were looking at in the tree. From a safe social distance I was able to point out Charles to them. One group was new to Charles but another had seen him before as I pointed out Charles to them months earlier. There are so many aspects of Charles that so many people cannot help but be drawn to and captivated by him. </div>
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Jeremy had to take his leave and I asked him to keep this sighting quiet until I had more information to share and he kindly agreed to this. The owl took his leave flying in a direction and to a destination that Charles used frequently this winter and spring. Seeing this made me even more convinced that it was Charles. With movement the birds finally became aware of his presence and he was mobbed by American Robins. I had just reacquired him when he flew to another frequently used spot. </div>
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He continued to hoot frequently and with each hoot and moment of seeing this owl's posture, markings and behavior I became ever more certain that it was Charles. Even this photo, taken almost 30 minutes after sunset, screams that it is Charles. </div>
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While watching him I made two key phone calls. First was to my girlfriend, Wendy, who was thrilled and happily perplexed by this welcome development. The second call was to my good friend and owl mentee, Brenda Hente. I often say that if I fall under a bus that she will be the most knowledgeable person about Charles and co. Brenda too was stunned and thrilled to hear about this likely reappearance of Charles. When I got home I texted my new friend and owl mentee, Alexis Miano, about the exciting news. She called me later and like Wendy and Brenda was simultaneously astounded and flummoxed by this news. I felt that a huge weight had lifted off from me and I was so excited that it was hard to get to sleep that night.</div>
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The next day on July 14 my excitement led me to go to the park that morning. I had to see if I could find him again. Before doing so I emailed Wendy, Brenda and Alexis the montage of footage from the previous night and they all concurred that it was Charles. I drove to the park feeling a sense of elation and optimism, which I had not felt for far too long. Unfortunately, the morning search was unsuccessful so I returned that night; something I would have done even if I had found him in the morning. The night search was a bust as well but I still felt confident. The amount and intensity of Charles's hooting made me convinced that he was re-establishing and re-proclaming his territory.</div>
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The weather forecast for July 15 predicted thunderstorms as an all but certainty for the time around sunset. I go out to study the owls in almost every type of weather but I do not play around with thunderstorms; they are far too dangerous and in so many ways. With this forecast in mind, I went out again in the morning and again did not find Charles or any other owl. Sure enough right around sunset an overture of lightning and thunder commenced before the skies opened with a drenching rain that after a pause resumed for another soaking round of thunderstorms. </div>
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With clearer skies and cooler air I headed to Forest Park a little more than an hour before sunset on July 16. I began my search as I had the previous few nights by searching The Middle Tree. Charles was not there or elsewhere as I searched The Arena before moving into The Wooded Area, where he was not to be found either. My next and last area to search was the area around The Double-Barreled Tree and The 2019 Nest Tree. Charles had used this area in an especially unpredictable manner this spring but it was where I had found on the two of the last three times I had seen him in mid-May. I had just taken my first steps to this area when I heard the unmistakable and often incredibly helpful warning calls of American Robins. My heart rate and foot pace quickened. I checked a few spots as I honed in on the robin calls and worked the angles. There in the tree immediately south of The Double-Barreled Tree was Charles. I could not see his face but unlike July 13 I could clearly see the white dots running down the side of his body. </div>
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I was confident I could move around and see him from the front. I was happily correct in that assessment but Charles was still well hidden by the thickly leafed branches. </div>
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It took a while for him to hot but when he did it was even more certain that this was the one and only Charles. I texted Wendy, Brenda and Alexis and they quickly responded expressing their excitement and happiness at this most welcome news. </div>
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Charles began to hoot more and I reveled in every moment with him. He flew high and to my right and landed in a very obscured spot. It was glorious to have him fly past me again! </div>
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This was one of my such occasions in which the objective is to not find the best angle but the least worst angle! He continued to hoot but out of nowhere blasted off in flight before circling back quickly to land in a neighboring tree. The speed of the flight and the semi-circle pattern of it along with the quick return to a perch made it a strong likelihood that he just made a mid-air predatory attempt on a bat. I have seen hundreds of such attempts, successful and not, and I have noted these aspects to them. </div>
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Charles hooted from his new perch for a good while before flying off more than a half hour past sunset to hunt. </div>
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I needed to hunt for my dinner and I headed home absolutely thrilled that I had seen Charles twice in the last four days and that there was no doubt in my mind that it was him. </div>
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When I got home, I texted my good friend Chris Gerli, who was celebrating his birthday, with this good news. Chris and his girlfriend, Barb Brownell,, were my first two owl mentees and have been good friends since we first met back in 2006. Chris texted back that this welcome news had made his good birthday event better. Barb sent me her own super kind note expressing her excitement about this incredible news! </div>
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Thank you for your reading this and for all your care and support for Charles and my work with him!</div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-66291715243855480642020-07-03T15:28:00.000-05:002020-07-03T15:28:50.631-05:00Charles Is Gone<h4>
<b><u>July 3, 2020</u></b></h4>
I have not seen Charles since Thursday, May 14. This is the longest I have gone without seeing him by a huge margin. With the great help of friends I have searched wide and far for him I decided to search for a six week period through Thursday, June 25 and I have done so and without even a a hint of his presence. With a heavy heart I have concluded that Charles is dead. I am leaving the window of possibility slightly cracked and that Charles has moved to an as yet un-found area but only as a remote possibility. It is awful to write these words and beyond sad to know that he is gone. I cannot fully express how much I miss him and will continue to do so. Nor can I completely express the impact he made on my life and the lives of many others. I can only try to do so.<br />
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This is one of my favorite photos of him. He was in a low branch of The Third Of The Three Trees on August 7, 2016. (Be sure to double click on the photos to see larger versions of them)<br />
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But to continue I want to first describe what I saw of him on May 14 and what I saw in the subsequent six weeks. In no way did Charles appear to be ill and/or injured. He seemed perfectly healthy and behaved in his normal and always fascinating and beautiful manner. On May 14 he woke up, he stretched and groomed, ejected a pellet and then flew off to hunt after sunset. A perfectly normal and average night but as any one who has seen Charles an average night of his defies the meaning of the word as it utterly compelling and beautiful.<br />
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I found him in a Sweetgum tree immediately next to the western edge of The Wooded Area. It was interesting to find him in this tree for several reasons. Over the last few years I have seen him perch in this and other nearby Sweetgums in the late spring-early summer but not at all this year. For a number of summers several years ago, he used this tree in predictably unpredictable manner as a summer perch spot. It is a large tree and you have to especially work the angles to find him. This night was no different. The warning calls of American Robins alerted me to the possibility of his presence but it took a while to find him by working the angles. Even when I had located him and fine tuned the angle my view of him was still obscured by the many leaves on the tightly spaced branches.<br />
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As he woke up, stretched and groomed the previously cloudy conditions cleared and a stunning sunset emerged in its latter stages.<br />
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A little while later Charles pivoted his position in the tree and the fading rays of sun illuminated him for a brief but always memorable manner.<br />
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A chap passing by wondered what I was looking at and at a safe social distance I pointed out Charles to him. He was completely captivated by Charles; an effect that he consistently has on people and one I am always thrilled to witness. The chap, who's name I learned was Mike, asked me many questions and as we chatted I learned that he is very passionate forager for morel mushrooms. I do not like mushrooms even though I am a fun guy 😁 but I have always been curious about the folks who forage so diligently for them. As such I had many questions for Mike and we got quite a good conversation going as we shared about our respective passions and areas of expertise.<br />
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I noticed throughout the night that Charles was not hooting but the reason for this became clear when he ejected a good-sized pellet ten minutes after sunset. This was on the later side of the pellet ejection timeline spectrum. He still did not hoot but I think since it was so late that he had to progress both behaviorally and alphabetically and skip hooting for hunting. As it got even darker, Charles flew south into The Wooded Area. Mike and I were enjoying our conversation and given the dark conditions I knew it would be hard to find Charles. The robin warning calls had never stopped throughout the night and as Mike and I chatted I heard the robin calls surge northward most likely following Charles as he went off to hunt. My own hunger was mounting and I needed to start my own hunting in my kitchen. Mike and I said our goodbyes and I left the park over an hour after sunset after a little more than two hours in the park. A perfectly normal, groovy night with Charles.<br />
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On Friday, May 15, I went out at the normal time, about an hour before sunset, and spent 90 minutes searching with no success. I was not worried that I had not found him. Over the years I have learned that such nights will happen. Most recently I had two nights this April and one earlier in May in which I had not found him. I could only get to the park in the afternoon for a short visit and search on Saturday, May 16. My success rate in finding Charles on such short and early visits is quite high given the two time related limitations. This night was an unwelcome exception to this pattern. Again, though I was not concerned. Just as I have a night here and there when I don't find Charles and his current mate, over the years I have had periods of 2-4 nights of no success. I really do not like such periods as they do get me worried but having had several of them I know that they do occur.<br />
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The following night, Sunday, May 17, was frustrating and it was when I began to become more puzzled and concerned about not finding him. The first frustration was not finding him especially when we had some strong robin calling in an area where he had been doing a fair amount of hunting of late. We could not find him or figure out what the robins were calling about and their calling eventually faded away. The second frustration involved the we in the previous sentence. Almost after I started looking for Charles that night I ran into a recent owl prowlee, Han Li, and her boyfriend (David, I think-sorry! I am so bad with names as I happily meet so many people via the owls but sadly do a bloody awful job of remembering names!) who were looking for Charles too. Han had joined me earlier that week on Tuesday, May 12 for an owl prowl. Thanks to a faint, short bit of Northern Cardinal warning calls I found Charles thirty seconds later in an obscured spot in The Double-barreled Tree. Han was duly impressed by this and as the night went on, she had an especially cool prowl as we saw many amazing behaviors of Charles's. The highlights included a close, fast fly-by and watching him hunt past sunset from some low, man-made structures and on the ground. I had never watched Charles hunt from these particular spots before this. Here are two of my favorite shots of his hunting exploits that night.<br />
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I could tell that Han was hooked on the owls and now seeing her with boyfriend visiting from out of town cemented this impression. Unfortunately we had a very different experience on this night. Instead of finding Charles in thirty seconds, they patiently and kindly accompanied me for ninety fruitless minutes as we covered a wide search area only to find no one. I frequently repeated my puzzlement and then my apologies for the no-show owl but my inner monologue was one of growing concern and confusion about his absence.<br />
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May 19 was another unsuccessful night but it did get me thinking about the last time I could not find Charles for a long time. It was almost a year ago to the date. In May 2019 I did not see Charles from May 16-30. I finally found him on May 31 in part of his hunting range. As some of you know, he ended up spending the entire summer in this area of his hunting range a half mile east/northeast of The Wooded Area, the core of his territory. Thankfully he moved back to The Wooded Area five months later in mid-October 2019. I remain bewildered about this move in territory but it now in May 2020, I thought I should expand my search area. I started to do so on May 20, 2020 by searching The Wooded Area and the Summer 2019 Territory.<br />
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May 20 was another bust but on May 21 while I did not find Charles, I had a fortuitous meeting with a fellow park goer and nature lover. I had just started searching the Summer 2019 Territory when I ran into a lady who asked me how the owls were. I asked her how she knew about the owl and she replied that she had been on a few of my owl prowls over the years. As happens too often, I could not think of her name so I asked for it as I apologized for lack of name memory. She replied kindly that we were friends on Facebook and the her name was Alexis Miano. That sufficiently jogged my memory. Alexis told me afterwards that she was on the phone with a friend and recognized me and told her friend that she had seen The Owl Man and had to ask about the owls. I explained about Charles being MIA and that I was expanding my search area. She joined me for the rest of my search of the Summer 2019 Territory and she even got a photo of me as we searched Raccoonville.<br />
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I briefed her more fully about the last few days and last summer. With no luck finding Charles in this area, I needed to head to The Wooded Area and she was heading home so we said our goodbyes. Alexis messaged me the next day asking if I had found Charles. I let her know that I had not. Very generously, she let me know that she is a regular cyclist in the park and would keep her eyes open for Charles. Even more kindly, she asked if there were areas that I would like her to search. I eagerly replied in the affirmative and we made a plan of attack. The additional help and time/places searched was a major and most welcome development!<br />
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On May 25, Alexis messaged me saying that she was quite certain she had heard two hoots of a male Great Horned Owl (GHOW) from an area adjacent to the The Wooded Area; another stretch of woods that is home to Barred Owls. I searched that area for the next two nights but while I did not see Charles or another GHOW I did see and hear Barred Owls and Red-tailed Hawks. On May 25, the Barred Owls were in the very heart of The Wooded Area; something I had seen in May 2019 when Charles was not in this part of the core of his territory. Both in 2019 and 2020 the Barred Owl hooted together in a duet, which is not something they would do if Charles was there. In the six weeks I searched for Charles without success, I saw one or two Barred Owls on four different nights in The Wooded Area. All of these sightings underscored that Charles was simply not there.<br />
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I continued searching as did Alexis and we kept in touch about what we saw. In late May I sent out an e-mail out to my core group of owl friends updating them on the Charles's situation and asking for folks to help out so we could search even more areas. Over the next month, several folks were able to join me or lend moral support from both near and far and for that, I am hugely grateful. Alexis quickly became the Rookie of the Year as her regularly cycling trips and her multiple evenings of owl searching per week allowed us to greatly expand the search area. I took time and care to show her the spots in The Wooded Area that Charles had used recently while showing her search methods and techniques while pointing out other bird and mammal calls and sharing more about Charles and his history. In short she became my newest owl mentee and even more importantly a new friend.<br />
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The next several weeks were incredibly tough as we continued to not find Charles. Each night became a slog of not just not finding him but the added toll of yet another night with no Charles. With each night that we did we did not find him, the potential to find him felt less and less on subsequent nights. With other life/work stresses and the pandemic, not being able to find Charles was a most unwelcome and crushing addition to these worries. When the pandemic began and continued on and on, going to the park and seeing Charles and reveling in his beauty and fascinating behavior became even more precious. But to not find Charles night after night made these other challenges even more intense. Here's a shot of me by Alexis taking during the stressful weeks of not finding Charles. We were searching in the immediate vicinity of The AYU Tree and The Archy Tree. Looking at this photo I can practically see and feel the mental and emotional burden of not finding him while dealing with everything else that life has thrown at us in 2020.<br />
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It goes without saying but I must say it anyway that the most helpful and important person during these weeks was my girlfriend Wendy Schlegel. Wendy listened carefully and sympathetically to my daily report of the previous night's efforts to find Charles. She knows how much Charles means to me and she has her own deep love for him as she has known of him as long as I have. I felt awful one morning when I called earlier than usual her to discuss some matter that I cannot even remember now. Given the early timing of my call she thought I was calling with good news about Charles and she answered the phone by saying excitedly, "Did you find Charles?!?" As I do in more normal happy times, on some days I would look for Charles during the day so that I could spend the evening with Wendy. These nights were even more important and welcome than ever.<br />
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Summer is the hardest time to find owls with them being even harder to spot with the trees all leafed out and the adults are not as vocal, overall. One huge help in finding owls year round but especially in the summer is the warning calls of a variety of birds and mammals. GHOWs are powerful and dominant predators and are feared by the vast majority of animals in their range. The summer is the best time to use these warning calls and other mobbing behaviors because the other birds have young that they need to protect and educate about the threat posed by GHOWs and other predators. In earlier paragraphs, I mentioned the warning calls of American Robins. The calls of these ubiquitous birds in Forest Park have been the most helpful for me for finding Charles and co. during the summers. Like the second half of May 2019, the six weeks I searched for Charles recently were eerily quiet with little to no robin calling every night.<br />
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In one of the bitter ironies of this summer, in the last few weeks a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks have made their presence known right in the immediate vicinity of my home in St. Louis. I have seen and heard more of Red-Shouldered Hawks in the last few weeks than I have in my life cumulatively before now. The hawks draw plenty of attention and warning calls from the local robins and on most days I will have 4-6 hours total of robin calls with the calls often being non-stop for hours at a time. It has been great to see and hear the hawks but bloody awful to head to Forest Park and not only not find Charles but to hear little or no robin calling.<br />
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Another challenge of the past six weeks is that I have been the bearer of bad news to fellow park goers and nature lovers asking me "How are the owls?" and I have had to reply about not finding Charles and the serious concerns stemming from this. They kindly ask the question with a smile and I quickly turn that smile into a frown that does not depart for some time. I had a period of a few weeks of an influx of e-mails from folks asking to schedule owl prowls. The e-mails came a welcome mix of prior prowlees like the lovely McCauley family, for whom I have led owl prowls several times for three generations of this great family, as well as new folks interested in the owls after seeing my videos on YouTube. I had to let all these kind folks know that I was not leading owl prowls now as I was worried about Charles and had to concentrate my efforts on not finding him. To a person they all replied that they understood and they too were worried about Charles. I feel bad that I spread concern and worry to so many folks but I am grateful for their sympathy and concern.<br />
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Thursday, June 25 became my last night searching for Charles. My search that night began with noticing some consistent robin calling, which raised my hopes but instead led me to a Great Blue Heron up high in a Cottonwood. Knowing that this night was the last night I would be searching for Charles, as I looked for him in the different trees and regions in the woods, each of these places became not just a place to search but a place to recall and reflect. Without success and with a heavy heart I returned home. The following morning I e-mailed my core group of owl friends and told them that my search had ended and that while leaving the possibility that we had not found Charles, he was dead. I want to take a moment here and thank all of my friends for the support over these hard weeks and for their lovely e-mails of support and sympathy. These e-mails kept me going on especially in the most difficult periods.<br />
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As to the cause of death, I will likely never know. Again, Charles displayed no sign of illness or injury in the last days on which I saw him. Adult Great Horned Owls essentially do not have any natural enemies unless they are ill, injured or caught with their pants down. Over the years my biggest concern about the owls' well-being and safety is cars. Whether it is a field, a lake or a road I have seen the owls regularly fly 50-70 feet high and just as regularly seen them fly 6-12 inches low. I have seen too many close calls with all of the owls and cars. Several months ago in the late winter I saw Charles fly 1-2 feet over one of the park's roads a mere second or two ahead of an oncoming car's headlights. When I began to drive to the park I also began driving home by taking a route that took me away from where I last saw the owls so I would be one less car near the owls.<br />
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One silver lining in this sad time is a simultaneously similar but slightly different silver lining that occurred with Sarah's death in 2015. That year Charles and Sarah had two owlets: Grace and Harold. Sarah was last seen and likely died on July 20. At this point, she and Charles had already stopped feeding the owlets; an important stage in the owlets' road to dispersal from the parents' territory and the owlets' eventual independence. If Sarah had died in June or earlier the owlets would likely have died from lack of food. Once the owlets fledge (leave the nest) the female GHOW will begin to hunt t as the male continues to hunt in their herculean efforts to feed their ravenous young. With GHOWs, there are a few documented cases of one of the parents dying but the surviving parent still able to provide for the family. These cases are very much the exception to the rule that the owlets would likely die from starvation with only parent to hunt for them despite the best efforts of the surviving parent. This year Charles and Danielle nested unsuccessfully. However, if they had done so successfully and the owlets had fledged successfully too only to have Charles die in May-June, the owlets most likely would have died too. I think it is important to keep this mind.<br />
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How old was Charles? The longer I studied Charles, the more this question understandably came up as I lead owl prowls and gave owl talks. If I could have asked him one question it would have been: How old are you? I do have a minimum age, which is no small thing. Charles was at least 16-17 years old and I have that figure from two good points of data. Great Horned Owls generally do not have young until they are 2-3 years old as it takes a while to find a territory and a mate. Charles and Sarah had young in the first year I studied them in 2005-2006. I studied Charles for over 14 years. Taken these two data points together, I arrive at his minimum age of 16-17 years old. Where things get tricky is that despite being the most widespread, commonly found owl in North America, there is still a great deal that we do not know about GHOWs including average lifespan. We know records for longevity in the wild and the records show GHOWs living into their 20s with the highest record being around 30 years old. Records are helpful up to a point as they show what is possible but by definition they are not the average. Given all of this Charles may have been 19, he may have been 25. I wish I knew.<br />
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With this in mind, Charles was at least past middle age. In the last few years this knowledge of his advancing age had a profound impact on me. I knew that each night, week, month and year represented, to borrow a phrase from the late, great Anglo-American writer Christopher Hitchens, more and more from less and less. I became painfully aware that there was less sand in the hourglass in my time with Charles. Each night became more and more precious. I frequently voiced this understanding whether to myself when studying him on a regular night with him or when leading an prowl or giving an owl talk and questions about his age arose. When on my own, I would often reflect on how lucky I was to know him and to have been able to get know him over so many years and I would thank him for the glimpse I had into his life and for all the joy, fascination and wonderment he brought to me and many others. Now at the end with Charles I am glad that I reflected in this way and expressed my gratitude. It is a slight but comforting cushion in the grief from his death.<br />
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While I knew Charles was at least past middle aged, he never showed any signs of slowing down. I say this with as much objectivity as I can muster but in his behavior and appearance he looked no different this year than he did three years ago, six years ago, nine years ago and beyond. He flew just as fast, was just as keen to mate and nest, and hunted as masterfully as he always did. While it was sad and tough to see Sarah and Samantha's decline at least we knew that they were ill or injured-we knew something was wrong-we had some data. With Charles it was here one day and gone the next. I prefer to have some data and not knowing what happened makes it all the harder.<br />
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As to Charles's most recent mate, the huge and beautiful Danielle, I wish I had more information to share with you. Ever since she arrived in April 2019, she has been a very different female GHOW than what I have experienced and read about. She has regularly spent long periods of time unseen and unheard and not in the vicinity, to the best of my knowledge, of Charles. In the fall of 2019 I expected her and Charles to duet intensely and regularly as they courted and bonded more on the path to mating and nesting. Much to my surprise, I had two periods that fall of over 10 consecutive days when I did not see or hear her at all. One period was for 12 days and the other for 16 days. It was only when the mating period approached even closer that I began to see her with more consistency. The most consistent period I have ever seen her was the six weeks she spent in the nest! Of late, she has not been observed for a long time, even by her standards. I have not seen definitively seen her since March 13. I had a possible sighting on April 16 but nothing since then. I hope she is well and I keep my ears, eyes and mind open for her.<br />
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It has been just over a week since I stopped searching for Charles and it has been a sad, weird and tough time. Initially, I took some time off from going to Forest Park, which is tough in its own right but after six arduous weeks it was important to take a bit of breather. My first night going back to the park was odd in that I was not looking for Charles. While I do go to the park and do other things besides studying Charles, it was odd to go to the park at my usual owling time and to not have looking for him on the evening's menu. While I think it was important to set a date to stop searching for Charles and while the search over the six weeks was incredibly challenging there was still an element of possibility and hope. As I said at the beginning of this post, I am leaving the window of possibility cracked that Charles has moved to an as yet un-found area but only as a remote possibility.<br />
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Several people have asked me what is next for me with studying Great Horned Owls. As I responded to them, my work will continue in ways both similar and different. I am going to keep an eye on The Wooded Area and see what happens there. I am curious to see if the Barred Owls expand their territory into this area or if a new GHOW moves into this highly desirable GHOW habitat. There are other GHOWs in the park and I may well start to study them. I will also keep a look out for Danielle. Before I stopped searching for Charles and not far from The Wooded Area, I found a new male GHOW on June 10 and I have been studying him with modest frequency since then. It is too early to say if he will be the focus of this new chapter in my work of studying GHOWs in Forest Park. but a new chapter has certainly begun. There is more to stay about this new chapter but I want to, I have to conclude by reflecting on Charles and his multi-faceted and far-reaching impact on my life and lives of many others.<br />
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When Sarah died in 2015 I wrote and often said subsequently, that I may never see another female Great Horned Owl as amazing as her. I feel the same way about Charles. I have been very lucky to have seen many male Great Horned Owls but I have never seen one that I felt was his equal and I do not think I ever will. From his immense physical beauty to the power and grace of his movements and flight to his prowess as a predator to his dedication and care as a mate and parent, he was a male Great Horned Owl beyond compare. Every time I saw him was a joy and to have studied him for so long and with such intensity was a labor of love. The more I saw of him the more I learned but the more I was fascinated, challenged and sometimes confused and bewildered. The most average night with him and his mate at the time was spectacular, which is a contradiction but one that fits in this case. The amazing nights were out of this world and the truly exceptional nights are beyond all superlatives.<br />
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Charles taught me so much about studying owls in particular and wildlife as a whole by taking things I knew or thought I knew and revealing greater depths and breadths to them. Things like patience, perseverance, camouflage, quiet, open-mindedness, documentation, care and respect, and of course research. In turn, I do my utmost to pass on these things to the people I have mentored as well as folks who go on an owl prowl or attend one of my owl talks.<br />
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Through sharing these things with other people Charles and co. generated friendships with people that may otherwise may not have ever met. A whole community of people has grown around Charles and co. and the impact they have had is multi-faceted and simultaneously easy and hard to measure. One of my favorite illustrations of the owls' impact on my life and the lives of others comes from a moment I had at a party a few years ago. The hosts were my good friends Danny and Joyce Brown. I met Danny in the spring of 2010 when he was looking for Sarah's nest. He wanted to photograph her and Charles and the three owlets they had that year: Reese, Malcolm and Dewey. as part of his work as a<a href="https://dannybrownphotography.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"> truly incredible wildlife photographer and nature writer.</a> As I looked at the other guests at the party I realized that most of us had met via Charles and co. We are folks from different parts of the St. Louis region, different ages and stages, professions, and more but we all became connected via Charles and co. and I am beyond grateful for that.<br />
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In addition to this core group of friends of Charles and co., a wider community has grown around the owls via not only owl prowls and owl talks but by what I call owl ambassadorship. This is my name for the process of pointing out the owls to passersby or answering questions like "What are you looking for/at?" Some of these folks regularly return to look for the owls or they start to look for owls closer to their own homes. One of my favorite things to see occur with my fellow humans is to point out Charles to someone out for a run or a walk or a bike ride in the park and to see that person come back on their own and/or alternate their usual route so that they can see more of Charles and co. In small and big ways, Charles and co. changed people's lives.<br />
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The sheer aesthetic appeal of Charles is intense and a huge part of his magnetism for both for myself and for many others. Look at how absolutely beautiful Charles is whether caught in the setting sun or as the sun is below the horizon.<br />
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Even sleeping his beauty is unmistakable!<br />
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Charles's beauty cannot be overstated. It was not just in his markings and intense eyes but in his posture and bearing. All of these things added up to a striking effect that did not diminish with time but rather grew and grew. I often found myself shaking my head at how gorgeous he was and how lucky I was to study him. When leading owl prowls I enjoyed seeing how women often reacted to seeing Charles whether for the first time or the seventh time. I heard more than a few gasps and "Wows" and I could practically see and hear women say things like "Well, I do declare..." or "Call me." I saw more than a few of the sig others of these ladies grip their lady's hand a little tighter when they saw how their lady reacted to the utterly sublime Charles. I was never surprised by this and it was always amazing to see such reactions.<br />
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Over the years, I have been lucky and privileged to share Charles and co. with fellow naturalists as well as professional biologists and zoologists ranging from such esteemed institutions as The St. Louis Zoo, Missouri Department of Conservation, The World Bird Sanctuary, Forest Park Forever and more. These experts, many of them with years of experience with many Great Horned Owls, were often happily dumbstruck at the beauty of Charles. When they regained their voices, they quickly expressed how beautiful he was. All of this reinforced to me, time and time again, that Charles was an especially gorgeous Great Horned Owl.<br />
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His beauty was not just in his physical appearance but in his hooting as well. His hoot was without peer either as it combined his stunning tone and volume with his physical beauty.<br />
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In the late winter and early spring of this year, there was an intruding male Great Horned Owl showing up in Charles's territory; often quite close to the edge of The Wooded Area. His hoot was quite similar to Charles's. In fact, on one night when I had as yet not observed The Intruder I mistook him for Charles just by the hoot. It was only when I heard Charles hooting in reply that I realized that I was hearing two male GHOWs and one of them was not Charles! The Intruder was definitely making his presence known and Charles was not happy about this and the similarity of their hoots made things challenging too. Finally on one night I was able to get closer to The Intruder and listen closely to his hoots. I was able to hear some objective differences: The Intruder's notes were not as long and had a less rounded, more pinched quality to them. Naturally, I observed some subjective differences too; The Intruder's hoot was simply not as beautiful as Charles's. [P.S. I am quite certain that new male GHOW I found on June 10 is not The Intruder as the new male GHOWs hoot is clearly that of male GHOW but it would not be mistaken for Charles's hoot]<br />
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Even when you could barely see him, Charles's hoot was a joy to witness<br />
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Watching Charles stretch and groom as he began to wake up was one of my favorite things to observe and document. Here is doing The Escalator Stretch on each wing.<br />
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In-depth talon cleaning was not an every day occurrence so it was always a treat to see.<br />
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One of my very favorite to see owls and Charles in particular do is to fly. The speed, power, silence, grace and ethereal nature of it make it unforgettable and simultaneously ephemeral. Having seen Charles, his mates and many other owls fly literally thousands of times there is still something about it that you do not quite believe your own eyes.<br />
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To see Charles hunt even unsuccessfully was to watch a master perform his art and craft. I have seen Charles hunt Click Beetles on the ground, Great Blue Herons on the ground and on the wing, Raccoons in trees and on the ground, bats in midair and squirrels everywhere. One of my favorite examples of his predatory prowess that I was lucky to observe and to document reasonably well occurred last April. I had watched him wake up, stretch and groom, and hoot and fly to his next spot. Something caught his attention and he flew down to the ground...</div>
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He caught this Eastern Cottontail Rabbit at the very beginning of his night; an incredible example of the opportunism and predatory power of a hunting GHOW. Notice how you hear absolutely no sound from the rabbit. I have never heard an injured rabbit but I have heard from many people that it is a horrible and all too memorable sound. This rabbit most likely died in a near instantaneous fashion from a combination of penetrating wounds and the intense trauma from the impact of Charles's massive and powerful talons. </div>
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Charles was also an exceptional mate and father owl. He and Sarah had 23 owlets in 10 consecutive nesting seasons, which was simply amazing on so many levels. While Charles and Olivia, Samantha and Danielle did not nest successfully, it was not for lack of trying or effort. I never thought I would see the owls mate especially as GHOW mating was not documented until the 1990s! I have been very lucky to have seen Charles mate with all four of the mates I saw him with and to have seen and filmed mating hundreds of times. One of my favorite mating episodes that I was able to film was on New Year's Day 2019 with him and Samantha, which you can see below. </div>
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Charles's care and devotion to his nesting mate and their young was a wonder to behold. When a female GHOW is nesting she will only hunt if an opportunity presents itself-I saw this three times over the years with three of the females- or if the male is not bringing home the bacon. The responsibility for the male GHOW to feed his mate and then her and the young is a huge responsibility and was one to which Charles was more than equal. My three favorite examples of this come from the first night of the nesting seasons in 2009, 2010 and 2018. On each of these nights seeing that his mate, Sarah in the first two examples and Samantha in the third, was nesting he went out hunting and quickly caught some prey and returned immediately to the nest to deliver it to his mate. Of these three nights the most intense and striking was at the start of the 2010 nesting season. Charles flew off to hunt traveling a good 300-400 yards. Thanks to a happy accident of topography I was able to follow his flight and see him pull up and land. I did not know exactly what tree he had landed in but from what I saw I knew the micro-region in which to search. I strode off walking as fast and quietly as I could to catch up with him. I had gone about 40-50 yards and I looked up to see him with prey in tow flying past me now on his way back to the deliver the food to Sarah in the nest. He had caught and returned with prey mere minutes after leaving the vicinity of the nest. I will never forget that. </div>
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While I was incredibly lucky to study Sarah for just over nine-and-a-half years to have studied Charles for just under fourteen-and-a-half years was not just lucky in the general sense. Doing so allowed me to see even more incredible GHOW behaviors. One of my favorite aspects of studying these owls is that every night is different, every night is unique. Sometimes in very small, subtle ways and at other times in wholly unexpected ways. There are some behaviors I have seen thousands of times and other that I have seen once or twice. One of my favorite examples of the latter was seeing Charles in the rain and not just enduring and dealing with the rain but taking it advantage of it by spreading his wings and tail feathers to take a shower. I saw this behavior once but I did not film it but luckily I got another chance on September 25, 2015. It had not rained for two weeks and the park was bone dry. It began to rain as it became closer to sunset. Charles moved to the top of a dead pine tree and he spread out his wings and tail feathers. As you will see and hear below this was no slight early fall sprinkle but rather capital R Rain. I got completely soaked but it was more than worth it!</div>
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A more recent example of especially unique behavior is something I have never seen any bird do ever. On April 3 of this year, I found Charles in The Great Northern Tree and I was able to get a good level angle on him and I watched him wake up. He stretched and groomed as I filmed him and took photos. At one point I turned my head away from him and when I turned back to him I saw that he had a large feather of his, most likely a flight or tail feather, in his talons and that he was grooming his bill with the feather! He mostly used the calamus or hollow shaft of the feather but also the feather's vane. This went on for a few minutes and I was able to film much of it. </div>
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Simply amazing to see this! I reached out to several local, regional, national and international owl experts who I have been very lucky to get to know over the years and I asked them about this behavior. Everyone of them kindly wrote back and said that they had seen captive owls do this behavior and for me to see a wild owl do it was no small thing. </div>
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As you can tell, I can go on and on and on about Charles. He was such a beautiful, fascinating and compelling Great Horned Owl. I am confident that I will never see a male Great Horned Owl as incredible as him. There is no shortage of amazing aspects and behaviors to share but I must complete this post; one I knew I would have to write someday and have dreaded for years. Thank you for reading this and please share it with others that would find it of interest. The support of everyone who has seen and come to love Charles has made this tough time easier to bear. Thank you! </div>
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Thank you, Charles for letting me spend so much time learning about you and sharing your life with others whose lives you also touched in innumerable ways and times. Thank you for your patience and tolerance. Thank you for being such an amazing owl and an ambassador of your kind in this world we share. I love you and miss you. - Mark.</div>
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Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-9241909681690151592020-02-22T19:50:00.001-06:002020-02-23T07:46:44.481-06:00Sad News About The Nest<h2>
<b><u><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">February 22-23, 2020</span></u></b></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I wish I had better news about Charles and Danielle's nest but sadly it has failed. For better or for worse I saw it actively failing Tuesday night and then both on Wednesday morning and subsequent evenings I saw all too emphatic reinforcement of nest failure. I strongly suspect Raccoons as the cause of the nest failure. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I arrived in the park on Tuesday night 2/18 and met up with Bill Chamberlin, who had heard of the owls from our friends in common, Tom and Mary <span style="color: #3c4043;">DeBenedetti. Over 30 years ago, Bill had rehabilitated a Red-tailed Hawk in Wyoming and was curious to learn about the owls and my work with them. I am grateful for Bill's presence that night as he was a great blend of observant, patient, empathetic and curious. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c4043; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">After rendezvousing with Bill we headed to check out the nest and Danielle was noticeably higher last night than her already higher position of the last several days; an often positive sign of successful hatching. Given her behavior and timing of when I suspected eggs were laid, I was confident that hatching had occurred in recently. [Please be sure to double click on the photos to see a larger version]</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c4043; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Charles was nearby in The Vine Hide Tree, his almost always perch site during this year's nesting. The VHT is at the eastern edge of The Wooded Area just next to The Fleur de Lis Tree. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c4043; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We watched both owls from a couple of different angles and the bright sunny conditions made for great views and light. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c4043; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Charles had done some early hooting but then hit the snooze alarm so we went back to check on Danielle in the nest. As we did a pair of Red-tailed Hawks flew past the Pagoda Circle side of the nest not overly close to the nest. Charles woke up and hooted at them and the hawks passed out of sight. Bill soon noticed that Danielle was out of the nest. She was not far from the hollow but it was odd to see her out of the nest at 5:15pm-a good 25 minutes before sunset. The last time I saw her leave the nest was on Sunday night and that was around 6:30pm. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c4043; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">At first I interpreted her being out of the nest as a response to Charles' early warning hoot to the hawks' presence. This interpretation swerved some when she flew with prey in her talons landing in The First of The Three Trees and began eating. I thought she might be taking advantage of being out of the nest to take one of her few breaks from the nest. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c4043; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">She stayed there for several minutes before back to The Middle Tree; the tree closest to the nest. I hoped she would head directly to the nest but she spent quite a while in The Middle Tree even moving within it. Finally Danielle flew to the nest tree landing close to the hollow before flying to the edge of the hollow. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c4043; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">She lingered at the hollow and then turned around and flew back to The Middle Tree. I optimistically thought that she may have had a hard time finding a safe path to jump back into the nest. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #3c4043; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This optimism soon faded when she flew back to the edge of the hollow and bill clacked before flying back again to The Middle Tree. </span><span style="color: #3c4043; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">She was soon joined by Charles who hooted intensely as he has often done in this tree during this nesting period but there seemed to be a different edge to his hooting. The bill clacking behavior is a very aggressive behavior in response to threats and danger and to see her do it at the edge of the nest was a not at all good indication of things being well. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #3c4043; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To compound this, she had been out of the nest for well over 30 minutes. While GHOW eggs are hardy, up to a point, in cold weather, newly hatched young cannot maintain their own body temperature and are incredibly vulnerable to the cold. It was not a freezing cold night but it was by no means a warm one either with temperatures in the high 30s and falling. Bill and I kept a close watch on the owls and the nest but never saw anything in the nest. A frustrating lack of data that could not be helped as we could only see what we could see of the nest. </span><span style="color: #3c4043; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">While I have never seen Raccoons in this particular nest tree, they are all over the immediate vicinity of the nest and often in high numbers. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c4043; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Danielle began a pattern of flying to the nest tree and then flying off to The Middle Tree or The Multi-trunk Tree; another tree close to nest. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #3c4043; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sometimes she landed at the edge of the nest and other times landed on a nearby branch. Her times at the edge of the nest were always brief. There was another moment of bill-clacking during one of her returns to the edge of the nest. Charles stayed in The Middle Tree for a while before flying southwest presumably to hunt. She continued this pattern and Bill had to take his leave and I resolved to stay to see what would happen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c4043; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Danielle continued her pattern of trips to the nest tree before returning to The Middle Tree or The Multi-trunk Tree. I heard Charles call from The Wooded Area and soon after he was close by in a tree catty-corner from the nest. He hooted intensely and Danielle responded by making the begging-cheep like call the nesting females can use. It was one of the few times I had heard her make this call and I could not help but wonder if she used it to express panic and desperation. Charles flew to the nest tree and hooted more. Things happened quickly and vaguely when I lost sight of Charles and did not hear him hooting. This was followed by Danielle flying off towards The Multi-Trunk Tree and then out of sight. I circled the area but did not hear or see either of the owls. By now Danielle had been out of the nest for a little over 90 minutes. Not at all good. I headed home with barely an optimistic thought or feeling. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #3c4043;">I left for work earlier the next morning, Wednesday, 2/19 so I could stop in the park and check on the owls. </span>Unfortunately Danielle was not back on the nest . She was in The Vine Hide Tree with Charles nearby in Eastern Branch Tree. She flew to The Middle Tree which gave me some hope but then she got harassed by a Cooper's Hawk and then twice by a Red-tailed Hawk-it was crazy! She then flew just into The Wooded Area behind The Vine Hide Tree and then quickly went to The Trio Conifers; where she often perched prior to nesting. It was like seeing a door slammed shut. (I did not have my camera with me) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">All of this is a terribly sad development after such high hopes and positive developments of this nesting season. I am curious but doubtful that a second round of mating and nesting will occur as it did with Charles and Samantha when there nest failed well into 2017-2018 nesting season. I had never read of or seen such behavior before or since so its rarity may be especially high. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">While the loss of the nest is a most unwelcome and crushing development, I do not want to excoriate or spew vitriol at the Raccoons. Just like Great Horned Owls, Raccoons are highly adaptable animals with their own important ecological role. Furthermore, GHOWs do kill and eat Raccoons-both young and adults. In fact during the entire nesting cycle I saw several predatory attempts by the owls on Raccoons; most of them by Charles and two by Danielle. As such the relationship between GHOWs and Raccoons is a complex and fascinating one. There are no heroes or villains in nature, just organisms trying to survive and reproduce. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Since Wednesday morning I have seen nothing that makes me think that a second round of mating and nesting is in the offing but I keep a window of hope open. Charles has been perched in several different spots deeper in The Wooded Area and has been quite vocal. That said, I have not seen or heard Samantha on Friday, 2/21 or Saturday 2/22. I also am concerned that her presence and my ability to find, observe and document her will be hit or miss as it was for the vast majority of the time from her first appearance on 4/5/2019 until mid-12/2019. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thank you for your time and support and sorry to be the bearer of such bad tidings.</span></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-45077883473590409322020-01-03T09:05:00.001-06:002020-01-03T09:05:59.137-06:00One Chapter Ends Sadly, The New Chapter Takes An Exciting Turn<h2>
<b><u>January 2020</u></b></h2>
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With the start of the new year and decade I am ready to relinquish my crown as The World's Worst Blogger, which I have worn for the last three years. My apologies for the lack of updates and I hope you enjoy this update. The lack of updates was not for a lack of fascinating developments in the owls' lives or amazing and confounding behaviors observed. Furthermore, as developments .unfolded, there was some news I wanted to share only when I was more certain of a few key aspects. In addition, my outreach work continues to grow and grow, leaving limited time for blogging. In the past few years I have been averaging 50 owl talks and over 70 owl prowls per year. The geographic range of owl talks continues to expand with highlights including my first talks in the Chicagoland area and in Indiana in 2019 and my first talk in Kansas is coming up in May. I have also increased outreach via social media and my YouTube videos have had over 152,000 views and I now have just over 250 subscribers. </div>
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As the title of this post states there is sad news and a new chapter with exciting news. The sad news is that Samantha has died. She died on April 3, 2019 of a large and aggressive bacterial infection that had spread to multiple vital organs. The cause of the infection could not be determined but candidates include an injury or wound or something she ate. Samantha received superb treatment from the World Bird Sanctuary in an effort in which Forest Park Forever and the Humane Society of Missouri played vital roles. Unfortunately, her condition was so dire and advanced that this great care gave her respite but could not cure her. To compound the sadness of the loss of Samantha, she died just shy of the date when I first observed her in 2016 on April 10. She and Charles tried very hard to have successful broods of owlets these last three years but their efforts did not come to fruition. There is much to say about the last few years with Samantha and her decline and death but in the meantime, I would like to thank <a href="https://www.forestparkforever.org/donate" target="_blank">Forest Park Forever</a>, <a href="https://www.worldbirdsanctuary.org/donate/" target="_blank">World Bird Sanctuary</a> and <a href="http://humane%20society%20of%20missouri/" target="_blank">Humane Society of Missouri </a>for their amazing help with Samantha. If you are so moved please donate in the name of Samantha, the Great Horned Owl of Forest Park, to one or more of these amazing organizations. You can use the links in the previous sentence to do so. I must also take a moment to thank my friend and all-around owl expert and advocate, Brenda Hente, in being a vital part of Samantha's treatment. As an award-winning volunteer for World Bird Sanctuary, Brenda was able to get updates from the amazing staff and her fellow volunteers about Samantha's condition and pass them on to me and our friends who are all fellow Forest Park owl addicts. I will write more about Samantha but for now I want to pause here with a video of her sleeping last November. Thank you for letting us see some of your amazing life, Samantha! You are much missed and much loved!</div>
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The new chapter did not take long to begin. On April 5, 2019, two days after Samantha's death and week after her evacuation from Forest Park, I went to observe and document Charles. I quickly found him in The Trio Conifers. I was talking aloud to my camera as I do to record notes about the owls' behavior, whereabouts, weather conditions, etc and I wondered if and when another female would show up. I pivoted over to The Quartet Conifers and there was perched a huge and gorgeous female Great Horned Owl! Bloody hell! (Be sure to double click on the pictures to see a larger version of the photos) </div>
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This female is Sarah's size-23-25 inches tall-as large as Great Horned Owls grow. She is only one of a few females of this size that I have seen over the years both in the wild and in captivity. </div>
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That night she and Charles duetted and he even showed her the 2018-2019 nest site, a new and thus unprecedented spot. Talk about a first date! The name Danielle quickly came to me for this female. I have always liked the name and it also references my family's cat, Daniel, with whom I literally grew up as well as the cat-like appearance and behavior of owls, which hooks many people on owls. </div>
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The exciting turn in the new chapter is that as of December 31, 2019 Danielle is nesting! She is nesting where Sarah nested in 2008 and 2012 the accordingly named The 08-12 Nest Tree, now named The 08-12-20 Nest Tree. Here is cropped photo of Danielle nesting on New Year's Day 2020-what a beauty!</div>
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(If you know this nest location, please be sure to watch from a safe distance of at least 40-50 yards away while dressed in dark, muted colors and speaking quietly. Nesting requires quiet and peace and you do not want to anger an animal that eats Raccoons and Great Blue Herons) </div>
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I am especially excited that she is nesting because I was concerned that nesting would not occur. I had not seen mating and the courtship behavior I had seen was inconsistent and rarely at the level of intensity and frequency that I saw with Olivia and Samantha. To compound this, since she arrived in April 2019 Danielle's only consistency was being around inconsistently. Throughout the spring, summer and fall I had many days of not seeing or hearing her. The most intense was two periods in the fall, one of ten days and one of sixteen days, when I did not see or hear her at all. I finally began to see her with more expected consistency starting in the second third of December 2019. Even then the courtship was mild and inconsistent and I did not see mating, which usually begins in early-mid December here in Missouri. Seeing her nesting on December 31 told me that they had been mating but when I was not around to see it! I did finally see them mating on January 1, 2020.</div>
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There is a TON more to discuss about the last few years not the least of which is how Charles moved his territory a half mile to the east in the summer of 2019 and moved back to his historic territory in October 2019! I wanted to keep this post to around 1000 words and I hope to come back soon with more news and updates on went down in 2017-2019 as well as what is happening in 2020. Thank you for your patience and for your reading and support! </div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-59007381484103684812016-12-28T14:00:00.000-06:002016-12-31T10:47:00.093-06:00Twelve Months Later! <b><u>December 31, 2016</u></b><br />
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The last twelve months may have been quiet on my blog, as it too often is, but the owls and my work with them have been anything but sedate. These months are quickly moving up the ranks to become one of the most astonishing, confusing, amazing, bittersweet, and delightful periods since I first saw Great Horned Owls in Forest Park in the late summer-early fall of 2005.<br />
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I am quite aware that my blog posts tend to be less blog-like and more akin to papal encyclicals. For the sake of brevity for those readers who need and/or prefer their updates on the owls in brief bits of bytes, I present the following bullet points. Abundant detail follows for those who prefer a feast to a snack or at the very least, a feast at a time of their choosing. Here we go:<br />
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<li>Charles and Olivia mated much longer and more times than I have ever observed (42 times in 14 weeks instead of the usual 17-22 times in 4-6 weeks)</li>
<li>Olivia did not nest, no eggs were laid, no owlets hatched</li>
<li>It was quite odd to not have owlets after ten consecutive years of owlets but at the same time it was fascinating to have a year without owlets, something I had never seen</li>
<li>In mid-March 2016, Olivia began to spend time away from Charles, sometimes only a few hundred yards away, other nights over half a mile away, some nights I could not find her at all</li>
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<li>I think Olivia not nesting and then spending time away from Charles, at a minimum, contributed to what happened next.</li>
<li>In early-mid April, a larger and more aggressive female Great Horned Owl showed up in the middle of the territory</li>
<li>After a massive territorial stand-off with Charles and Olivia, this new female quickly shoved Olivia out of the territory. I have not seen Olivia since mid-April and I hope she is well and flourishing.</li>
<li>Charles was ticked about losing his mate and the audacity of this intruder. For about ten days. Then, being an adaptable male, he began to court her.</li>
<li>Now, here is the weirdest thing about this:</li>
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<li>Territorial intrusions and courtship happen</li>
<li>But not in April in this part of this species' range. This is late summer to early winter behavior. This occurring in April was both late and early; like trying to see a Cardinals game or a show at The Muny in January.</li>
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<li>Given this female's aggressive and rather forward nature, I named her Samantha, after the similarly behaving character on the HBO show <i>Sex and the City</i>. </li>
<li>I miss Olivia but I am fascinated by this development</li>
<li>Charles and Samantha kept up a low key courtship for the remainder of the spring, throughout the summer and into the early autumn</li>
<li>Once we hit the heart of autumn they began to court more intensely.</li>
<li>As of this writing they are courting but have not mated yet. Hopefully, they will mate, she will nest and owlets will hatch, fledge, thrive and eventually, disperse. </li>
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Okay, there's the brief catch-up/recap of what has happened since Olivia and Charles began to mate in December 2015. Now for the more in-depth review of what went down. For simplicity's sake, I am breaking down this time into several sections. The first one is:</div>
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<b><u>Early Winter 2015-2016</u></b><br />
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After my last blog post about Charles and Olivia mating and becoming a pair, my main focus was to see if she would nest and have owlets. At the same time I did my utmost to notice everything they did beginning with perch/roost spots. The owls' perch spots vary by season and in late fall/early winter they often begin to perch in conifers. Unlike the now bare deciduous trees, conifers offer excellent concealment and protection from the elements and from unfriendly eyes. This year was simultaneously no different and vastly different. While they sometimes used The Trio Conifers and with even less frequency, The Quartet Conifers, and Charles delighted with occasional visits to Charles' Xmas Tree, they spent most of their time in The Crossroads Conifers. These conifers are within spitting distance of the aforementioned conifers but had been rarely used by Charles and Sarah over the years and almost exclusively by Sarah. <br />
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I enjoyed seeing Charles and Olivia use these conifers more frequently than I had ever seen. Olivia first began using this group of conifers. One day I found Charles but I could not find her until a lady kindly pointed out Olivia in The Crossroads Conifers. In doing so, I realized I had walked right past her at least once that day. As I often say, studying nature is a practice makes better not practice makes perfect endeavor. <br />
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As The Crossroads Conifers had only occasionally been used by Sarah over the years, I had not yet learned with any depth and precision the angles from which to look for, find and observe the owls. Another near maxim of mine is that seeing the owls (and other wildlife) is a game of angles and inches. You can have an owl directly in front of you and still not see unless you are watching from the correct angle and position. These conifers are a small glade but still I had to learn several new observation angles. <br />
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Here is Charles in one of the more well-hidden spots in these conifers on January 8. (Be sure to double-click on the photos to see a larger version of them)<br />
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A more easily observable spot but one that I still had to learn and remember became a frequent stop. Here is Olivia in this spot in the snow on January 19</div>
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On some days you could see both owls in these trees from one angle like this shot from January 25. Charles is on the right and Olivia on the left. </div>
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One of the conifers is completely dead and covered with a lattice work of Winter Creeper vines.especially around the flattened top of the tree. This flat top is an excellent perch and was often used as a fly-to perch as the owls began to wake up and begin their evening. Sometimes they would fly to this bare perch close to or after sunset, but some of these excursions were on the early side, which made getting photos easier. As such they would regularly be spotted by the commuting American Crows heading east as they returned to their rookeries. Mobbing would then occur as you can see below with Charles on January 8.</div>
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Given the open space around this perch and its proximity to daytime perch spots, it was used several times for mating such as here on January 21. </div>
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A few nights later, Olivia was perched on top of this spot and removed some of the dead Winter Creeper vines. I had never seen such "gardening" by an adult owl prior to this. Kudos to Olivia on her removing this problematic, invasive species. </div>
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Also in late December were the farthest excursions out east that I have ever seen the owls do. I think the hormones were flowing intensely as they kept duetting and moving to the eastern limits of Forest Park. Here is Olivia just west of Kingshighway on January 11,<br />
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On a couple of nights they even flew across Forest Park Parkway and the Metrolink tracks. One such night, I ran into my buddy and fellow owl devotee, Lloyd Robinson. He later messaged me to say that he had seen the owls on the far side of Kingshighway. While it was fascinating to see these unprecedented eastern escapades, I was more than a tad worried given the dangers poised to the owls by the multiple lanes and busyness of these roadways and train tracks. On these nights I was often mentally waving the owls back west to the safer confines of the park. I was always relieved to find them safe and sound back in their territory after these pernicious promenades. <br />
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<u style="font-weight: bold;">Late Winter/Early Spring 2016</u><br />
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As the winter progressed, Charles and Olivia continued to mate but there were few signs that nesting would occur. For one thing, the most productive of the hollows and snags in the Cottonwoods where Sarah had nested was not available. On a handful of occasions during this period and even into the summer I saw a Raccoon in this hollow where Sarah nested in 2011 and 2013-2015. Here is one of these nights, which was on February 2<br />
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While Great Horned Owls eat Raccoons I do not think that even these powerful owls would try to go into a hollow and extricate a Raccoon with its back to the wall. <br />
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Now usually Charles would show Sarah a few potential nest locations performing his male role as nest real estate agent: "We have this in hollow but there is also this fabulous snag which is in a superb school district." However, with Olivia I only saw him show her one hollow during the mating period. This hollow is in The Third of The Three Trees and we call it The Third Tree Hollow. Longtime readers, owl prowl goers and/or folks who have attend my talks on the owls' mating, nesting and owlets may recall my concerns about this hollow. It is extremely close to one of the park's bike paths and even more worrying it is close, both in distance and height, to one of the park's roads. The owls can fly out of this hollow and be 20 odd feet above the road. However, far too often when they fly over the road they are only 2-7 feet above the road putting them at great risk of being hit by a car. <br />
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Sometimes Charles would be found early in this hollow as on February 15.<br />
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However, most of the time he would check out the hollow closer to if not after sunset as on March 6. </div>
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Just to take a pause from discussing mating and nesting, it is important to remember that, regardless of the season and its activities, the business of living i.e. hunting and feeding continues. I had a few lucky glimpses of this. On February 1, I followed Charles to a small glade of pines near the Upper Muny Festival and Parking Plaza. He swooped down to the branches of one of the pines and flew off with prey in talons. He landed on top of The Muny and began to eat his meal, an Eastern Grey Squirrel. </div>
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Two weeks later on February 15 while watching Charles and Olivia duet, she stopped hooting and made a short gliding flight to the ground. I carefully searched for her but could not find her nor did I see her fly. I changed positions and found her in The Great Northern eating.</div>
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In the faint light I saw that it was something good-sized and mammalian. The following afternoon I returned to that branch and found the leg and foot of an Eastern Cottontail Rabbit, one of their favorite prey animals. Note the white owl droppings; often called white wash. </div>
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Once February arrived and began to run its short course and Olivia still had not commenced nesting, the more convinced I was that the window on nesting had closed for the year. Great Horned Owls are one of the first if not the first birds to nest where ever they are found in their massive range which encompasses the vast majority of the Americas. The owlets take such a long time to become independent that the parents need all the lead time they can get to raise their young. Sarah usually began to nest in late December/early January and we would see the owlets in early-mid February. Here it was February and still no nesting by Olivia.</div>
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I still had some glimpses of hope that nesting might take place with moments like seeing Charles and Olivia together in The Quartet Conifers on February 5. Charles is on the left and Olivia on the right. Such gorgeous owls! </div>
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Another such moment was seeing them mate twice on February 10. The second mating occurred on the west end of Cricket Field. Afterwards Charles flew and landed on top of a large Bald Cypress and hooted in the falling snow. Beautiful! </div>
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Still the more days that passed without Olivia nesting, the more I knew that there would be no owlets in 2016. So why did Olivia not nest? She may have been a young female and still learning the ropes of what is to be an adult, female Great Horned Owl. Even if she was not young, Charles and Olivia were a new couple and perhaps needed more time to learn about each other and themselves as a pair. I do think that Charles showing Olivia only one nest spot did not help matters. I found this especially odd as, despite the Raccoons using the 2011, 13-15 Nest Hollow, several other hollows, both previously used and otherwise, were still available. A final possibility is that the populations of the owls' prey were low. The literature demonstrates in years of low prey availability, that fewer Great Horned Owls will nest and those that do have smaller clutches, i.e., number of owlets. I do not think that this was the case as I saw the owls regularly eat and eject pellets but perhaps it was a lean year. </div>
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Running parallel and perpendicular to the realization that nesting was not going to happen was that Charles and Olivia kept mating! The mating period is relatively brief, usually four-six weeks long. In that period if I see mating occur in the high teens to low twenties, that means the owls are doing well at their job and I am keeping pace with mine. I last saw Charles and Olivia mate on February 28, which made it fourteen weeks and forty-two matings! Why the kept mating, I have no idea. When telling people, whether on owl prowls and at owl talks or just folks asking for an update about this long mating period, there were many jokes about honeymoon periods and the like in response. Was Charles of the mindset of, "This is great, all of the sex and none of the massive hunting responsibilities and rearing of young!" </div>
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It was bittersweet to not have owlets in 2016. Bitter because after ten consecutive years of seeing Charles and Sarah have owlets I loved seeing owlets and their gradual maturation and all of the parents' work in making that possible. I never took owlets as a given each year as almost nothing is a given in nature but I never lost my amazement and gratitude to see new owl life each year. Furthermore, I was so used to observing owlets that it became part of the winter, spring and summer and just as we have smells, sounds and sights that we associate with certain activities and occurrences, I developed many such associations with owlets. Numerous were the days in 2016 when I would leave work and sniff the air, take in the weather and light and think, "This will be a great day to see the owlets...that are not there. Damn." </div>
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The sweet spot was that I had never had a year without the adults hatching young and I was curious to see what such a year looked like. This curiosity was heightened because in all my research I had read that, yes a pair of Great Horned Owls will not nest every year. This is reasonable enough, but I had never read ANYTHING about what such a year looks like. This is odd considering that when this species has young the entire reproductive cycle from mating to nesting to fledging to dispersal takes the VAST majority of the year. It stands to reason that a year without owlets would be significantly different. Why I have I not found anything in the literature about this? Perhaps my observations and documentation would help fill this gap. </div>
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Resigned to the fact that owlets were a no-go, I resolved to document the remainder of the year without owlets with care and industry. In no way did I expect the massive changes of the spring. </div>
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<b><u>Spring</u></b></div>
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Spring sprung in a most unexpected manner. Olivia began spending time away from Charles in mid-March. At first I began to find her in a small, pie slice shaped portion of woodlands. In the winter and early spring, the owls began to fly to and spend time in this area-more than I had ever seen over the years. I soon began to call this area The Wedge. The Wedge is just east of the immediate core of Charles and Olivia's territory; just a few hundred yards away from The Crossroads Conifers. As time went on, Olivia also began to go further afield, sometimes over a half mile away from Charles. On other nights I could not find her at all. I never heard another male calling and the literature is quite conclusive that given the demands of raising their young, this species is monogamous. My own observations and those of other naturalists I know support this. I did not see any hostility between Charles and Olivia that may have led to her perching away from him. </div>
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Now beyond the intrinsic oddness of this behavior, it was compounded by the behaviors irregularity. Olivia would be away from Charles and then would be back with him again. Gone two nights, back one, then gone three and back four. No discernible pattern emerged in either the short or long term. It quickly became clear that I would not know where to find her on any given night. While the owls vary their perch sites by season and even within a season I had never seen such wide variations in distance of perch sites. My first goal each night with the owls is to count heads and everything else flows from that. Not being able to find her after extensive searching that covered much more ground than usual was alarming and not reassuring. It was all the more confusing to go out the following night and find her perched close to Charles. </div>
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Throughout this whole time of Olivia's here today, gone tomorrow behavior, she and Charles continued to duet. April 10 provided a cool moment with Charles and Olivia have a nice duet when he departed only to return to join her in Jungle Gym Tree By Overlook Hotel Tree.</div>
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However, the next night, April 11, I observed a duet that I almost completely failed at with my observation and analysis. I arrived in the owls territory and quickly found Charles and a cool new owl addict, Ken Shew. Ken, a recent transplant from California and and an excellent amateur wildlife photographer, joined me earlier in April for an owl prowl. He then began showing up regularly to observe and photograph the owls. I continue to be impressed with Ken's kind demeanor and his eagerness to learn, in a patient and thorough manner, all he could about the owls. Ken would often stay way past sunset and join me to follow and find the owls so he could continue to learn about them. </div>
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On this night Charles flew east heading to the wedge and Ken and I followed him there. We approached The Wedge when Charles flew past us backtracking west and landing on a nearby building. Ken and I reacquired him and noticed that he was hooting quite intently. I just missed getting a cool shot of him on this building when he flew back east into The Wedge. </div>
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We followed him and in The Wedge we began to hear Olivia. In fact, it was not her. It was a different female. I had broken out The Jump To Conclusions Mat too hastily and come to the wrong conclusion. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSjOfxwW_x3huSqPGw8swtHz4M3qW6NPQc2p-pLamwNXIS0ghseUXykEfl4QSF9fS5WzeZKTUkF1G0m5Koh3Wkmm_0NIFDE5GL6rmHSdp6T7wctZANqj9hkSSHZQSKXYE6msjAaje05Y6E/s1600/IMG_4926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSjOfxwW_x3huSqPGw8swtHz4M3qW6NPQc2p-pLamwNXIS0ghseUXykEfl4QSF9fS5WzeZKTUkF1G0m5Koh3Wkmm_0NIFDE5GL6rmHSdp6T7wctZANqj9hkSSHZQSKXYE6msjAaje05Y6E/s320/IMG_4926.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I even got a photograph and given the givens: a female in The Wedge and duetting with Charles- it made sense that that it was Olivia. They flew east and I still thought it was Olivia. Eight months later I am still mortified at my rush to judgement and my wrong conclusion. To my credit, later in the evening I did make note that this owls' hoots were faster and her last two notes not as pronounced as Olivia's and that I was not completely certain it was Olivia. In a Facebook exchange with Ken on the morning of April 12, I told him that I had reviewed some of my videos and was not sure it was Olivia but given the givens, it was most likely her. </div>
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To say that April 12 was eventful and significant is a bit like calling D-Day a trip to the beach with a dash of an airshow. I arrived and found one of the owls in an unprecedented spot in The Crossroads Conifers, As you can see the owl was quite obscured. From what I saw leaned towards IDing it as Charles.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaYocynDvyn1I8n-4DQH1LAqBFjXp7CpDbg9fm1yy1HJjT3-JUpCMQ1nKHn9Zr72AW0G5G1ILUbkZWg0vuMqHZ__74AmTbcKvTXSw0hm3IpRRVkvfWOcmbr5diitY_dpnDda6vX8Xkdi_6/s1600/IMG_4941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaYocynDvyn1I8n-4DQH1LAqBFjXp7CpDbg9fm1yy1HJjT3-JUpCMQ1nKHn9Zr72AW0G5G1ILUbkZWg0vuMqHZ__74AmTbcKvTXSw0hm3IpRRVkvfWOcmbr5diitY_dpnDda6vX8Xkdi_6/s320/IMG_4941.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I ran into my good friend and fellow owl addict Brenda Hente. Brenda has been studying Charles and company for just shy of six years now and knows a vast amount about them. If a bank safe falls on me, she becomes the world's leading expert on these owls. It is always a good thing to have Brenda's keen eyes, ears and mind on the case and this was especially true on this evening. </div>
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We had not found a second owl so we kept watching this well-hidden owl in The Crossroads Conifers. At it became darker the owl did not hoot and with little pre-flight grooming and stretching it exploded out eastward. We reacquired the owl and heard it hoot and immediately we both noticed the hoot sounded different, likely a female but different from Olivia's hoot. I commented that it sounded like the hooting done by Olivia last night. The owl continues eastward and again we reacquired it. Having seen more of this owl Brenda and I concurred it was not Charles but a female. Here is my first clear shot of this owl. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__FLB3h8sMaNIcADqudfPKjh6nkY9IGaXZ_tb_0LQl0F0PzxGNTQLH2lTOOYN4gT9M-k-60_1vP8lvV0m16HoVo-iBuatPYaZfUfCsqw1e_Fk3-SIGKwHQZI51AfgRHgjPXGMA3axlGEt/s1600/IMG_4968.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__FLB3h8sMaNIcADqudfPKjh6nkY9IGaXZ_tb_0LQl0F0PzxGNTQLH2lTOOYN4gT9M-k-60_1vP8lvV0m16HoVo-iBuatPYaZfUfCsqw1e_Fk3-SIGKwHQZI51AfgRHgjPXGMA3axlGEt/s320/IMG_4968.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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We then heard Charles east of this female and calling from The Wedge. The owl continues hooting and we are became more convinced it was NOT Olivia. Listen for yourself. </div>
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The owl flew closer to Charles, hooted for a few moments and then went north, still parallel to Charles. We found the owl still hooting regularly. We did not hear Charles for several minutes but then he began hooting again. Brenda and I agreed to split up, I stayed with the owl and she headed over to find Charles. Brenda called me saying that she had found Charles and as we talked, I see could see him. Brenda said she may have seen Olvia. Brenda called me beack to say that she definitely saw and heard Olivia. This confirmed that this is a third owl and one intruding in the very core of their territory. We were stunned by this audacious development!. I mention to her that this owl might, might be male with an odd hoot. While male and female Great Horned Owls can be usually be distinguished by their hoots, sometimes it is difficult to tell male and female apart. The owl continued to hoot at Charles and he responded to the intruder. </div>
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The owl flew east closer to Charles and Olivia (and Brenda) and I followed suit. I found the intruder and Charles. I continued over to Charles and Olivia (who I finally heard for the first time that night). I rendezvoused with Brenda who told me what I missed on my short journey over to her and the pair of owls. The intruder flew at Charles who was perched and went after him with talons out for the attack. Charles popped up extending his own talons. They passed each other in mid-air and the intruder flew back east and Charles and Olivia began non-stop hooting at the intruder. We had never seen another owl attack Charles! I wish I had seen it but I am sure glad that Brenda did! </div>
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Here is Charles pinnacling on a conifer duetting intensely as the intruder hooted back. This was a massive territorial stand-off, the likes of which we had never seen! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ehGhLzCxhpz6223PiLbFu1e9Y1EYNpB-hmdFknSq3G7gY3S_pfiRmIqbAeiYsAGObmGYSsc9ihA_di-w05g9W-MVHLOWTNgjUtH0ZnANHoqudjkEX_Bd0IoWGnaaAbQ08vgmQOEPlvPg/s1600/IMG_5014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ehGhLzCxhpz6223PiLbFu1e9Y1EYNpB-hmdFknSq3G7gY3S_pfiRmIqbAeiYsAGObmGYSsc9ihA_di-w05g9W-MVHLOWTNgjUtH0ZnANHoqudjkEX_Bd0IoWGnaaAbQ08vgmQOEPlvPg/s320/IMG_5014.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Brenda and I noted the large size of the intruder, roughly 21-24 inches tall, just a little smaller than Sarah. Females are larger than males and the hoot sounded more like a female. However, the aggressiveness of the intruder, especially in its attack on Charles, suggested that it might be an intruding male. </div>
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The stand-off continued for many minutes but Charles then flew northeast and Olivia followed him. We reacquired them and they still duetted intensely. The intruder's calls continued as well. We took up a post closer to the intruder. The duetting continued unabated and given the late hour and such, Brenda and I decided to head to our vehicles and drive back to our respective homes. By this point, I had been watching the owls for two-and-a-half hours. Our minds reeled with what we had observed and I could not wait to tell my girlfriend, Wendy, all about we had seen. Her mouth dropped as shared the evening's events with her. </div>
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I could not wait to get back to Forest Park the next day, April 13, to see who was there and where. I headed for The Crossroads Conifers and there again was the intruder in these conifers!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiey-Fk7M1Rj540DAw9hn8hdXXZnNQKCen9iGDTxNuzf0zKNp5HkFxzpMrdi7B52fXfANRGpI8mU945aknIVoSwnOtVgSONgbAJsfe2zz8oPjTZhyphenhyphenw6mh2Ria9oDPMqEijF4UKoz-2C3Np-/s1600/IMG_5046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiey-Fk7M1Rj540DAw9hn8hdXXZnNQKCen9iGDTxNuzf0zKNp5HkFxzpMrdi7B52fXfANRGpI8mU945aknIVoSwnOtVgSONgbAJsfe2zz8oPjTZhyphenhyphenw6mh2Ria9oDPMqEijF4UKoz-2C3Np-/s320/IMG_5046.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The audacity was amazing! In telling folks on owl prowls and at owl talks about this behavior, I put it this way. "Imagine that when you go home tonight, you find a complete stranger in your living room, waiving a glass and asking nonchalantly, "Could I get some more ice for this?" </div>
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Brenda called me saying that she had scoured the owls' territory including The Wedge and had not found Charles or Olivia. We agreed that I would check a few other spots, however unlikely, just in case the owls were using these spots. I found no owls and I returned to The Crossroads Conifers and the intruder had departed. I headed a short distance east and came upon some mating Common Snapping Turtles. Spring was springing forth! </div>
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I returned to The Wooded Area and found two owls, one in one of The 08-09 Salon Trees and the other a short distance away. It took me a few minutes but I realized that the former was the intruder and the latter was Charles. Charles was in a tense, forward position as he glared at the intruder. He did not stretch or groom or hoot-just glared intensely. </div>
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The intruder flew east a far distance as Southern Leopard Frogs began to chorus from The Permanent Puddle. More signs of spring! Charles flew north going a modest distance before going northeast much further. Brenda and I reacquired him as he hooted from a large Bald Cypress. Charles flew east and we hoped we would find Olivia with him. We found him near where we had left him the night before but did not hear Olivia or the intruder. Charles continued towards The Wedge and again we found him thanks to his hooting. Northeast of him we began to hear another owl and it was Olivia. Brenda mentioned that she had heard Blue Jay warning calls earlier in that exact vicinity. Charles flew over towards her and they continued their duet now at closer proximity, which was great to observe. Olivia flew closer to Charles and he flew off, as is his wont to do. We followed him as the male and their duet continued. W while we felt better hearing them duet but still we were concerned about the intruder. </div>
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We decided to head east to our vehicles and Charles flew ahead of us heading back to The Arena. He was not the only owl near us as we began to hear the intruder just east of The Arena. We heard the intruder and Charles call but after several minutes we did not hear anymore. For the second night, we went home both amazed and concerned with what we observed. </div>
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The following night, April 14, I had an owl talk in Rolla, MO, my second time presenting for the Ozark Rivers Audubon Society (thank you, kind folks!) so I only had time for a brief and early visit for the park. Happily I can often find the owls on such visit but sadly, this was not one of those visits! As such, I was especially keen to return on April 15.</div>
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On April, 15, thanks to him hooting, I found Charles semi-awake in The Rain Tree (but not one of the branches they use for shelter when it rains). </div>
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He moved to The Overlook Hotel Tree and continued to hoot. I ran into Brenda and we as watched Charles we thought we may have heard the intruder just east of Charles. We headed in that direction and Brenda thought she heard Olivia too! As we headed that way we definitely heard the intruder and shortly thereafter the intruder flew right at Charles and Charles flew off north. The aggressive audacity of the intruder! The intruder soon followed Charles and we reacquired the intruder. </div>
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We heard Charles now west of the intruder and the intruder headed out in that direction. We heard both owls and saw one of them head back east. We found the eastward bound owl and it was Charles. From what we saw we agreed that the intruder was chasing Charles and not the other way around. Was this a female owl or an aggressive male trying to grab Charles' amazing territory? We never positively observed Olivia that night. Another fascinating and head wagging evening in the park with the owls.</div>
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On April 16 I quickly found Charles in The Crossroads Conifers but in an unusual perch spot. It was heartening to see him in the living room of his territory. He took awhile to hoot and he called gradually. By now I had looked for Olivia but I did not find her or the intruder. As it got past sunset, Charles began to hoot more and I could hear the intruder just east of him. The two owls hooted back and forth with great intensity and speed. But this was not a duet but a vocal duel with Charles essentially saying, "Go away." and the intruder responding, "No, I will not leave." Just as quickly, both owls stopped hooting for several minutes. Charles' quietude became clear when he ejected a pellet. Once a pellet gets to a certain point on its trip out from the gizzard to out of the owl's mouth, the owl cannot hoot until the pellet is cast. Free of the pellet, Charles flew south towards The Jungle Gym Tree Near The Archy Tree. I reacquired him closer to The Jungle Gym Tree Near The North-South Path. He continued to hoot but I no longer heard the intruder. Charles headed north and I decided to head home. Once more, no sign of Olivia. </div>
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On April 17, Charles was in the same spot as the night before in The Crossroads Conifers. He dropped a pellet but again was slow to wake up. He hooted only a little at first. It was well after sunset before he flew at 8:40pm, when he made a short hop to a nearby conifer. No sign of Olivia or the intruder that night. </div>
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April 18: I found the intruder again perched audaciously in The Crossroads Conifers! Charles was not far away not in Sarah's Autumnal Perch but the tree that contains it-quite an atypical spot. They began to hoot at each other. After a while the intruder moved closer to him by flying to The 08-09 Salon Trees. Charles was quiet for quite a long time. Ken Shew and Brenda out that night and it was a pleasure to share with them and benefit from their presence. The intruder went quiet and then blasted off northeast. Charles went north and then northwest. No sign of Olivia. </div>
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April 19. Brenda was out earlier and called me to let me know that she had not found any of the owls. I searched widely without success. I decided to wait halfway up a hill near a creek and the park's river system and just watch and listen. I finally saw an owl going after Mallards in the creek. It was the intruder, who eventually flew east. No sign of Charles or Olivia. Again my concerns about the possibility of the intruder being an usurping male unnerved me. </div>
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April 20. I had an early visit to the park due to a trip to Columbia, MO to present for the Columbia Audubon Society. It was my third time presenting in Columbia but my first for CAS, which was good fun-thank you, CAS! The only downside was that on this early and brief visit to the park, I did not see any of the owls. </div>
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April 21. There were two owls in the tree containing Sarah's Autumnal Perch. It took me a little while to ID them as Charles and the intruder. It was great to see him for the first time in three days. Over the last several months I have used the row of descending white dots on his wing coverts as another way to ID him. On this night I got a great close up view of them. </div>
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The owls began to hoot and I wondered if it was a female owl behaving oddly aggressively to "land" Charles. They hooted quickly, faster than I had seen them in the last several days. The hooting was less declarative and more conversational. I wondered again if it was a female. I noted that Charles did some purring, cooing notes, something I saw him do many times with Sarah and Olivia and an indicator that the duet is growing in intensity and intimacy. The owls were also facing each other,. Was Charles thawing out to the in the intruder who was indeed a female?</div>
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There was a pause in hooting and the intruder had flown to The 08-09 Salon Trees. You can see them duet and their proximity here: </div>
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Hooting resumed and included a few first hoots by the intruder, who then flew to the eastern edge of The Wooded Area. Charles' hooting paused and the intruder resumed hooting. . Charles stretched and groomed. Now the intruder's hooting paused and then resumed hooting, Charles was quiet for over fifteen minutes. Judging from its hoots and the warning calls of American Robins, the intruder had moved position. Finally, Charles resumed hooting and thus did the duet with loud hoots and an increasing rate of hooting. Charles flew towards The Great Northern and away from the intruder. I did not find him there so I headed northwest hoping he went that way but I did not find him. No sign of Olivia. </div>
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April 22: I felt more convinced that the intruder was a female. I found the intruder near The Permanent Puddle and I heard Charles hoot once. It took me a while to find him-he too was near The Permanent Puddle and thus close to the intruder again. Wendy and Brenda joined me and we all discussed the growing likelihood that the intruder was a female. Charles dropped a pellet. After a little while they began to duet and we all thought it was more like a courtship duet. The female flew over close to Charles and it was like a switch was flipped-they both went into a full-on, no room for debate, courtship debate! Bloody hell! I was so excited that I missed filming it. This courtship told us, beyond any debate, that the intruder was a female! It's a girl! </div>
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Charles flew to The Three Trees and she followed, the duet going strong. Charles then went to The Third Tree Hollow-a potential nest site and she followed him; further proof that the intruder was a female and they were courting! </div>
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Relatively quickly the owls went their separate ways. </div>
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We all stood their flapping our gums at what we had just witnessed and the confirmation that the intruder was a female! I commented that the aggressive behavior of the intruder, especially its chasing of Charles, was not the intruder saying, "I am a male and I want your territory and female" but rather, "I am a female and let's party!" I revealed to Wendy and Brenda a name that had crossed my mind if the intruder turned out to be a female. I explained that given this female's aggressive and rather forward behavior with and towards Charles, she should be named Samantha after the similarly aggressive and forward character of the HBO series, <i>Sex and the City</i>. Wendy and I are big fans of the show and I was thrilled that my idea was met by a positive response by Wendy and Brenda. Over the months in conversations with other owl devotees I have shared this name gradually and the overall response has been a good laugh and much nodding. </div>
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At the same time, we had to reflect that we had not positively observed Olivia since April 13 and this change in females was a bittersweet development. Olivia was a sweet, beautiful female and we all loved her distinctive hoot and how she and Charles became a pair. In my research I have learned that fights to the death by rival males is not unheard of but quite rare. I have never read of fights to the death among rival females. I have not seen seen or heard Olivia in the intervening months and I hope she is well and flourishing and perhaps has a new mate and territory. </div>
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The amazing and fascinating nature of this event... in nature cannot be overstated. A new female and intruded into the territory, displaced the resident female and now courtship was taking place. Allow me to restate what I wrote earlier. Hhere is the weirdest thing about this:</div>
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<li>Territorial intrusions and courtship happen</li>
<li>But not in April this part of this species' range. This is late summer to early winter behavior. This occurring in April was both late and early; like trying to see a Cardinals game or show at The Muny in January. It is both too late and too early!</li>
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In May I had the great honor and pleasure of sharing the owls and my work with them just north of Kansas City at a birding festival called <a href="https://mostateparks.com/event/63312/wings-over-weston" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Wings Over Weston</a>; a joint venture of the Burroughs Audubon Society and Missouri State Park. One of the other participants was the University of Missouri's excellent <a href="http://raptorrehab.cvm.missouri.edu/" target="_blank">Raptor Rehabilitation Project</a> and it was a treat to speak with their staff and meet their education birds. I told their Project Manager, Abby Rainwater, about this intrusion, chasing and now courtship and as I did so her facial expressions went from, ". Hmm, interesting." to "Whaa....?" and then, "Huh? What?" before ending with, "What are you on?!?" I concluded by asking her, "Have you seen this, heard about this, read about this?" Her answer to all three questions was a resounding, "No." </div>
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Karla Bloem, the founder and Executive Director of the <a href="http://www.internationalowlcenter.org/aboutus/history" target="_blank">International Owl Center</a> and one of the world's leading owl advocates and Great Horned Owl experts, has seen some serious Great Horned Owl soap operas over the years. Together with Brenda, we have traded notes on this electronically and we all hope to do so in detail and in person some day. </div>
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Seeing as I have already written some 6000 words, in the interest of time, I will have to keep the next few sections brief. I do not want to short change these months and the owls activities therein but they are easier to summarize.</div>
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<b><u>Summer</u></b></div>
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With no owlets to watch as they gradually mature and eventually disperse, I knew this summer would be quite different. I was curious to see where Samantha would perch during the hot, humid days. For the vast majority of time she perched in The AYU Tree or in a nearby spot that I eventually realized was high up in Olivia's Tree. Within The AYU Tree she used a few different perch spots but one the vast majority of the time. Here she is in that spot on June 4.</div>
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It took me a little time but eventually I found just the right angle and spot to look for her in this perch. Over the years, I have seen The AYU Tree used as an occasional perch spot but I had never seen it become a regular perch spot as it did for Samantha. She would also use The Overlook Hotel Tree from time-to-time but never in a predictable manner. </div>
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Early in the summer, Charles used some spots in and around The Training Area and most of these were unprecedented, which was interesting to see. Once the main part of the summer commenced, I expected Charles to perch in The Arena as he had starting in the summer of 2010. He did so sometimes in The 08-12 Nest Tree but mostly in The Middle Tree. These large trees are micro-verses with many places in which to hide and in the The Middle Tree, I counted at least four different spots used by Charles. To demonstrate how challenging it is to find these well-camouflaged owls in the leafed out trees in the summer, here is my initial view of Charles in The Middle Tree on June 2. </div>
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Keep in mind that he is a little under two feet tall! </div>
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A point that I always try to make and emphasize about the owls' perch spots is that they use different perch spots in different season and often multiple spots within a season and some of these spots come and go. This summer proved to be a superb example of this on several fronts including Samantha's use of The AYU Tree but Charles also got into this mix as well. I was in a steady groove of looking for and finding Charles in The Arena when in mid-June he stopped perching there and never went back there for the remainder of the summer. I found him in The 08-09 Salon Trees as you can see from this shot from June 17.</div>
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No sooner has he started perching in those trees than he stopped several days later. Towards the end of the summer he returned to these trees for a little while but in different spots from mid-June. For the remainder of the summer he kept me on my toes by using several different spots. </div>
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One last example of perch site variation. The perennial summer perch, The Bushy Tree, used every summer, to varying extents by both adults and owlets, was not, from what I observed, used at all the entire summer of 2016. It was beyond strange not to see an owl in this tree for the entire summer. On some nights when I had difficulty finding Charles I would head there hoping to find him in one of his well-hidden summer spots. No such luck.</div>
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Among the most fascinating aspects of the summer was that Charles would often fly to The Third Tree Hollow. He would get in the hollow and hoot, sometimes for a while, other times just briefly and then emerge and perch at the edge of the hollow as you see him here on June 28. </div>
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Now while we had seen him show this to Sarah and Olivia as a potential nest spot in the fall and early winter, this was the most he had used it in a summer. For some parts of this summer he went there every night. Earlier I voiced my concerns about this hollow as a nest sight and even as perch or fly-to spot, I have the same concerns, most especially its close proximity, both vertically and horizontally to a nearby road. But there is something about this hollow and Charles. The least worst way I can describe it seems to be a nexus of courtship/sexual/mating/nesting behavior, perhaps with a side of "man-cave" usage. If I could get Charles on the couch or in a Barbara Walters interview, I would love to ask him about this hollow. </div>
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Charles also used this hollow as a launching pad for an annual summer happening-hunting insects on the ground. Great Horned Owls eat the widest range of prey of any owl in North America. Their prey ranges from worms, insects and other invertebrates to fish, amphibians, reptiles, small birds, small mammals and up to not-so small mammals and birds including, skunks, Raccoons, domestic dogs and cats as well as other owls, hawks, geese, ducks, egrets and herons. The great abundance of insects is too much of opportunity for these highly opportunistic owls to pass up. While the yield of an individual insect might be small, so too is the risk and many can be eaten for a substantial yield. Here's Charles doing this hunting on July 17.</div>
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On the other end of the prey size spectrum, I finally managed to get a video of one of the owls attacking a Raccoon. Feel free to laugh and my narration. I had been watching Charles and I thought he would fly from point A to point B. I did not realize that a Raccoon was in between these points.</div>
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This was the first of three attempts I saw the owls make on Raccoons in a matter of days. I had never seen so many Raccoon attempts in such a short span of time. The third attempt was notable in that on one of the three passes made that evening one of them was tag-team effort by Charles and Samantha. I had only seen such duo efforts by Charles and Sarah a handful of times over the years and I hoped this was a further sign of Charles and Samantha bonding. </div>
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A different behavior I was able to observe this summer was Charles and Samantha duetting regularly and sometimes quite intensely. With Charles and Sarah having owlets each year, the adults kept pretty quiet for most of the summer. If the parents call that tells the owlets where mom and dad are and the owlets come over and beg and bug the parents for food. Now as it gets later in the summer and the owlets are closer to dispersing, the parents' hormone levels and their need to proclaim territory and cement pair bonds encourages them to duet. This in turn leads to the owlets interrupting the duets with the food begging cheeps in a process I call, <i>duettus interruptus</i>. You can see such an episode from September 24, 2014</div>
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Charles and Samantha had no such concerns and it was fascinating to see duets all summer long. </div>
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It was an odd fall as the summer weather did not stop. Temperatures finally cooled a little but even in November we had many trees with green leaves on their branches. Charles began to spend most of his time in Olivia's Tree as he did last fall, when it was an unprecedented perch spot; regardless of season. Here he is sleeping there on October 31.</div>
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Samantha continued her use of The AYU Tree and The Overlook Hotel Tree but used some other spots on the west side of The Wooded Area. As we moved deeper into the fall, she began to use, all but daily, Sarah's Autumnal Perch. Sarah first began to use this spot in the fall of 2009 and it took me two weeks to get the right angle to see her in this well-hidden spot. She used it, to varying extents, each subsequent fall and in recent years Charles began to use it more. Olivia used it a fair amount last fall and now Samantha is using it almost exclusively. Three females, one perch and at the same time of year. I do not think this is mere coincidence. Even in a more typical fall, this tree holds on to its leaves well into winter. Here is Samantha in this spot on December 1. </div>
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I will have to tell you the full story sometime but in November and for several weeks Charles used an amazing perch spot. It was the lowest daytime perch spot I have ever seen him use and it was simultaneously easy to see and amazingly hard to find. It took me three days of concerted effort to find it but once I did, I was rewarded with some of the most amazing views I have ever had of him or any other owl. Just as a taste here a few glimpses of this spot and its magic. First from the last day I, so far, have seen him there, December 14, here is one of the closest views I ever have had him.</div>
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Here he is grooming extensively on December 3.</div>
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And doing an Escalator Stretch and hooting on November 21.</div>
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With fall finally arriving and not just in the calendrical sense, Charles and Samantha began to duet with greater intensity. This is a how a new pair of owls courts and how a pair, both new and longtime, declares their territory. While I do not take this to be a huge sign of pair bonding, it has been cool to see them perched together several times. While I have seen some great duets and even Samantha check out The Third Tree Hollow a few times, as of this writing, I have not seen the owls mate. Over the years both with Charles and Sarah and Charles and Olivia, mating usually began in the first two weeks in December. I had also seen it as early as late November and one year as late as Xmas Eve. </div>
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One pattern I have seen emerge is that Samantha is taking too long to leave and/or having difficulty leaving her spot in Sarah's Autumnal Perch so that she can get to a suitable spot for mating to occur. While mating is quite brief the owls must be in a branch that has sufficient space, both horizontally and vertically, that they can make their brief mating contact. On numerous nights, I have seen the duet build in intensity and Charles has moved to such mate-able branches, as I have begun calling them, while Samantha is still in her daytime perch which is by no means, a mate-able branch. </div>
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Upon hearing this, some people have wondered if Charles might be showing his age. To me he looks and sounds as vital as ever. I do not know old Charles is but he is at least 13-16 years old now. I base this on two good bits of data:</div>
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<li>I have now been watching him for eleven years (I had my owliversary on December 29th-thank you, Charles, thanks to all the owl fans and supporters!!)</li>
<li>This species usually starts to have owlets at 2-3 years of age and he and Sarah were having owlets back in 2006 and perhaps earlier.</li>
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Now we do not know the average life expectancy of Great Horned Owls, one of many things we do not know, but the record age for a wild GHOW is around thirty. As such Charles could be 13-16 or 19 or 23-I have no idea but wish I did. </div>
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To my eyes and those of veteran owl watchers like Brenda Hente and Rusty Wandell, Charles appears undiminished and we hope that Samantha gets off the bench and into a mate-able branch! That said, if they have not mated by the second week of January, I do not think that there will be owlets this year. I hope they do have owlets but what will happen will happen. </div>
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Thank you for reading and for your time and support. One last photo!</div>
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Here are Charles(left) and Samantha (right) last night in Sarah's Autumnal Perch. Happy New Year!</div>
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Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-85565634867663544112015-12-29T15:46:00.002-06:002015-12-30T18:55:00.400-06:00A Tale Of Three Females and Charles<b><u>Tuesday, December 29, 2015</u></b><br />
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<b>EXTRA! EXTRA! EXTRA!</b><br />
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Charles has a new mate! Her name is Olivia and she has been with Charles since early October and they first mated on December 7! Here she is on November 18. What a beauty!<br />
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I will be discussing this great turn of events and another huge owl-related milestone at 12:00pm CST tomorrow, Wednesday, December 30 on <i>St. Louis on the Air</i> on St. Louis Public Radio, KWMU 90.7FM. If you are not in the St. Louis area, you can listen live on the web <a href="http://www.stlpublicradio.org/listen.php" target="_blank">here</a>. Thanks go out to KWMU and the <a href="http://news.stlpublicradio.org/programs/st-louis-air" target="_blank"><i>St. Louis on the Air </i>team</a> for having me back on to discuss the owls and my work with them!<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">UPDATED</span>: Radio appearance and corresponding story now <a href="http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/hoot-amateur-naturalist-mark-glenshaw-gives-forest-park-owl-update" target="_blank">online here.</a> Thank you, KWMU and <i>St. Louis on the Air</i>, I had great time once again! <br />
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Before I go into what I hope will be a fun and fascinating post about what Charles has been up to in the last few months, I must take a moment to thank all of you who via conversations, e-mails, and other means took the time to express your kind condolences about the loss of Sarah. The outpouring of grief, compassion and kindness continues to warm my heart and demonstrate the impact these owls have on so many people. I feel Sarah's loss daily but her passing is softened by the kindness of her many admirers. Thank you.<br />
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This fall's owl doings amazed, intrigued, challenged, delighted and occasionally frustrated me but I would not change it. I expected the fall to be like this and it exceeded my expectations. I find myself often feeling like I am back in 2005-2006, my first year observing these owls, as so many new things occurred and new wrinkles and aspects of behavior witnessed. My knowledge base of observation and research helps but only so much as it is a whole new set of circumstances. <br />
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I wondered when the owlets would disperse and if an adult female would be seen and court with Charles only after dispersal took place. I soon had my answer. An adult female Great Horned Owl arrived on September 1. Completely amazing to see this! Large but not quite as large as Sarah, her darker coloration and massive talons still reminded me of Sarah.<br />
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She landed in The Jungle Gym Tree Near The Overlook Hotel Tree only a short distance from Grace; the older owlet. Stunned to see another female, what happened next took things to another level. Grace, who had just made a predatory attempt and had not vocalized before this female made her presence known, now began to make begging cheeps towards this female. Did Grace think this female that resembled her mother was in fact Sarah? This thought was mournful and heart-tugging. Almost immediately a more tactical possibility came to mind. Was Grace's begging the legendary opportunism of Great Horned Owls coming into play and Grace seeing if she could cadge a free lunch? Either way the begging fascinated.<br />
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The shorter, softer, higher and numerous notes in her hoot confirmed this new adult's sex as female. As with a human voice, the hoot of each Great Horned Owls is unique. The tonality of this owl's hoot was unusual as it had a liquid/aquatic edge to it as is she was hooting while blowing bubbles or gargling. Whether in the wild or via video clips, I have never heard a hoot like this. Everyone who heard her hoot has said the same thing.<br />
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This tree was regularly used by Sarah,, however this female landed in a section of the tree not used regularly by Sarah but it was still odd to see a different female in this tree. Grace's begging continued to such a point that she flew and landed right next to the female, who promptly flew away from the hungry owlet. This behavior was quite like Sarah and although I had made the call that Sarah was gone, part of me kept a small window open that this might be her. Overall though, I knew it was a different and new female. One aspect of her behavior, which struck immediately was how uncertain she was in her movements and overall posture. Not for the first time, I wondered if she was a young adult, just under or over a year old. <br />
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Charles was not found that night. Perhaps he carefully observed this new female from a hidden vantage point. I had an owl talk the next night but thankfully my friend and all-star owl mentee, Brenda Hente, was in the park. She did not see Charles but saw both owlets and had her first sighting of the new female. I could not wait to return the following day and observe the owls.<br />
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After searching without success a wide area on my own, I ran into Brenda and we agreed to split up to cover even more territory. We eventually saw two owls but by then it was quite dark and neither owl vocalized. Despite this lack of information from what we did observe of them we decided it was either both owlets or one owlet and the new female. While we did not see Charles that night, we were glad to hear him hoot several times. Knowing the distinctive hoots of the owls is a huge asset when observing and documenting them.<br />
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The next night, September 4, was a big night. It got off to a great start with an early and close view of the new female near The Permanent Puddle, her large talons in clearly evident.<br />
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I soon found Grace in the Jungle Gym Tree Near The Overlook Hotel Tree and the new female moved to this tree before going to The Jungle Gym Tree itself. Again Grace begged at her while the female hooted from this jungle gym tree's namesake location. By now I was joined by Brenda and my girlfriend Wendy Schlegel. What happened next took things to the next level and it was quite correct to have these incredibly important owl folks with me.</div>
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We began to hear Charles hooting from the 2010 OP (Observation Post) Trees. The new female soon flew towards him and they began to duet for the first time! </div>
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This was my first time seeing courtship behavior between two Great Horned Owls and more specifically, seeing Charles court for the first time. Beyond exciting to see Charles back in the ring! I knew that it was too early to call them a couple but the excitement of seeing this behavior could not be denied. They had a solid duet and then went their separate ways. </div>
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With Sarah's passing Charles was more vocal in the late summer/early fall than he usually would be. This period of time is when the adults begin to vocalize more but this was a noticeable increase from years prior. I think this served two functions. One: without Sarah to help him declare and defend their territory with hooting, he had to make up the difference. Two: hooting solo with no female to duet with may have helped him declare his status as a single and territory holding male. More on this point later. <br />
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The next several days passed with great interest and no lack of variety. Sometimes I saw Charles, Grace, Harold and the new female and on other days, just one or two of them. While leading an owl prowl on September 11 I saw the best, closest and most intense duets so far between Charles and the new female. Charles was on the right and the new female on the left.<br />
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Another good duet took place on September 14 but still I refrained from calling them a couple or the new female, the new mate of Charles. I tend to err on the side of conservatism when it comes to making such calls. That said, my track record is sufficiently robust to defend this pattern. <br />
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Throughout this time, one of the challenges continued to be finding the owls each night. One of the joys of the late summer-early fall period is having so many owls to observe and conversely it is one of the biggest challenges as well. This challenge was markedly increased with significant variations and inconsistencies in perch/roost-site usage. Patterns would emerge only to fall apart and then re-emerge. Still the challenges, as always, were worth the candle especially when rewarded like a sight like this of Charles hooting on September 20 silhouetted with pink clouds.<br />
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September 21 was a noteworthy evening in several respects as it was the first part of a collaborative project between the St. Louis Zoo, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Forest Park Owls. I led two Zoo personnel, Rachel Killeen and Whitney Collins, on an owl prowl/filming expedition to obtain footage for an upcoming St. Louis Symphony Orchestra concert with whom St. Louis Zoo was collaborating. This would have been sufficiently cool but our evening began by finding a third adult owl even before we found Charles and the new female. This owl was near the two of them but I never observed it vocalize even when a hearty duet started between the other two. It may have been another adult female trying to court with Charles or an owlet dispersing from another territory or an intruding adult male trying to obtain a territory. This well-concealed owl's silence and lack of movement made it appear to say, "Nobody here but us owls."<br />
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Our time in the park concluded with Charles and the new female meeting to duet in The Jungle Gym Tree By The Overlook Hotel Tree before heading off yet again.</div>
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Rachel and Whitney were able to film this same moment and thanks to discussions with them and their supervisor, Kim Hoorman, I was able to see their footage while the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra performed for a large audience on a Sunday afternoon in Powell Hall. The performance was preceded by several educational displays including an owl table hosted by your humble servant. All of this along with seeing the words, "Thank you to Mark Glenshaw and Forest Park Owls" on a large projection screen behind the orchestra made for one of my owl outreach highlights of the year and in general. In addition, the footage was used for several subsequent concerts attended by thousands of local school children. </div>
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An owl prowl on September 22 yielded another solid duet between the new female and Charles but I had no idea how quickly things could change. The following night I had to work much later than usual and I stopped by the park well after sunset, hopeful but doubtful I would see much owl activity. As I parked my car, I saw Charles perched thirty-forty yards ahead of me, which was a jolly nice coincidence. Grateful for my lucky find I got out and observed him in this large Cottonwood. He flew south-southeast up a hill and as I walked quickly to try and catch up with him, I heard him hoot followed quickly by a female hooting. It was a different female! This now newer female had a much more conventional female hoot; quite reminiscent of Sarah's in all respects. She and Charles began to duet in a glade of trees just opposite the 2010 Nest Tree. </div>
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This brief but intense duet concluded with Charles flying off while hooting in short, sharp notes known in the literature (thanks to the world's leading expert on GHOW vocalizations and a <a href="http://www.internationalowlcenter.org/aboutus" target="_blank">huge owl advocate and expert, Karla Bloem</a>) as staccato hooting,</div>
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I had no doubt that this was a different female but it was good to get supporting feedback on the above videos from Wendy, Brenda other owl friends/fanatics/mentees. Was this second female the third owl seen, but not heard on September 21 or another individual altogether? I missed the next night due to an owl talk, my fifth one for the Maplewood Public Library (thank you, MPL for hosting so many of my talks!) but Brenda was in the park and reported a brief duet with the now newer or second female. The next few nights yielded no additional sightings of this female or the first one. Thoughts, theories and the like whirled around as I tried to remember to just keep observing and documenting as that would provide the best evidence and possible answers. </div>
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During this time is when the owlets dispersed. As they were close in age I was reasonably confident that Grace and Harold would disperse close together. That said, I think they dispersed later than they otherwise would have due to Sarah's death. Without both parent owls duetting, refusing to feed the owlets and, if necessary, chasing the owlets away from the parents' territory, Grace and Harold remained in their natal territory. Dispersal is always a bittersweet time in the owls' breeding cycle. It is vastly important that dispersal takes place both to ensure the health of the population of prey in the parents' territory and to keep the gene pool deep and wide. Still though one cannot help but miss the owlets and their antics that accompanies their slow maturation. The fact that Grace and Harold were the last owlets that Sarah ever had made this time more poignant than usual. </div>
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September 29 found Charles again solo but a memorable night was made when it began to rain. When the rain arrived, Charles was perched in his former favorite conifer, one of The Quartet Conifers. This tree and another of this foursome died in the last few years and while sad to see formerly regular perch/roost sites fade away, I have come to learn that perch/roost sites (and nest sites) come and go. Usually when it rains as the owls are getting active, they tend to stoically endure the precipitation but not tonight. For only the second time in over nine-and-half years of watching these owls, I saw Charles use the rain and take a shower in rather dramatic fashion. See for yourself!</div>
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When discussing the owls and my work with them, be it in a formal talk or with a passerby in the park or a colleague, I try to emphasize that one of the reasons that myself and others return to see the owls so frequently is that, every night is different and you will never know what you will see. This remarkable and beautiful bathing behavior by Charles in the drenching (yes, I was drenched too) rain I think is a stellar example of this aspect of the owls' allure.</div>
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The following night proved noteworthy as well. I found the newer female early on and after walking right past him him at least once, I saw Charles. The two owls were close together and the female began to hoot regularly. (Kindly forgive the blurry videos)</div>
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Despite his proximity to this female, Charles did not respond. He watched her carefully but nothing more. She landed closer to him and hooted at a greater pace but still he did not respond. Charles flew off a short distance east before blasting far off south. I decided to follow him and I reacquired him in The Hilly Wooded Area, where upon he began to hoot for the first time that night. I did not hear the newer female respond to him. Charles then blasted off flying east. Seconds after his eastward flight, which immediately took him over a tract of nearby woods occupied by a pair of Barred Owls, a large owl flew out of these woods going north-northwest. I tried to find this owl but, to the best of my knowledge, was not successful. I then heard the newer female calling from the Barred Owls' tract of woods and I found her there. I watched her until I did the classic take your eyes off the owl for three to five seconds and you look up and the owl is gone. I looked around several areas but did not find Charles, the newer female or the third mystery owl. Was the latter owl a Barred Owl or another Great Horned Owl and if so, was it another female, a dispersing owlet, etc. I have no idea but I remain fascinated by the possible permutations. Subsequent days of observing Charles solo told me that the newer/second female was gone. </div>
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While I believe my conservative approach about waiting to make the call about a variety of developments is the right way to proceed, my observation and documentation of the new females did not exist in a bubble. While I did not update my blog during the last few months, sadly not the first or last time this occurred, I had numerous discussions with many people about these new females, their courtship with Charles and what might or might not come to pass with them. It is heartening to recall the enthusiasm and vigor of these discussions, which again demonstrates the depth and breadth of the owls' impact on people. </div>
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One topic that came up immediately as the first female made her appearance was what to call her and then the second female. My friend and colleague, Julie Portman, both in jest and in seriousness stated matter of factly, that the first female should be named Julia as the name is obviously a superior one. Julie referred to this owl as Julia demonstrating her human resolve and good-natured kidding. Without too much contemplation my response to the many and kind name questions and suggestions is that I would not name any female until I saw her and Charles mate thus making them a couple and her his new mate. Thankfully, people understood my, for lack of a better word, policy and approach.</div>
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Of the many challenges stemming from Sarah's death was how to talk about it when I giving talks on the owls. I decided to do so after I posted about her passing, that way it was "officially" out in the public sphere. From there, I decided to give my talks in the usual fashion but then just before the very end, tell my audiences that she died, how I saw that unfold and the two important silver linings of her passing (the owlets at the very cusp of independence and never seeing courtship behavior). Even with this plan and the appropriate slides in place, it was tough each and every time to bring up and discuss this sad turn of events. The audience responses to Sarah's death are remarkable. In front of a packed house at the Daniel Boone branch of St. Louis County Library I heard gasps of shock when I turned to her passing. A kind woman attending my talk at the Festus Public Library came up to me insisting that I get a hug while plainly but endearingly saying, "I cried when you talked about Sarah." With a cracking voice and tear in eye during this portion of this particular talk was the nearest I came to becoming emotionally overwhelmed in the moment. </div>
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On a lighter but hopefully no less interesting note, one of the more curious aspects of Sarah's passing and Charles' subsequent courtships has been the questions people ask about these developments and how the questions are delivered. For the most part the questions are solid, fact-gathering questions without any other agenda than obtaining information and understanding. On the other hand, many questions are asked with people layering the question with their baggage, biases and the like especially when it comes to romantic/reproductive relationships. For example, quite early on a woman asked me in all seriousness and with an abundance of vehemence, "Do you think Charles has betrayed Sarah?" I was literally speechless for a few seconds after that one. During the Q&A period of a talk, a lady asked me a long question and while I cannot remember her exact words, it was so baggage laden that I could not help being a smart-ass. I started my reply by saying, "Well enough about you and your boyfriend..." She blushed crimson but to my credit, I did answer her question in full. Many women and men upon hearing about Charles and the courting say things like "Wow-he doesn't waste any time." or "Already playing the field, eh?" To these and all similar comments and questions I try to first remind people about the nature of nature by paraphrasing the character, Matt Hooper, played by Richard Dreyfus, in the film <i>Jaws </i>by saying, "All he does is eat, fly, hoot and make little owls." </div>
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Being mindful of this and keeping an open mind as to the possibilities and permutations is vital but not without its challenges. We all want a nice clear-cut narrative with easy answers to challenging questions but it is best to keep the jump to conclusions mat in its box. With this in mind, why did the courtship fail with the new female and the newer female? I do not know and the literature, while describing courtship behavior in detail, does not give much insight on exactly how a mate is chosen. From what I have read and now observed I think it is a two-way street, it takes two to tango scenario. In this case, Charles must demonstrate that he has a territory and that it is a good one as well as his fitness, in general, so that a female will decide to invest her time, effort and genes to mate and nest with him. From his perspective, a female has to show that she has the ability to successfully mate, nest, defend and raise young so that his reproductive efforts and massive food provision responsibilities will be worthwhile. The first or new female seemed clumsy and uncertain of herself perhaps demonstrating a young age and subsequent lack of poise and polish that did not click for Charles. The second or newer female courted well initially with Charles but the courtship stopped so quickly. I am still fascinated by the disparity in the time that the two females were around; the first for three weeks and and the second for a matter of days. I would love to know what accounted for this.</div>
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Speaking of the literature, mate replacement is a frequently observed phenomenon and one that often occurs quite quickly after the death of a mate. That said, the literature is quick to say that it is not understood how mate replacement takes place. One of the fun and beneficial things about doing intensive naturalist work with a particular species for a long time is that you begin develop your own thoughts and ideas on such poorly understood matters. Even before Sarah's death, I considered how mate replacement might take place. To begin with in all owl species there is a significant pool of single, un-mated owls. These owls are called floaters and while we have learned more about floaters and how they live and interact with mated pairs there is still much to learn. With this in mind, I think that in the case of a dead male, the male floaters are listening for the hoot of a male owl in a potential territory. Not hearing the male hoot they investigate the territory and find the surviving female still in the territory. This indicates that the territory is available, it has a female on it and now courtship can take place. If the courtship is successful the new male has a mate and a territory. </div>
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In our case, with the female gone and the male still on the territory, I think the female floaters heard Charles hooting but having not heard a female reply the floaters knew that he was a single male with a territory. I have likened this process to the following joke I heard the late, great Robin Williams tell while being interviewed by David Frost. There's a woman living in Miami Beach and she's been in this one neighborhood for years and years. She knows everyone and everything there. One morning she sees a new man there so she says to him, "Oh, you're new here." The man replies, "Yup, I just moved in a few days ago." The woman has a quick follow-up question, "Really, where did you move from?" The man shifts his feet and says, "Well, it's embarrassing to say this but I just got out of prison." Taken aback the woman still pursues her line of questioning by asking, "Really, what did you do?" Even further mortified the man says, "Well I hate to admit it but I... murdered my wife." The woman pauses but does not move her eyes from him before she smiles, touches his arm and asks him, "So, you're single?"</div>
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In my post about Sarah's passing and in talks and discussions over the last few months, I have continuously put out there that Charles might be on the older side of the equation and having not courted for many years, may not have the stuff to play the courtship game successfully. In recent talks I have described this in terms of human courtship by saying that "Hey, baby-what's your sign?" may have been a successful opening line in 1977 but less so in subsequent decades. </div>
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With the departure of the second, newer female I wondered what would happen next. With summer ended and the owlets dispersed Charles hooting became a daily and more pronounced behavior. I continued to observe and document and as if often the case, the work paid off handsomely. </div>
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October 7th was a mild and sunny autumn day and I arrived at Charles' territory at my typical time; an hour or so before sunset. I was near The Quartet Conifers when I heard an owl hoot. It was not Charles, that much was clear, but I was not sure what kind of owl it was. I heard it again, now louder and I thought, "The length and number of notes sounds like a female Great Horned Owl but the tonality sounds like a Barred Owl." Hearing it a third time gave this same impression and no clearer identification. On a few occasions I have seen the neighboring Barred Owls in the Great Horned Owls' territory but I had only once heard them call from there. What was clear was where the hoot was originating, in the general vicinity of The Training Area; part of Charles' territory which includes several important trees used by the owls including The Eastern Tree, The Overlook Hotel Tree, The Rain Tree and The 08-09 Salon Trees.</div>
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As I headed down to The Training Area I felt more certain that it was a female Great Horned Owl and not a Barred Owl. The hooting became louder and the position of the owl more distinct. There in The 08-09 Salon Trees was a new female Great Horned Owl! </div>
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I knew I could get a better angle on her and I moved accordingly and could see her close from her left side. She continued to hoot and her hoot pace quickened. </div>
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Secure in the knowledge that this was a female Great Horned Owl and now the newest or third female. I observed her hoot more closely. I noticed that her first several notes were especially close together but her last two notes were quite pronounced and long. Her tonality kept striking me as a mix of female Great Horned Owl and Barred Owl. </div>
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She continued to hoot but I was not hearing or seeing Charles yet. This latest female then flew east out of The Wooded Area and across a nearby road. I heard some Northern Cardinal calling near The Eastern Tree and The PX Tree. Searching there did not pay off but I gratefully heard Charles hooting not too far away in The Middle Tree or its neighbor; The 08-12 Nest Tree. I headed that way and found him in the latter spot. Charles had not perched in either of these trees for several weeks now so to find him here again led me to shake my head at his recent variations in perch/roost usage. He flew to The Middle Tree and then to The Nest Tree (formerly known as The 06/09/11/13/14/15 Nest Tree, nesting there 6 out of 10 times more than qualified this tree for its more efficient name). I could not tell for certain but he may have landed in The Nest Hollow. A short walk confirmed that he had landed in this hollow and was now perching at the ledge while hooting, his hoots often proceeded by guttural clucking/gulping sound.</div>
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The female began to respond in the distance. I was amazed to see Charles in this hollow for a couple of reasons: 1) He had not been in this hollow for months now after Grace and Harold fledged from it in the spring 2) With the other two females I had not seen him hoot near any previously used nest sites and here he was hooting from his and Sarah's most fruitful and recent nest spot on the first night with this female. Was this indicative a new level of courtship with this female?</div>
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Courtship went up another notch as this female moved closer to Charles flying to and landing in The First of The Three Trees putting her about twenty meters from Charles. Right away I wondered if Charles was luring her in not only with his hoots but by his position in a former nest spot; one that might be used again. I was so excited to see the female come closer to Charles that I took my eyes off him and lost sight of him. He continued to hoot and I knew he was nearby possibly down deeper in the hollow. The female flew past The Nest Tree and they continued to duet. I finally concluded that once the female arrived in First of Three that Charles turned around and went deeper into the hollow. While puzzling I had seen him engage in this seemingly contradictory, playing hard to get behavior with Sarah on many occasions. I still do not understand this behavior but having precedent is always helpful. </div>
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My friend and owl mentee, Rusty Wandell, arrived and I quickly caught him up on what had happened so far. Just then the courtship continued to ramp up as the female now flew over to The Nest Tree and landed on top of The Nest Hollow a few feet from Charles! Simply amazing! </div>
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After several minutes of close quarter duetting, Charles flew out of the hollow going east/southeast. She moved over to The Middle Tree and then The 08/12 Nest Tree. She stayed in this last tree for some time and we pointed her out to several park visitors. </div>
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We began to hear Charles calling from the northeast about a hundred meters away. The female blasted off in his direction and we followed her. Rusty and I reacquired her and Charles and they resumed their duet with a few memorable flights. We decided to leave them to their courtship and we headed back to our cars shaking our heads with delight at what we had witnessed. </div>
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The next several nights continued with some of the patterns from this first night: Charles flying into The Nest Hollow to hoot often proceeded with guttural/clucking notes, then luring the female into close proximity to duet, Charles disappearing into the hollow and duetting continuing in The Arena and other nearby spots. October 10 provided some memorable sights as she flew to The Second of Three Trees and I was able to photograph her from several angles and get a good luck at this beautiful female. </div>
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I noticed early on that while darker than Charles she was not as dark as the first female or Sarah. More striking was her smaller size. In species of owls and most birds of prey, females are larger than males. This phenomenon is known as reverse sexual dimorphism. At the same time, within any species of animal you have smaller to larger individuals. Charles is a very large male Great Horned Owl, 20-22 inches tall. Sarah was a huge female, 22-25 inches tall. This new female looked about the same size as Charles. It took me a while to see them close together but when I did it proved my initial impression to be correct. This female is about the same size as Charles and she might be ever so slightly smaller. To me this underscores how big Charles is for a male and how massive a female Sarah was. </div>
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Variations in duetting and perch sites began to grow over the subsequent days with a big new turn taking place on October 14. I was with Brenda and we found Charles on the western edge of The Wooded Area, a spot he had rarely used this summer and fall, in marked contrast to prior years. We began to hear the third female from near The North-South Path but we could not see her. Eventually Brenda's sharp eyes and ears led her to find the female in an incredibly well-hidden spot. The below photo is one of the "best" I was able to get of her that night. A hive of leaves and branches all but completely obscured this massive but well-camouflaged bird. </div>
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She used this spot for the next few days and I found Charles in an unusual spot near The Rain Tree. Now here is where things began to get interesting and not for the last time either. Charles began to use her well-hidden spot on some days and other days she was in it. When Charles used it, she sometimes used the spot near The Rain Tree and other times was in The 08-09 Salon Trees or elsewhere in that general vicinity. Among the many things I would love to know was this trade off of perch spots done easily and politely in a "No, after you" manner or with competition or even contention. I often tell people how perch spots vary seasonally and some spots are used over and over again while other spots come and go. This well hidden spot of the female's, now regularly used by Charles was a completely unprecedented spot, regardless of season. Thankfully with time and effort, I was able to find angles where I could look for one of the owls in this spot and even film and photograph them there. With more time and application, I could even look sometimes see an owl perched there in the morning as I drove to work.</div>
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Here is Charles in this perch on October 17.</div>
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Here is the third, newer female on the same perch on October 26.</div>
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As the fall progressed her perch sites began varying making her harder to find. I found her in places as varied as the western side of The Wooded Area, The Rain Tree, The Overlook Hotel Tree, The Great Northern and more. Another unusual challenge in recent years arose when I had several nights of not finding her or Charles. I had two nights in a row like that and four overall from October 31-December 22. As my ESL (Experience, Skill and Luck) has grown I will usually go many months and often years between nights of not finding any of the owls. Not seeing them so often this fall was especially odd as they are quite vocal at this time of year as they declare their territory and court or maintain their pair bond. </div>
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Speaking of vocalizing, there were some interesting variations in their duets. Their early duets occurred in and around The Nest Hollow for the first few weeks but began to vary in location, some typical others less so. I noticed quickly that she was quick to respond to him on most nights when he began to call. Also, they switch off hooting first much more than Charles did with Sarah. Charles still hoots first most of the time but I have had several nights where the first hooter is Charles, then her, then back to Charles and so forth. </div>
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On November 7 she had been there for a month, a week longer than the new or first female. I was thrilled that she was still with Charles but I still not making the call that she was his new mate and related to that, I had not named her. The more time she was there and the more they duetted, the happier and more hopeful I became but I maintained this conservative approach. I often joked that the invitations had not been sent yet and the owls were not registered anywhere. </div>
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A moment the following night, November 8, displayed another possible good step forward towards couplehood. I was leading the monthly, public owl and we had heard and seen both owls. I went to get a closer look and then have the prowlees join me when all of sudden I saw a third Great Horned Owl flying fast over the tops of the trees of The Wooded Area pursued equally fast by Charles and the third female. They were chasing this intruder out of the territory! I saw Charles and Sarah do such territorial defenses several times over the years but they were a mated pair. Perhaps the third female was demonstrating her commitment to and investment with Charles and the territory. While this was fascinating to see, we did not find the owls after their blazing fast flights making it an intense but brief owl prowl. </div>
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In November Charles also began to use a regular fall perch spot, Sarah's Autumnal Perch. Sarah began to use this spot in the fall of 2009 and in recent years Charles has used this spot a great deal in the late fall. The tree retains its leaves for a long time and offers great concealment. One night in October I saw the third female in this tree but not in the usual spot. I was thrilled to see her in the usual spot on November 20 and even more thrilled when I saw them perched together there on November 23 (Third female on the left, Charles on the right). </div>
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As November was ending and December approached duetting began to increase in intensity, some of it focused around the hollow in The Third of The Three Trees. I will talk more about this hollow in an upcoming post. The hooting began to get so intense that on several nights in late November-early December that I thought mating might occur at any moment. One aspect of their duetting that I noticed as the days went on was that while one would often fly closer to the other, sometimes neither would budge from their respective spot. I wondered if this was a contest of wills or another part of the whole courting process. Still I watched and waited.</div>
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December 7 began promisingly with the third female perched in Sarah's Autumnal Perch and Charles nearby in The Trio Conifers. They began to duet and Charles flew down to the Third Tree Hollow. She moved a little closer but the physical proximity part of the duet hit one of the aforementioned stalemates. Things looked less promising when she flew out of my sight going deeper into The Wooded Area. I kept a little hope alive when Charles flew to The Crossroads Tree, a large and prominent tree in an especially visible location. He hooted regularly and I thought I may have heard her reply. Not for the first or the last time, I briefly took my eyes off of him only to turn back and find him gone. I cursed my lapse in attention but kept ears, eyes and mind open. I soon heard him hoot from the area where I though I heard her minutes earlier. I moved in that direction and I began to hear both of them in the vicinity of The Trio Conifers. I found her in The Jungle Gym Tree Near The Overlook Hotel Tree and he was nearby, to the left of her. The duetting intensified and he flew over, landed on her and they mated!</div>
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The cold air was not the only reason my eyes watered just then! So exciting to see them mate, to see all of Charles' courtship come to fruition and a new couple made! I quickly texted Wendy, Brenda, Barb, Chris, Robin, Julie and Rusty the great news and my phone exploded with joyous replies. Bloody hell-what a night!</div>
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The above folks and many others knew that if/when mating occurred that is when I would name the female. I had a name in mind but after consideration and consultation, the name was withdrawn. As such it was back to the drawing board. Suggestions still came in including a suggestion to have a contest to name the female. I appreciated aspects of that idea but ultimately I knew the name had to be my call. To stimulate the brain and research name meanings/origins, I consulted an Oxford name dictionary at my job at the <a href="http://library.fontbonne.edu/home" target="_blank">Taylor Library</a> at <a href="https://www.fontbonne.edu/" target="_blank">Fontbonne University</a>. I found some good names but no slam dunks appeared. Then one day, the name Olivia popped into my head. It is a beautiful and classic name. Although a tad trendy right now it is a name that sounds, looks and feels great. I had not come to the Os in the name dictionary but I certainly looked it up there and in other sources. In English usage as early the the 13th century as a female form of olive, it came to greater attention as main character name in Shakespeare's <i>Twelfth Night</i>. As a film fan I quickly thought Olivia de Havilland and Olivia Wilde. As a martini drinker, I prefer olives to lemons or onions. I consulted with Wendy, Brenda and Julie about the name and got a strong thumbs up from them. I began to mention the name to others and use it a little in my recorded journal entries while in the field. And now I happily present Olivia to you all! </div>
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There is so much more to say about Olivia, Charles and the last two-and-a-half months such as her pre-sunset eastward adventures, she and Charles duetting throughout the territory, her use of some of the exact same hunting spots that Charles uses and Sarah used, and more.</div>
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I have now seen them mate six times including last night and while it is too early to know if they will nest, I hope to write about that big topic.</div>
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Thank you for reading and for your support of the owls and my work with them. Happy Holidays!</div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-75696821721619970992015-09-07T15:36:00.003-05:002015-09-07T15:36:47.517-05:00Sarah Is Gone<b><u>Monday, September 7, 2015</u></b><br />
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It is with a heavy heart that I must report that Sarah, that most amazing Great Horned Owl, is dead. I have not seen or heard her for seven weeks and when I last saw her she looked ill or injured. These last weeks have been an agonizing time of continued searching, hoping against hope and keeping a window of possibility open for some good but unexpected news.<br />
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I will try to summarize while providing key details.[My apologies to my friends Robin Street-Morris and Chad Henry for plagiarizing from an e-mail I sent them but hey-if you cannot plagiarize yourself, from whom can you plagiarize?]<br />
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My friend and owl mentee, Brenda Hente, and I saw Sarah on July 14 and she was her usual amazing and beautiful self. I did not make to the park on 7/15 as I had an early evening talk. I was making dinner on 7/16 so I only had time to stop by the park for about 30-40 minutes right after work. I found Harold but no one else. Not surprising given the early hour and the brief time. I did not get to the park on 7/17 due to a social outing. Thus there is a gap in data and that is most unfortunate.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">I came out on 7/18 and after finding Charles and Harold I heard some low-key Robin alarm calls, that led me to the Barred Owls' portion of the Successional Woods.</span> There in a perch 15-25 off the ground was a Great Horned Owl. Just recently I found Charles hunting in a tree close to where this owl was perched but when I did so it was close to or after sunset. This owl was there well before sunset, which was odd. Odder still was how it was perched. Instead of the more forward facing stance, it was leaning over to the side in a slight but discernible manner. The owl's eyes were partially open. Almost immediately I wondered if the owl was ill or injured. I did not see any visible trauma or injury though. The owl looked like Sarah and like Grace. Grace is huge and dark like Sarah and this owl had that but I was seeing more blond, owlet-like feathers especially on the head. I thought that there was an 80% chance it was Grace and a 20% chance it was Sarah.<br />
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I continued watching the owl as the sun set and my concern and puzzlement grew. It did not stretch or groom and while its eyes changed some in position, they were never in wide awake state or position. Finally it defecated and it moved up on its feet as if to fly but it never flew and continued to remain perched. I was there until almost an hour after sunset and it never moved nor hooted, begged or squawked. I went home full of worry and confusion and told my ever-sympathetic girlfriend, Wendy, all about it. <br />
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I went out the next morning 7/19 and the owl was still there. This was weird and worrying. I have seen owls leave a perch at night and find them in that same place the next day but I had not seen this owl leave and it looked like it had not budged.<br />
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The owl seemed more alert and I was able to get some pictures of it from the front. This angle showed me more blond feathers and the owl opened its eyes and gular-flutted in the heat. It looked much less like Sarah and it seemed better than it did 12-14 hours earlier. <br />
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I showed Wendy my pictures from the morning and she was surprised that it was the same owl given the differences in appearance. I had a prowl that night and I told my prowlees about this situation and our concern. We found this owl again and not changed its perch but its stance had rotated some more. It looked more like the night before than it did that morning, which was depressing. <br />
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We found Harold and then Charles. Charles landed 20-40 yards from the mystery owl and began to hoot. I went to observe how this owl reacted to Charles hoots and I saw no reaction at all. We headed home with this owl again not having groomed, stretched or called at all. I still thought it was more likely Grace than Sarah.<br />
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I spoke with Brenda, who was out of town, and she shared my concern and puzzlement. I sent her these pictures and other pictures and she agreed that IDing the owl was challenging. Brenda and I are both certified Missouri Naturalists and volunteers for Forest Park Forever but Brenda also volunteers for the <a href="http://www.worldbirdsanctuary.org/index.php" target="_blank">World Bird Sanctuary</a>; one of the nation's premier bird of prey rehabilitation and education institutions. Brenda called WBS and spoke with Roger Holloway, the Director of Operations. With care and concern, Roger listened about the situation and encouraged us to be patient, careful and thorough. Roger confirmed our thoughts that it would be more harmful to try and extricate the owl out of its perch. Such action would stress the owl far too much. Brenda went on to tell me that Roger told her that if the owl was found on the ground to contact WBS and that they would contact some of their folks and have them retrieve the owl and bring it to WBS for treatment. This generous offer greatly impressed Brenda and me as we knew it to be contrary to standard WBS policies and procedures. They simply do not have the resources to pick up injured birds of prey. The acknowledgement understanding of the widespread knowledge of and love for these particular owls that Roger and WBS expressed is most touching and appreciated. It is especially appreciated and heartfelt as this period of time was a trying one for WBS as their founder and executive director, Walt Crawford, passed away on 7/17. I never met Walt Crawford and I wish I had but I am a great admirer of his work and that of WBS. <br />
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I stopped by before work on 7/20 and again the owl was there. For the first time it was facing forward but I did not have my camera with me. In this sighting and all the others of this owl I never saw any expressions by this owl that made me conclude-yes, it is Sarah. I know her looks and facial expressions quite well and I never saw any of them definitively from this owl. While at work I received an e-mail from the previous night's prowlee, Melissa, saying that she had returned to look for the mystery owl but could not find her. I thought that there was good chance that Melissa, had not remembered where this spot was and was looking in the wrong place. I stopped by that afternoon and sure enough the owl was gone. I went home, got my gear and began searching around the area, both in the trees and on the ground, where this owl was perched. The perch tree is close to one of the mitigation areas of these woods so there is much water and mud and dense vegetation. I scoured the area but knew that that were was so much I couldn't see given the vegetation. I looked for the other owls and found Charles and Harold but not Sarah or Grace. <br />
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Since then I have regularly seen Grace, Harold and Charles but not Sarah. Grace looks well and her behavior indicates health too. I have been out most every night since 7/18 and it has been an emotional, intellectual and physical drain to look for Sarah and continuously not find her. The more time that has gone by and the more I continue to see Charles, Grace and Harold but not Sarah I can only conclude that the ill/injured owl was indeed Sarah. Having not seen her for seven weeks it is all too clear that she is sadly dead. <br />
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Even with this denouement to concluding that she is gone her passing is a crushing blow on so many levels that I continue to grapple with it. I spent so much time watching her that I cannot help but to still expect to see her when I go to Forest Park. <br />
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At the same time I knew this day would come. Early on in my work with the owls my friend and then colleague, Mark Rank, said to me, "You know, Mark, one day you are going to go the park and one or both of the owls will be gone. I replied, "I am way ahead of you. Every day in a small way I prepare my self for this eventuality." My first goal each night was and continues to be finding each owl; counting heads and making sure that it is well. Experience has taught me that some nights you will not find all of them but I always feel that much better finding them all and seeing that they are in good shape. It is a unpleasantly surreal experience to go out looking for the owls now knowing that one of them will not be there. <br />
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One of the challenging things, which is both engaging and frustrating, about Great Horned Owls is that there is much that we do not know about them. Prominent in this body of ignorance is that we do not know the average life expectancy of this species. In all my research I have come across a few pieces that kinda, sorta took a stab at average age: 8-10 years, 10-14 years, 8-12 years. Unfortunately the data is not there despite the species being the most widespread commonly found owl in North America. We know the record age for a Great Horned Owl: 28 years, 7 months. But even with this owl there is some grey area as it was banded at an unknown age as an adult. Of course, a record is an outlier, an exception not the rule. <br />
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I often tell people that if I could ask the owls one question it would be, "How old are you?" Charles and Sarah are at least 11-14 years old. Great Horned Owls typically mature sexually around 2-3 years old. As I have been watching the owls for over 9-and-a-half years and they have had owlets every year they are at least 11-14 years old. However, given the record age of owls it is possible that the owls are older than that. Nor do I know if they are the same age. Was Sarah 20 and Charles now 17? Or Charles 22 and Sarah 18? One of the unavoidable facts is that as the number of years that I observed and studied the owls happily grows and grows the number of years that the owls have to live sadly shrinks and shrinks. It is quite possible that Sarah died naturally of old age. <br />
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Great Horned Owls can suffer from and die from diseases including the West Nile virus but my greatest point of concern with the owls was and is cars. Most of the time the owls will fly 50-80 feet over the many roads in the park. All too often they will fly lower than that and sometimes as little as two-three feet over the road. I have witnessed too many close calls with the owls and cars. One with Sarah was unpleasantly memorable. It was the spring of 2014 and I saw her eyeing an Eastern Grey Squirrel that was at the base of a tree quite close to a road. I thought, "Sarah if you go for that squirrel and miss, your momentum is going to take you right over the road." Sure enough, Sarah missed her quarry and flew low over the road threading her way through two cars. I aged a couple of years in a few seconds. <br />
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Of the many what's next questions the biggest one is what will Charles do? From everything that I have read Charles will likely remain in the territory and try to attract a new mate. It is well documented in the literature that when one of a pair dies, the survivor is able to find a new mate and sometimes quickly. As many different behaviors I have seen of the owls one of the biggest I have not seen is courtship. When I found Charles and Sarah they were already an established pair and while I saw them renew and maintain their pair bond, which was always amazing to behold, I did not see their initial courtship.<br />
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Charles has been challenging to find of late. I might find him 2-3 days in a row and then not find him for the couple of days. His perch spots have varied from different spots in The Arena to different spots in The Hilly Wooded Area. On the days I have not found him, I wonder if he is checking out other areas of his territory, perhaps looking for or advertising for a mate. As is typical in the summer he is not hooting a great deal but as we get closer to to fall he is hooting more. Here he is hooting on August 22.<br />
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As I discuss Sarah's death with many kind and concerned people, I am quick to point out that the potential of seeing initial courtship behavior is one of two important silver linings in this sad saga. The other one is that if she had died earlier than mid-late June, her death would have also been a death sentence for the owlets; Grace and Harold. They would not have had the amount of food and protection necessary for survival during their slow maturation process. The literature mentions a few documented cases of successful single parenthood but they are the exception to the rule.<br />
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Overall the owlets are doing well, looking healthy and well-fed but Grace and Harold are still in the territory and Sarah's passing is a likely factor in this. The last two years the oldest owlet has dispersed before July and the second owlet before September. With Sarah gone the owlets have only half the parental push to encourage them to leave the territory. Overall, the owlets beg little from Charles but some strong exceptions to this occur. On August 23rd my friend and owl mentee, Rusty Wandell and I saw what was likely Harold follow Charles out north and even give chase. On September 5th, Harold perched in a tree next to Charles and begged intensely but did not give chase this time instead he flew away from Charles. <br />
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During their lives so far, the owlets have been sometimes been easy to tell apart but mostly it's been a challenge to do so. This pendulum of recognition has swung throughout the spring and summer.<br />
Here they are on August 29, Grace lower down and Harold higher in the tree.<br />
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Grace:<br />
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Harold:</div>
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The dispersal period is always a bittersweet time but I do hope the owlets move on soon so that Charles can move on with his life in his territory. I will miss the owlets as I do each year. <br />
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Before I conclude with some thoughts and reflections on Sarah I must take some time and thank some people who have beyond helpful during this challenging and stressful time. As always, Brenda Hente demonstrated why she is my owl friend and mentee supreme. Her care for and knowledge of the owls is simply amazing. Her help on so many levels ranging from analyzing pictures of Sarah to working with her contacts with the World Bird Sanctuary and many others to spending hours searching for Sarah and thinking about her with me is beyond appreciated. Barb Brownell and Chris Gerli are my oldest owl friends and mentees and their care and concern for Sarah and me is incredibly touching. Early in the search for Sarah, Barb was out of town and she sent me a carefully crafted and superbly considerate e-mail and I am grateful for her heartfelt and compassionate words.<br />
Any and every time I have seen Chris during this time he always with great care and empathy about Sarah. <span style="background-color: white;"> My friend and former colleague, Chad Henry, is one of the longest supporters of my work in Forest Park. His wife, Sarah, and their twins, Sean and Maddie, are the inspiration for Sarah's name so the Henry family is closely connected with the owls. </span> Chad delighted me by telling of their younger daughter, Camille's, recent statement. Having just turned four and delighting in her status as a big girl, she asked, just out of the blue, "now that she is 4, if she is old enough to hang out with Mark and watch the owls." Chad has sent me several immensely kind and sympathetic e-mails about Sarah. One night during my search for Sarah the owl I ran into Sarah Henry with her mom and Sean and Maddie as they were on their way to The Muny. It was great to see them but gut-wrenching too having not seen Sarah for many days at that point and then to see her namesake. Sarah the owl is gone but it is great to have her human namesake nearby. Both Sarahs could teach clinics on combining brains, beauty and motherhood. Rusty Wandell was an instant owl addict, friend and mentee and his keen eyes, sharp brain and love for the owls are always welcome but have been a great boon during this time. Both he and Brenda, as they often do, kept an eye on the owls and me updated about them when there were nights when I was not in the park. My friend and fellow owl addict, Robin Street-Morris was kindness itself vie e-mail, text and phone. Robin and her husband Jerry are former St. Louisans now living in San Diego. It was bittersweet to meet up<span style="background-color: white;"> with them </span>recently in Forest Park and see the owlets and Charles but no Sarah. My friend and colleague, Julie Portman has become a hummingbird addict in recent years and her kind concern for Sarah and me <span style="background-color: white;">is lovely</span>. My brothers Paul and John happily let me bend their ears and offered warm and welcome words over the phone. My mom sent some terrifically kind and empathic e-mails about the loss of Sarah. She has always encouraged my passion for wildlife ever since I was a young boy so I am confident that she has the type of insight on what the owls mean to me that only a mother could have. Of course, the biggest thanks go to my girlfriend Wendy. Since my first forays into Forest Park to the night when I first saw the owls and the now literally thousands of nights with the owls, Wendy continues to be my biggest supporter on so many levels. Her love for the owls and the silly man who watches them is cherished. Throughout this search for Sarah, Wendy's support has been without end. The second day that I saw Sarah unmoving in the tree, July 19, was brutally tough. I came home utterly drained from the emotional rollercoaster combined with the brain-wracking work of observation and documentation while recalling the literature to decide what to look for, do next, do if this or that occurred, etc. This was also a period of high temperatures and higher humidity levels thus making my drained state both literal and figurative. A warm and fragrant scent greeted me as I entered our home and it lightened my load as I walked upstairs. After a much needed and welcomed shower, I all but inhaled the perfumed gnocchi with a sausage sauce that Wendy had prepared. It was not that food was ready for a Michelin star but that it was made with love. <br />
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I am considering the idea of a public memorial service for Sarah since she touched the lives of so many people. I welcome your thoughts, opinions and questions on this matter. <br />
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Sarah's death makes me reflect on many aspects of her. I do not know if I will ever see a female Great Horned Owl as amazing, in all respects, as her. Every aspect of what she did, she executed with such amazing skill, dedication, effort, and ultimately, success. In the time I was privileged to spend with her she nested successfully in ten consecutive seasons fledging twenty-three owlets. Simply amazing. As I often say when I give talks on the owls, the reproductive success of the owls is indicative of the individual and combined skills of Charles and Sarah and perhaps more importantly the ecological health of Forest Park. But attention must be paid to Sarah’s skills. She was the Beethoven of brooding, the Fellini of feeding, the Salinger of safety, the Newton of nest-selection, the Camus of camouflage, the Prometheus of prey-exchanges, a Hemingway of hunting, and the Mahler of mating. She was the apotheosis, the exemplar, the standard-bearer supreme. <br />
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Sarah’s physical beauty cannot be understated. Her feathers with their deep browns, autumnal oranges, alabaster whites and anthracite blacks combined with her deep yellow eyes and overwhelmingly massive talons presented an unforgettable image. Sarah was between twenty-three and twenty-five inches tall; as large as a Great Horned Owl can be. I have never seen an owl of this species, be it in the wild, in captivity or a specimen, of size equal to or greater than Sarah. In some ways, I hope I never do. Sarah also had massive shoulders with gave her a distinctive diamond-shaped profile that made her sometimes easy to identify by shape alone. This distinctive silhouette was very shoulder-pads, very 80s, very Dynasty. In flight her massive wingspan often made her look as if she was doing an award-winning imitation of a B-52 Stratobomber. Sarah’s eyes had a more hooded looked to them which while not only were distinctive from Charles seemed, at times, to communicate an ironic and patient outlook on the world around her. Or at least on her mate, her owlets and those silly humans who watched her for years and years.<br />
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As well as I got to know her, I never felt that I knew her as well as Charles. There are good reasons for this difference in knowledge. When I began to see the owls consistently in late December 2005, it was Charles that I began to see in this way as Sarah was nesting. As such she was only seen for short periods of time when she took her brief breaks from the nest to stretch, groom, eject a pellet, etc. The fact that she nested every year meant that she was seen very little each year for a few months each year. Even in 2008 and 2012 when she nested in a incredibly visible hollow, she was nowhere near as active as Charles due to the difference in their roles during nesting.<br />
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Even when the owlets would fledge there was still a distance maintained with Sarah due to the protective nature of female of the species when it comes to their young. Until early summer and even then with great caution, my mantra when it came to finding the owlets was to find Sarah as fast as possible so I knew where to be and where not to be. I resolutely avoided putting myself between Sarah and her recently fledged owlets. Early on my research taught me not only the protective nature of female Great Horned Owls but the massive power and predatory prowess they possess. My care for the owls and Sarah was mostly about their safety and well-being but also a little about my own.<br />
Once the owlets were older and Sarah’s guard not quite as intense I could then see her and her owlets at closer distance and in greater detail. Still though the cumulative effect was that I did not know her haunts and habits as well as I know those of Charles. This is not a complaint or a regret but rather a fact that merits explanation and elucidation. <br />
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Despite this distance, Sarah treated me to two of the closest most intense fly-bys I have experienced with the owls. One night in the fall of 2007, Charles was messing with me. It was past sunset and he was in and around The Training Area hooting. He was messing with me by hooting from one spot and I would move closer to this spot only to hear him hooting from a different spot after flying unseen to this new location. I thought of a Curly-esque response and as I did I felt a gentle but discernable push of air on my left side like a localized breeze. I looked up and flying six to nine feet above my left shoulder was Sarah. She pulled and landed in a low nearby branch. I had two immediate thoughts. One: “Wow that was a beautiful flight. Gorgeous. Amazing example of the owls’ silent flight.” Two: “…And my pants are dry.” There was not an element of threat or aggression in her movements but to have her fly so close and to only discern her awesome presence by a movement of air was incredibly intense and more than a little alarming. <br />
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One evening in the fall of 2012 I had found both Charles and Sarah in The Wooded Area. They began to duet and a little later Charles flew off a modest distance. I decided to follow him. As I walked up the hill towards him I looked up and my entire field of view was filled with the underside of Sarah as she flew over me at a blazingly fast speed. As in the previous flyby there was no sound and nothing aggressive in her approach. She was merely flying between point A and point B and I was in the middle. Unfortunately, I was too slow on the draw to film her flying over me but I took a quick video note of what happened. When I played the video back the following morning I could clearly hear my heart rate and adrenal glands in my voice as I told of this stunning flight. Memories like these will keep Sarah alive in us.<br />
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Thank you, Sarah for letting me spend so much time learning about you and sharing your life with others whose lives you also touched in innumerable ways and times. Thank you for your patience and tolerance. Thank you for being such an amazing owl and an ambassador of your kind in this world we share. I love you and miss you. - Mark.<br />
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<br />Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-76219330530518596502015-07-15T09:49:00.003-05:002015-07-15T09:49:54.876-05:00Another Radio Show, Cute Owlet Video and Talks Reminder<b><u>Wednesday, July 15, 2015</u></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;">I am lucky, honored and grateful that <a href="http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/sustainability/sustainability/sustainable-learning/green-resources-answer-service.aspx" target="_blank">Jean Ponzi, one of the region's leading experts and advocate</a>s for sustainability and biodiversity, invited me on to her second radio show, <i>Earthworms </i>on <a href="http://kdhx.org/" target="_blank">KDHX 88.1 FM</a>. She interviewed me yesterday and yet again Jean had great queries and zeal. You can listen to the show here: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://earthworms.kdhxtra.org/">http://earthworms.kdhxtra.org/</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;">Tonight is the first of two owl talks I have this week. I hope you can make one or both of these talks!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;">The first talk is tonight, Wednesday, July 15 for </span><a href="http://www.gatewaygreening.org/" style="color: #cc6633; font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;" target="_blank">Gateway Greening</a><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;">as part of their</span><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;"> </span><a href="http://www.gatewaygreening.org/pints-n-plants/" style="color: #cc6633; font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;" target="_blank">Pints 'n Plants lecture series</a><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;">. This will be my second talk for this lecture series and I am grateful to Gateway Greening for having me back. This general talk on the owls is from 6:30-7:30pm at </span><a href="http://urbanchestnut.com/home/" style="color: #cc6633; font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;" target="_blank">Urban Chestnut Brewing Company</a><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;">,4465 Manchester Ave. St. Louis, MO, 63110 in the Grove neighborhood. Urban Chestnut makes great beer and their Bier Hall's food has had some amazing reviews</span><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;"> </span><a href="http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2014-06-26/restaurants/urban-chestnut-bierhall-review-the-grove-st-louis/" style="color: #cc6633; font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;" target="_blank">like this one</a><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;">. Owls, beer and food-what a great combination! </span></div>
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My second talk this week is a more specific one on a rather meaty subject. It is "Forest Park Owls: Hunting and Feeding", 11:00am, Saturday, July 18, 2015, <a href="http://www.slcl.org/content/cliff-cave-branch" style="color: #cc6633;" target="_blank">St. Louis Country Library-Cliff Cave Branch</a>, 5430 Telegraph Rd., Oakville, MO 63129. This is my third talk at this branch in south St. Louis County. I have been lucky to present at several SLCL locations but this will be the first time I have given three talks at the same branch. Not the last though:)</div>
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I rushed home after my interview, changed into my go-to-the-park clothes and headed to Forest Park to look for the owls. The first owl I found was the older owlet, Grace, and she was perched right on the ground between The Fallen Tree and The Newer Fallen Tree. I loved watching her look all around demonstrating <a href="http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/owl_mystery_unraveled_scientists_explain_how_bird_can_rotate_its_head_without_cutting_off_blood_supply_to_brain" target="_blank">the amazing neck flexibility of owls.</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;">Thank you for reading, listening and watching!</span></span></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-39685350334622192252015-07-13T10:28:00.000-05:002015-07-13T10:30:11.618-05:00Radio Show Appearance and Reminder About Upcoming Owl Talks (Plus Bonus Pellet Videos) <b><u>Monday, July 13, 2015</u></b><br />
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My appearance on <i><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;">Growing Green St. Louis</span><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;"> </span></i><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;">on </span><a href="http://www.ktrs.com/growing-green-st-louis/" style="color: #cc6633; font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;" target="_blank">KTRS The Big 550AM </a> aired on Saturday, July 11, and it is now online here:<br />
<a href="http://www.ktrs.com/growing-green-st-louis/" target="_blank">http://www.ktrs.com/growing-green-st-louis/</a> <span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;">Thank you for listening! My thanks to Jean Ponzi for inviting me on her show and for her great questions and enthusiasm. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;">As a reminder I have two owl talks this week. I hope you can make one or both of these talks!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;">The first talk is on Wednesday, July 15 for </span><a href="http://www.gatewaygreening.org/" style="color: #cc6633; font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;" target="_blank">Gateway Greening</a><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;">as part of their</span><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;"> </span><a href="http://www.gatewaygreening.org/pints-n-plants/" style="color: #cc6633; font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;" target="_blank">Pints 'n Plants lecture series</a><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;">. This will be my second talk for this lecture series and I am grateful to Gateway Greening for having me back. This general talk on the owls is from 6:30-7:30pm at </span><a href="http://urbanchestnut.com/home/" style="color: #cc6633; font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;" target="_blank">Urban Chestnut Brewing Company</a><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;">,4465 Manchester Ave. St. Louis, MO, 63110 in the Grove neighborhood. Urban Chestnut makes great beer and their Bier Hall's food has had some amazing reviews</span><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;"> </span><a href="http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2014-06-26/restaurants/urban-chestnut-bierhall-review-the-grove-st-louis/" style="color: #cc6633; font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;" target="_blank">like this one</a><span style="font-size: 12.6099996566772px; line-height: 18.9149990081787px;">. Owls, beer and food-what a great combination! </span></div>
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My second talk this week is a more specific one on a rather meaty subject. It is "Forest Park Owls: Hunting and Feeding", 11:00am, Saturday, July 18, 2015, <a href="http://www.slcl.org/content/cliff-cave-branch" style="color: #cc6633;" target="_blank">St. Louis Country Library-Cliff Cave Branch</a>, 5430 Telegraph Rd., Oakville, MO 63129. This is my third talk at this branch in south St. Louis County. I have been lucky to present at several SLCL locations but this will be the first time I have given three talks at the same branch. Not the last though:)</div>
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We are in the midst of a heatwave in St. Louis so I think some cool footage of the owls shot during cooler weather may bring some relief. In late November-early December I was able to film, on several nights, Charles and Sarah ejecting pellets. What was especially note-worthy was the size of the pellets they ejected. Here's Charles on December 1 ejecting the largest pellet I have ever seen an owl expel. </div>
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Thank you for reading, listening and watching!</div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-74434569652921492992015-07-09T10:57:00.001-05:002015-07-09T10:57:28.405-05:00A Throw Forward and A Throwback<b><u>Thursday, July 9, 2015</u></b><br />
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Some excellent media coverage on the owls and my work with them is coming up in the near future. This Saturday, July 11 at 3:00PM CST, an interview with yours truly will air on <a href="http://www.ktrs.com/growing-green-st-louis/" target="_blank">KTRS The Big 550AM </a> I went to the KTRS studios yesterday and was honored to be the guest of Jean Ponzi on her superb show, <a href="http://www.ktrs.com/growing-green-st-louis/" target="_blank">Growing Green St. Louis.</a> <a href="http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/sustainability/sustainability/sustainable-learning/green-resources-answer-service.aspx" target="_blank">Jean is a leading expert, exponent and educator </a>on all matters relating to sustainability, biodiversity, and more. I have had the pleasure of attending a couple of her talks and she is beyond informative, fun and engaging. We had a blast talking about the owls and my work with them and I cannot wait for you all to hear it! A few days after Saturday's broadcast, it will be online and I will be sure to have a link to it on this blog under the collection of links on the right side of the page. </div>
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One radio appearance with Jean Ponzi is a thrill, honor and a pleasure but she is having me on her second program, the podcast <a href="http://earthworms.kdhxtra.org/" target="_blank">Earthworms </a>on <a href="http://kdhx.org/" target="_blank">KDHX 88.1FM</a>. We will have the interview on Tuesday, July 14 and the podcast will be up later that night. I will also link to that podcast when it is up and available. </div>
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The timing of these radio appearances is superb as I have two talks on the owls next week. The first talk is on Wednesday, July 15 for <a href="http://www.gatewaygreening.org/" target="_blank">Gateway Greening</a> as part of their <a href="http://www.gatewaygreening.org/pints-n-plants/" target="_blank">Pints 'n Plants lecture series</a>. This will be my second talk for this lecture series and I am grateful to Gateway Greening for having me back. This general talk on the owls is from 6:30-7:30pm at <a href="http://urbanchestnut.com/home/" target="_blank">Urban Chestnut Brewing Company</a> ,4465 Manchester Ave. St. Louis, MO, 63110 in the Grove neighborhood. Urban Chestnut makes great beer and their Bier Hall's food has had some amazing reviews <a href="http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2014-06-26/restaurants/urban-chestnut-bierhall-review-the-grove-st-louis/" target="_blank">like this one</a>. Owls, beer and food-what a great combination! </div>
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My second talk next week is a more specific one on a rather meaty subject. It is "Forest Park Owls: Hunting and Feeding", 11:00am, Saturday, July 18, 2015, <a href="http://www.slcl.org/content/cliff-cave-branch" target="_blank">St. Louis Country Library-Cliff Cave Branch</a>, 5430 Telegraph Rd., Oakville, MO 63129. This is my third talk at this branch in south St. Louis County. I have been lucky to present at several SLCL locations but this will be the first time I have given three talks at the same branch. Not the last though:)<br />
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In much of the social media world Thursdays are a time to post old photos, videos and stories thus turning the day into Throwback Thursday. The following was something I wanted to post immediately after it happened but time did not allow. I hope you will agree that it is better late than never. On April 20, 2015 I headed into the owls' territory. The previous day and night was blustery and windy. Soon after arriving I found Sarah she flew to one of the trees in The Middle Conifers. Over the years I saw her both cache and un-cache prey in this particular tree. As you can see the tree has a large crotch at the top of it.<br />
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She began to look in this crotch of the tree undoubtedly seeking cached prey to feed the growing and ever-hungry owlets . [Be sure to double click on the pictures to see a larger version]<br />
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Not finding what she sought she walked out to a nearby branch. For all their grace in flight, Great Horned Owls walk with comic awkwardness. </div>
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She continued to look all around.<br />
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As she looked around she gave me a great view of her massive talons.<br />
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Sarah flew to an adjacent conifer to look from a different angle and perspective. By now I was more than convinced that the windy conditions had disrupted the contents of Sarah's prey pantry.<br />
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Not having any luck from this new spot, she flew closer to her original tree but landed much closer to the ground.<br />
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Watch what happened next!<br />
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Once on the ground, Sarah looked carefully around her. Anytime I see the owls on the ground they are the personifications of acute caution and awareness. Despite their size and power, they are most vulnerable when on the ground.<br />
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As you will see all of her efforts were worth it! What an owl and owl mother!<br />
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She landed at the edge of The Wooded Area and gave the prey to one of the owlets, most likely Grace.<br />
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Grace had some challenges feeding on what her mother gave her but that is a story for another time. <br />
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Thank you for reading!</div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-9441466669566855302015-06-30T15:12:00.002-05:002015-06-30T15:12:47.240-05:00Recent Video Highlights and Half Year Owliversary Point<b><u>Tuesday, June 30, 2015</u></b><br />
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Since my last post was rather photo-oriented, I am making this one more video-centric. My YouTube videos recently reached 56,000 cumulative views; a nice number to attain. <br />
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This first video, from June 23rd, shows what is probably Grace perched mere inches off the ground on The Fallen Tree. She is intrigued and absolutely focused on the fireflies that travel and illuminate around her. It was a joy to watch Grace and be able to capture some of these moments.<br />
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Next up is Harold, most likely, on June 27 perched in "the back" of The Overlook Hotel Tree. I have found him or Grace there a few times in recent weeks. I had just found him and began to film him when, as you will see, he did an especially vigorous Fluff-Up, which caused feathers to quite literally fly. Harold was not finished as he segued into an Escalator Stretch.<br />
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Earlier that night I found Sarah in The Bushy Tree. In the last week or so, she has perched in that tree or other parts in The Wooded Area and thus closer to the owlets. This is in marked contrast to the weeks prior when both she and Charles perched in The Arena. With the owlets getting closer than not to dispersing, is she feeling a type of separation anxiety. Or does she need a pause from Charles? "Next on <i>Owls On The Couch." </i>The sun broke through and her well-hidden spot received a blast of late sun.<br />
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I then found Charles and the owlets, Grace and Harold but as the day dimmed and evening emerged, I found her pinnacling in The Eastern Tree.<br />
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I had my doubts of the wisdom of Sarah's position as the ever more awake owlets were sure to find her and give chase seeking one of their two parental providers of provisions. This is exactly what happened. Forgive the shaky video but if it is hard to film an owl in flight, filming three is jolly difficult. Listen for the loud and excited begging cheeps of the owlets.<br />
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Two of the three Jungle Gym Trees continue to be frequent perch sites for Grace and Harold. On June 28, I caught a mere glimpse of Grace in The Jungle Gym Tree By The Archy Tree. I moved around for a better view and found her fast asleep. Notice how her lower eyelids are so far up her face. This indicates that they are sleeping deeply. What a beauty.<br />
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Last night, June 29th, was the half year owliversary point. I have now watched the owls for nine-and-a-half years. It is a thrill each time I reach such points as I never imagined how the owls would have such an impact on my life and even the lives of others. The first half of 2015 went well in all respects: observation, documentation and outreach. The videos and pictures in this post I hope demonstrate the first two aspects of my work with the owls. Outreach continues to grow and expand. I gave my 14th talk of the year on Saturday and I have led 39 owl prowls so far. Talks in the first part of the year took me as far away as Joplin, MO and Carbondale, IL and as close to home as Webster Groves and Tower Grove Park. (As always, my next few public talks are on the right side of this website) <br />
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Thank you for reading and your support of the owls and my work with them! Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-48491469941299945952015-06-19T09:50:00.000-05:002015-06-19T10:04:06.050-05:00A Sunny Owl For A Rainy Day<b><u>Friday, June 19, 2015</u></b><br />
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As I write this St. Louis, along with much of Missouri and the states to the southwest, are experiencing a deluge of rain from the after effects of Tropical Storm Bill. For most of this week it has been challenging to get out and see the owls in the constant rain. With this in mind, how about a look back to the clear, sunny day of Sunday, April 19 and see what Charles was doing.<br />
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I can go weeks sometimes without seeing the owls yawn. Other nights it is Yawn City. This night was one such night. Charles was perched in a Sweetgum, one of several that he used this and previous springs as a perch/roost site. He began to yawn regularly. [Be sure to double-click on each photo to see a larger version]<br />
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I have heard some people say that yawning presages the casting or ejection of a pellet but I have my doubts about that. I have seen many dozens of pellet ejections over the years and while the owls may open their bills before ejecting a pellet, I have not seen them yawn.<br />
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The setting sun broke through and Charles began to groom in the great light.<br />
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And yawn some more.<br />
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And just look like the gorgeous owl he is.<br />
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The sun dipped below the horizon and he shifted his position, preparing to depart for a night's hunting.<br />
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Another great way learn more about the owls' behavior, is to attend one of my talks about the owls and my work with them. I gave such a talk last week at the Scenic Regional Library-New Haven Branch and it went quite well <a href="https://www.facebook.com/newhavenlibrary/posts/906559929416262" target="_blank">as you can see here.</a> I am excited for my next talk on Saturday, June 27 at 1:00pm at the <a href="http://www.youranswerplace.org/spencer-road-branch" target="_blank">Spencer Road Branch</a> of the <a href="http://www.youranswerplace.org/" target="_blank">St. Charles City-County Library District. </a> Registration and full details <a href="http://host5.evanced.info/stcharles/evanced/eventsignup.asp?ID=37456&rts=&disptype=&ret=eventcalendar.asp&pointer=inhouse&returnToSearch=&num=0&ad=&dt=mo&mo=6/1/2015&df=calendar&EventType=ALL&Lib=ALL&AgeGroup=ALL&LangType=0&WindowMode=&noheader=&lad=&pub=1&nopub=&page=&pgdisp=" target="_blank">are here.</a> I hope to see you there!<br />
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Thank you for reading!Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-45408282452972457862015-06-10T12:53:00.001-05:002015-06-10T12:53:40.521-05:00Names For The Owlets and Upcoming Talks<b><u>Wednesday June 10, 2015</u></b><br />
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The spring/summer blogging doldrums returned again, unfortunately. Not the owls and my work with them have quieted down in slightest. Quite the contrary. With the owlets fledged and growing up combined with <a href="http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/meet-angelina-jolie-and-brad-pitt-birds-forest-park" target="_blank">my recent appearance</a> on our local NPR affiliate, KWMU St. Louis Public Radio, I am busier than ever with the owls and happily so. We are in the middle of the twenty-fourth week of 2015 and I have already led thirty-five owl prowls so far. Eleven talks on the owls are in the books with others already scheduled well into the year. More on talks later.</div>
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After much delay, I am pleased to announce the names of this year's owlets: Grace and Harold.<br />
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Grace is named for Grace Colavita, my girlfriend, Wendy Schlegel's, late mother. Grace died on September 21, 2014 after many years of fighting cancer. She was 75 years old. Of Grace's many qualities, two always stand out to me. First, her life-long, not just enthusiasm but zeal and passion for learning. When she was not reading or watching documentaries she was talking about the books, magazines, newspapers and documentaries that were next on her list. Her interests ran the gamut from history, ancient Egypt a particular favorite, religion, dance, cooking and the medical field. Grace finished her associate's degree in general studies later in life. She artfully and consistently disproved the notion that it is folly to introduce an aged canine to new things. Second, I loved Grace's devotion and care for physical beauty in all of its forms. Be it a person, an animal, a building, a painting, if something captured her eye, mind and heart, she not only paid notice but tribute. <br />
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Harold is named after the late director/actor/writer Harold Ramis. He died on February 24, 2014 from a rare autoimmune disease at the age of 69. His work spanned decades and includes some of the best comedic films in American cinema. You could slice his filmography in fourths and each piece would be a career worthy of emulation. Hell, he was the only American cast member and writer of the legendary Canadian TV comedy series, <i>SCTV</i>. Taken as a whole, his work is truly astounding. I start to think of his films and I cannot stop quoting them. <i>Animal House </i>("Thank you, God!"), <i>Caddyshack</i> ("Oh, Captain Hook."), <i>Groundhog Day </i>("This is just one of those moments when TV fails to capture the magic of a large squirrel predicting the weather."), <i>Analyze This </i>(""My name is Ben Sobel... -lioni. Ben Sobellioni. I'm also known as, uh, Benny the Groin, Sammy the Schnazz, Elmer the Fudd, Tubby the Tuba, and once as Miss Phyllis Levine."). Harold Ramis and I both graduated from Washington University in St. Louis exactly forty years apart. He served on the university's board of trustees while I worked at the university as I completed my degree. My first middle name is Harold. I was able to choose my middle names and while I did not know of Harold Ramis when I chose the name I am happy to have this name in common with him as well as my paternal grandfather. <br />
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Now who is who? Well, this year it is rather tricky to tell the owlets apart. Great Horned Owls lay their eggs at different times; asynchronously, usually a day or two apart but as far apart as five to ten days. The eggs generally hatch in the order in which they were laid. This results in owlets of different ages, size, ability, etc. These differences are often quite pronounced but over time the differences diminish. With Grace and Harold I am convinced that they hatched quite close together. Since I first saw them it has been challenging to distinguish them and as time progresses it is even more difficult to do so. Given the differences in the ages of their namesakes, Grace is the older the owlet and Harold the younger.<br />
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Here are the owlets on March 22 still in the nest. I think Grace is on the left with the more advanced facial disk development and more forward position in the nest. <br />
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From May 27, I think this is Grace. She looks a great deal like Sarah both in coloration and demeanor as she soaks up the setting sun while she perches in The Jungle Gym Tree Near The Archy Tree.<br />
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From May 31, most likely this is Harold. He was perched 20-30 yards from The Three Trees.<br />
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The next several shots are from June 2 with the owlets in The Jungle Gym Tree Near The Archy Tree. While the owlets are growing up they still have some of The Fluff!<br />
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One owlet, I think Grace, turned around and began to allopreen (groom) the other owlet (Harold). Very cute behavior to see!<br />
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The cool thing about the owls being in this position is that though are so close in size with the forced perspective going on due to their different perches, Grace on the left looks significantly larger than Harold on the right.<br />
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We are halfway through 2015 and it is proving to be another great year for owl talks. I have given talks in Joplin, Missouri (Ozark Gateway Audubon Society) and Carbondale, Illinois (<a href="http://www.siaudubon.org/news/15-02_SIAS_news.pdf" target="_blank">Southern Illinois Audubon Society</a>) and closer to home for Wild Bird Rehabilitation, Fontbonne University and Webster University as well as the spring meeting of the Audubon Society of Missouri. I have several owl talks coming up this summer and more to come in the fall. As always my next few public talks and all their time, location details are listed on the right side of this website. <br />
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My next talk is tomorrow, Thursday, June 11 at 6:30pm for the <a href="http://www.scenicregional.org/" target="_blank">Scenic Regional Library-New Haven Branch </a>in New Haven, Missouri. After that I will be at the S<a href="http://host5.evanced.info/stcharles/evanced/eventsignup.asp?ID=37456&rts=&disptype=&ret=eventcalendar.asp&pointer=inhouse&returnToSearch=&num=0&ad=&dt=mo&mo=6/1/2015&df=calendar&EventType=ALL&Lib=ALL&AgeGroup=ALL&LangType=0&WindowMode=&noheader=&lad=&pub=1&nopub=&page=&pgdisp=" target="_blank">t. Charles City-County Library District's Spencer Road Branch</a> in St. Peters, Missouri on Saturday, June 27 at 1:00pm. These talks will be my second talks for these excellent library systems. I am excited and honored to be returning to share the owls and my work with these libraries and their patrons. I hope to see some you at these talks!<br />
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While I do many public talks for Audubon Society chapters, libraries, other conservation-related groups and more, I also frequently give private owl talks as well. Private talks include talks for schools, scouts, senior centers, garden clubs among others. If you work with an organization that you think would enjoy a talk, please drop me a line at mglenshaw@gmail.com <br />
I do talks all over Missouri and Illinois and am looking to expand into neighboring states as well.<br />
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Just to finish off, here are pictures of Charles and Sarah. First is Charles beautifully illuminated in The PX Tree on June 7.<br />
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Here is a well-hidden Sarah last night, June 9, in The First of The Three Trees. <br />
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Thank you for reading!</div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-89695037601997365872015-04-16T16:39:00.002-05:002015-04-16T17:09:20.596-05:00Radio Appearance and Ravenous Owlets!<b><u>Thursday, April 16, 2015</u></b><br />
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Today I had the honor and pleasure of returning to the radio program <i>St. Louis on the Air</i> on KWMU, St. Louis Public Radio 90.7FM to discuss the owls and my work with them. As with my<a href="http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/insiders-look-forest-parks-great-horned-owls" target="_blank"> first appearance in December 2013</a>, I was warmly welcomed by the show's producers, staff and host; Don Marsh. Don did another great job of guiding the discussion with excellent questions both from himself and from phone calls, tweets and e-mails. I had a great time and I hope I can return again. Thank you <i>St. Louis on the Air </i>and KWMU! You can listen to today's show here:<br />
<a href="http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/meet-angelina-jolie-and-brad-pitt-birds-forest-park" target="_blank">http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/meet-angelina-jolie-and-brad-pitt-birds-forest-park</a><br />
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Just three nights ago, I had the great fortune to see Sarah uncache some prey, most likely from The Middle Conifers, and feed the owlets before sunset. I shot many pictures and videos of the feeding. Together the pictures and the videos tell the story of the feeding. For now here are the videos in the order in which I shot them. You can see how hungry the owlets are and how carefully Sarah feeds them. Also lots of The Fluff!<br />
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Thank you for reading, listening and watching!<br />
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<br />Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-31426222047656754022015-04-13T17:56:00.000-05:002015-04-13T17:56:02.206-05:00Fledging, FM, Fluff, and Feeding!<b><u>Monday, April 13, 2015</u></b><br />
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Sorry for the lack of updates! I have been traveling a fair amount in recent weeks and when not traveling, spending time with, on and for the owls. So let us catch up now!<br />
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The second owlet fledged between Thursday, April 2 and Friday, April 3. This was just one day shy of a week after the first owlet fledged. I was out of town during these and other days but was kept up to speed via text and e-mail by my friends and owl mentees, Brenda Hente and Rusty Wandell. Aaron Hampton, a biologist/ecologist/science teacher/wildlife photographer, found the now second fledgling early in the morning of Friday, April 3. You can see his photos of the then nestlings and the nowfledglings <a href="http://aaronhamptonphotography.zenfolio.com/p308988030" target="_blank">on his website. </a> Many thanks to Brenda, Rusty and Aaron for their massive and most appreciated observation and documentation!<br />
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The owlets are close to each other in age and challenging to tell apart. It is beautiful to see them and like their siblings before, they often perch close together. Here they are from Saturday, April 11. Much of The Fluff visible!<br />
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Names for the owlets are forthcoming and will be announced soon. Thank you for your patience!<br />
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I am thrilled and honored to be returning to radio program <a href="http://news.stlpublicradio.org/programs/st-louis-air" target="_blank">"St. Louis on the Air"</a> on St. Louis Public Radio on KWMU 90.7 FM. I'll be on the show this Thursday, April 16 and the program begins at 12noon CST and runs for an hour. As of now, I do not know if I will be on the 12:00pm segment or the 12:30 one. You can listen live both on the radio in the St. Louis area and online anywhere you have an Internet connection via the station's <a href="http://news.stlpublicradio.org/" target="_blank">website</a>. I was first on this excellent show on <a href="http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/insiders-look-forest-parks-great-horned-owls" target="_blank">December 30, 2013</a> . It went well for all involved and generated much interest in the owls and my work with them. I am beyond grateful for the invitation to return! I hope you can all listen in on Thursday!<br />
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Despite the closeness in age and size between the owlets, some behavioral differences remain. The older owlet is more adept at flying and landing. This was highlighted on Tuesday, April 7. Sarah disappeared on me as sunset approached. I did not know where she went but I thought it was likely that she went to un-cache some prey. A few minutes later she confirmed my deduction as she reappeared with the headless remains of an Eastern Cottontail Rabbit; a perennial favorite prey item. The older owlet quickly flew to her and Sarah began to feed the owlet. <br />
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The younger owlet moved closer but still had thirty-forty feet to fly to get to Sarah and the prey. This owlet watched with literally hungry eyes and rasping begging cheeps. <br />
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After several minutes, it flew over and landed on the same branch as Sarah and the still-feeding older owlet. The younger owlet was still some distance from mom and meal and it begged non-stop. As you will see below, Sarah pivoted the prey away from the older owlet making it accessible to the younger owlet who maked his/her way over to Sarah and feeding occured!<br />
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Words like joy, honor, privilege and delight barely begin to describe what it is like to observe moments like this. As I often say, there are so many aspects of the owls' lives and behavior that never get old. <br />
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Thank you for reading! <br />
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-43724834245014537752015-03-30T15:28:00.002-05:002015-03-30T15:29:56.856-05:00One Owlet Fledged!<b><u>Monday, March 30, 2015</u></b><br />
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Sometime between the night of Friday, March 27 and Saturday, March 28, one of the owlets fledged!<br />
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When I arrived in the park on Saturday around sunset, the nest looked a little roomier with just one owlet visible. And very fluffy. [Be sure to double click on the pictures to see a larger version] Seeing only one owlet is a regular occurrence so that did not lead me to the fledging square on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxuTyXQHqkI" target="_blank">My Jump To Conclusions Mat. </a><br />
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Charles was at the edge of The Wooded Area and Sarah was in The Overlook Hotel Tree. This was not unusual but with the owlets being 6-7 weeks old and in the fledging range of 6-8 or 6-10 weeks of age I wondered if Sarah's presence deeper in the woods indicated that fledging had begun. I took a rather brief look for a fledgling but did not find one. <br />
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I returned to The Arena and continued to watch the owls. I still did not see a second owlet in the nest as it grew later, which by then I would have seen two owlets most of the time. My friend and owl mentee, Brenda Hente, arrived and I discussed the fledging possibility and we agreed to go look for a fledgling again. Our search soon bore fruit as sharp-eyed Brenda found a now fledged owlet-a fledgling!<br />
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What a beauty! It was low off the ground, barely two feet. It is always amazing to see an owlet out of the nest for the first time! Like so much of the owls' behavior this first sighting of a fledgling never gets old. Amazingly, this is now the fifth consecutive year that this same small section of The Wooded Area region is where the first fledgling is found. </div>
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At this point I am 99% certain that there are two owlets and not three or more. I want to give it another day or two before I make the call.</div>
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If you come to the park to see the owls please be extra cautious and careful. Do not get close to the fledged owlet and be mindful of Sarah's whereabouts at all times. Do not risk incurring her protective wrath. Remember that Sarah has attacked Red-tailed Hawks that got close to the owlets. You would not mess with a hawk, do not mess with an animal that does mess with a hawk. Be sure to wear dark, muted clothes and cover your head if you have blond or white hair and make as little sound as possible. Fledging is one of the most dangerous times for a young Great Horned Owl. They are not strong fliers yet and dangers abound. As I say each year, fledging is comparable to a human child taking its first steps...in Times Square.</div>
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Charles and Sarah began to duet, which is something they do not regularly during this time of year. That said, they had a duet of long duration and long distance traveled duet a week earlier. After heading back to The Arena, we decided to take a last look at the fledgling after sunset. Brenda's streak continued as she found the owlet at eye level and close to us clinging to the trunk of a young tree. We were surprised to see how much it had moved in a short while and given our proximity, we moved away immediately. The owlet showed its climbing prowess by moving further up the tree with its talons and using its wings for balance and perhaps a bit of oomph. </div>
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The owlet reached a branch and perched there. We left there circling around the far side of The Wooded Area. Brenda concluded her streak by seeing the owlet from the opposite side of the woods while your friendly neighborhood Owl Man was looking in the wrong area. I am always glad when my friends and mentees show me the fruits of their learning and skills. I returned home and showed pictures of the fledging to my girlfriend, Wendy Schlegel, who, as a connoisseur of the cute, cooed with delight, especially at The Fluff. </div>
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I returned yesterday morning to see if the second owlet had fledged as it did quite a bit of "hitting the gym" i.e., exercising its wings, the previous night. It had not fledged but I found its sibling in the same spot as we had left him. The morning sun was hitting him beautifully. </div>
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Later that morning I had the pleasure of meeting Aaron Hampton a biologist/ecologist/nature photographer living in Farmington, MO with whom I corresponded two years prior. I enjoyed showing him the owls and registering his delight in seeing the owls. <br />
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I led an owl prowl for travel/nature blogger <a href="http://jeanniestraveladdiction.com/" target="_blank">Jeannie Adams</a> last night. Brenda joined us and we found all of the owls pretty quickly including the fledgling, who was now deeper in the woods but lower than he had been in the morning. The setting sun framed his fluffy feathers with golden light such that I could not help but reference the quest of Jason and the Arognauts and the play <i>Medea</i>, by Euripides, by saying, "Talk about the Golden Fleece. Don't tell Medea." <br />
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We ran into another friend and owl mentee, <a href="http://www.webster.edu/fine-arts/departments/conservatory/faculty/wandall.html" target="_blank">Rusty Wandell</a>, who, due to his busy schedule, was making his first visit to see the owlets. The four of us watched the fledging some more before returning to The Arena. We finished by following Sarah out to hunt by a lake, where we saw her make predatory attempts on bats. Jeannie enjoyed the owl prowl and I am confident that she will return soon. <br />
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Thank you for reading!Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-35437887476819931192015-03-24T11:07:00.002-05:002015-03-24T11:07:28.531-05:00An Illuminating Afternoon With The Owls<b><u>Monday, March 23, 2015</u></b><br />
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It is always great to observe the owls but on some days the purely visual part of observation stands out more than others. Sunday, March 22 was such a day. When I arrived at the park, there was a thin layer of cloud over the otherwise sunny sky. I had a great time checking out the wildlife in and around the Steinberg Prairie area and the Fish Hatchery ponds. Highlights including my second and third sightings of frogs (American Bullfrogs) in 2015, many Red-eared Sliders (the most common turtle species in Forest Park) and Hooded Mergansers. <br />
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Early in my walk I ran into my friend and owl mentee, Brenda Hente, who was walking her dog, the ever-happy Pumpkin. Brenda called me later to tell me that she had found Charles and that I would greatly enjoy where he was perched. I thanked her for the heads up and headed over to the owls' territory. I soon found Charles perched in a nook of The First of Three Trees completely unobstructed. By now the clouds had dissipated and the afternoon sun bathed him in amazing light. [Be sure to double click on the photos to see a larger version]<br />
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One of the owlets was quite visible in the nest but the other was not in view.<br />
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I looked for a while for Sarah before finding her in the same tree as Charles. I saw her initially from a spot further away from where I had found Charles. She was about fifteen-twenty feet above him and in her own nook and also with an unobstructed view.<br />
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I went over for a closer look at her in the amazing light. </div>
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I followed this with a closer look at the two of them in their respective nooks. I do not regularly see Charles and Sarah perched in the same tree, be they right next to each other or some distance apart, so it was great to see them and in this splendid light.<br />
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The Three Trees are Cottonwoods, which develop and subsequently drop their leaves earlier than many deciduous tree species. In the last few days these Cottonwoods have begun to bud out rapidly as you can see.<br />
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Charles hopped down to a lower branch and began to groom.<br />
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Laurie and Dave, who have been on a few <a href="http://www.forestparkforever.org/bird-watching/" target="_blank">Forest Park Beginner Birder Walks</a>, were out for a bike ride and they swung by to see the owls. They were later joined by Richard and Jane, owl devotees of several years running, and then by very recent owl prowlers, Sharon McClinton and her friend Brek who brought Sharon's husband. It was great to see both new and seasoned owl observers return to the park to feed their love for and interest in the owls. Everyone delighted in seeing Charles and Sarah in their well-illuminated perches.<br />
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Both owlets soon came into view, The nest is so deep and dark that you have to overexpose just to get a decent look at them. Not the easiet spot for observation photos but a great spot for nesting. I think that the latter is much more important than the former.<br />
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Sarah remained in her perch for a while later and began to groom and even yawn.<br />
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As Charles and Sarah continued to wake up, they moved from their perch spots and they really began to move by making predatory attempts on Eastern Gray Squirrels in The Nest Tree. The Nest Tree is not only a nesting location for the owls but a year-round residence for these squirrels. I mentioned how I was asked once why the squirrels moved into where the owls nested and I explained that the owls began to nest where the squirrels were already living.<br />
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True to form, the squirrels proved to be tough to catch and not shy about charging Sarah after a Mexican stand-off with her. Here is a photo of such a stand-off; the squirrel to the left of Sarah. It was an action-filled ten minutes or so.<br />
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I enjoyed interpreting the owl-squirrel interactions for everyone and how I had seen such behavior many times over the years. Sarah ended up on the large branch that contains the nest hollow and gave us a great look with the now setting sun upon her.<br />
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Charles flew to another tree opposite The Nest Tree. I told everyone that he might be waiting for the squirrels to be so focused on Sarah so that he could make a predatory attempt on the now distracted squirrels. Charles did just that but was unable to capture the ever elusive squirrels. He landed at the edge of The Wooded Area with the sun giving him a gloriously gilded look. <br />
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Sarah changed her stance on the tree and now faced the sun directly. To say that everyone was awestruck by the beauty of Charles and Sarah is putting it mildly. <br />
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The now more awake and active owlets moved closer to the edge of the nest. As always they are disgustingly cute. In the best sense of the phrase.<br />
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Charles and Sarah ended up close together again but now in two different Cottonwoods before they each flew out to one of the park's lakes. Sarah is on the left and Charles is just flying off on the right.<br />
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Pleasantly exhausted I headed for home but not before stopping a restaurant where my girlfriend, Wendy Schlegel, was hosting our friend Jo Viggers Davis visiting from Florida. I shared many of these pictures with them and they loved seeing them.<br />
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Thank you for reading!Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-77530311437111635062015-03-16T11:55:00.002-05:002015-03-16T11:55:57.056-05:00Two Owlets!<b><u>Monday, March 16, 2015</u></b><br />
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Two owlets are in the nest! Incredible!<br />
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This happy fact was brought to my attention by a gentleman named, Michael Paul. He and his family kindly attended a talk I gave last year at the Rock Road Branch of <a href="http://www.slcl.org/" target="_blank">St. Louis County Library</a> in March. They joined me the following month for an owl prowl and had a great time seeing the owls. I was away from the park for a few nights so I was thrilled to get Michael's e-mail on Saturday saying that he saw two owlets in the nest. I thanked him for the e-mail and asked him if he saw two in the nest at the same time. He said that he had and sent a few pictures including a shot with two owlets plainly visible at once. I sent this news and the photos to some of my owl friends and mentees. One of them, Brenda Hente, went out on Sunday morning and saw two owlets at the same time and kindly texted this information. Thank you, Michael and Brenda!<br />
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I was able to get to the park last night and while I did not see two owlets at once, I clearly saw two different owlets, one older than the other. I first saw the younger of the two down low in the nest. [Be sure to double-click on the photos to see a larger version]<br />
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A few minutes later I had my best view of an owlet so far this year. Judging by size, facial disk and ability to remain visible i.e., strength and endurance this is the older of the two.<br />
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It is beyond exciting to see owlets again! A little later I was lucky to see an owlet, presumably the older, move in the nest and stretch its wing.<br />
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The owlet continued to move in the nest and had its back facing out. I wondered if it was trying to defecate outside of the nest. I did not see that happen but judging by some flecks of whitewash along the lower edged of the hollow, this may be happening.<br />
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Such "toilet-training" is a big developmental step for the owlets but it is not without its dangers. One step too far could be bad news. Before the owlets can go over the side, the female parent is known to eat the owlets' pellets and whitewash. Aspects of motherhood can be hard to swallow.<br />
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I do not know if there are two or three or more owlets, I just have to keep watching patiently and see what happens. In my time with the owls, Charles and Sarah have had three owlets four times, two owlets four times and one owlet once. Two-three owlets is the average for Charles and Sarah and for Great Horned Owls overall. In the, so far, two years that they have had three owlets in this hollow, I have never seen all three owlets at once in the hollow. <br />
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That said, one of the many compelling aspects of watching the owls and their young is to see patterns develop and these same patterns change in ways great and small. Charles and Sarah provided telling examples of this last night. <br />
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I found Charles in one of his typical spots of the last several months; The Tallest of The Trio Conifers. Of late when he perches there he usually flies to The Arena or the very edge of it. Last night, however, he moved to a much closer spot in The Overlook Hotel Tree. Here he is in mid-escalator stretch.<br />
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I had not found Sarah and I came to the conclusion that she was still in the nest. With the return of warmer weather she has been out of the nest more often than not. Brenda arrived and we continued to look for Sarah. We returned to The Arena and I spied Sarah high in The Second of The Three Trees. I had looked in this tree several times earlier and had not found her. We agreed that she had likely been in the nest.<br />
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We changed our angle on her and noticed that she was in a spot in which we had rarely if ever seen her in this frequently used tree. It was great to see her there as the setting sun bathed her in light.<br />
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Sarah returned to the nest and Charles did come out to The Arena, landing in a less than regularly used spot in The Second of The Trees. He hooted there for several minutes before flying out east to hunt, which he has done quite regularly of late.<br />
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The sunset provided gorgeous colors and skies. <br />
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Another amazing night in this fantastic park with these incredible owls.<br />
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Thank you for reading!<br />
<br />Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-24652389064225989112015-03-07T21:05:00.003-06:002015-03-07T21:06:48.487-06:00First Owlet Sighting Of 2015!<b><u>March 7, 2015</u></b><br />
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This morning I had my first sighting of one of Charles and Sarah's owlets in 2015! Woo-hoo! Fantastic! Awesome! <br />
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It was two brief glimpses of a wing and body. The wing flapped aka "hitting the gym" twice and I was able to get a portion of it in my camera. All of the owlet photos have been cropped for greater detail. As always, be sure to double click on each photo to see a larger version of it.<br />
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When I lead an owl prowl or give a talk, I try to emphasize how there are so many aspects of the owls behavior and lives that one simple never tires of observing. The first glimpse of an owlet each nesting season certainly fits this criteria. I wish I had seen the owlets face but just seeing the owlet was more than enough! Last year's first owlet sighting was on March 3. The 2014 and 2015 breeding cycles were quite chronologically similar and I hoped to see an owlet this week. Each day without seeing an owlet raised hopes higher for the following day. The bitterly cold weather earlier in the week made a first sighting less likely. As the week went on and the temperatures rose, my hopes for a first sighting followed suit. </div>
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So why was I out in Forest Park on a Saturday morning? Well it was a special Saturday even before I saw the owlet. The first Saturday of every month, unless the rain or snow are pouring or it is a holiday weekend, is the Forest Park Beginner Birder Walk. A joint venture of <a href="http://www.forestparkforever.org/" target="_blank">Forest Park Forever</a> and <a href="http://www.stlouisaudubon.org/" target="_blank">St. Louis Audubon Society</a>; these walks have been going for a good chunk of years. After letting my pillow win the argument about whether to wake up and bird or not, I began going on these walks several years ago. I have enjoyed this walk ever since and regretted that I did not go earlier! It is my immense honor, since October 2013, to be the co-leader of this walk along with <a href="http://www.forestparkforever.org/land-management/" target="_blank">Forest Park Forever Nature Reserve Steward, Amy Witt</a>. As the co-leader I am not filling the Grand Canyon-sized shoes of my predecessor, <a href="https://coe.umsl.edu/mycoe/index.cfm?event=p2_profiles:viewProfile&sso_id=wilsonjh" target="_blank">Dr. James H. Wilson</a> , who, along with Amy, asked me to be the new co-leader. Rather I am making a gesture of a hint of a notion of a scheme of a theory of an attempt at filling his shoes. </div>
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I always go out before the walk begins, we meet at 8;15 and head out for two hours at 8:30, to look for and see the owls. The vast majority of the time I talk some of the walk goers to see the owls after the walk concludes. I did so today and these folks were thrilled to see Charles and Sarah. I hope you can come out on one of these walks soon-we have a blast and see great birds and other wildlife! For more details and other Forest Park birding information, please visit <a href="http://www.forestparkforever.org/bird-watching/" target="_blank">this portion of Forest Park Forever's website</a>. </div>
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As sunset drew near, I returned to the park eager to see more of the owlet and any others that might be in the nest. I found Sarah and then with the help of J.R. Ball, an owl fan of several years, I saw Charles. I told J.R. about seeing the owlet and we started watching the nest. A new owl addict Praveen, and his lovely family, joined us and like J.R. they were excited to hear about the owlet. We did not see the owlet and as they headed home, my girlfriend, Wendy Schlegel, joined me. Wendy, a connoisseur of the cute, was keen as ever for a first owlet sighting and she proved to be the magic ingredient. Soon after she arrived I looked again in the nest and saw the owlet's face and body! We exclaimed with delight as we honed binoculars and cameras for a better look in the fading light. What a beauty! [Both Wendy and the owlet]</div>
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A great way to end the birding day and the week! The week was full of interesting behaviors by the owls some explicable and clear and others puzzling, confusing but no less fascinating. <br />
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Thank you for reading!Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-43353019783016990752015-01-20T14:27:00.000-06:002015-01-20T14:29:08.326-06:00Second Radio Story, Charles Attacks Great Blue Herons and Nesting Update<b><u>Tuesday, January 20, 2014</u></b><br />
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The second piece on the owls and my work with them on the radio program, <i>Missouri Environment</i>, on KBIA 91.3 Mid-Missouri Public in Columbia, Missouri aired this morning. This piece focused on an owl prowl itself. The show's host and producer, Gary Grigsby, and KBIA did yet another great job and you can hear it here:<br />
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<a href="http://kbia.org/post/prowl-owls-st-louis-forest-park">http://kbia.org/post/prowl-owls-st-louis-forest-park</a><br />
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A great thrill and honor to have two superb stories done on this prowl. Thank you, Gary and KBIA!<br />
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With Sarah nesting, Charles is doing all that he can to bring home the bacon. On Saturday, January 10 he made two attempts on a Great Blue Heron in the space of about twenty-thirty minutes. Predatory attempts are always amazing to see but attempts on this species is something else given that they are twice the size of the owls. Watch the two attempts below:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/nk4MukfomP0" width="420"></iframe><br />
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He did not catch the heron on either attempt but there was no doubt that the heron was terrified and flying for its very life.<br />
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Sarah has been nesting for twenty-two days. By now she has almost certainly laid all of her eggs after her ten-fourteen day pre-laying period of rest/preparation. She is well into the nesting routine of spending more than twenty-three hours a day on the nest with only a few breaks for stretching, grooming, eating and bodily functions. I managed to film her, not especially well, flying out of the nest yesterday. It is hard to do so because she does not linger at the hollow's opening and she comes out after sunset, the vast majority of the time.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/t1aptXKmNxE" width="560"></iframe><br />
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You can hear Charles hooting as she comes out of the nest. They had a great duet last night with her landing right next to him at one point.<br />
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On Saturday, January 17 I gave a talk for the staff and volunteers of <a href="http://www.wildbirdrehab.org/" target="_blank">Wild Bird Rehabilitation </a> on the owls' hunting and feeding behavior. It was my first talk of 2015 and my second talk for this excellent organization that does great and important work. The talk went well and I took some of these folks out for an owl prowl that night. I explained to them how I find the owls using my interpretation of ESL, which translates to: Experience, Skill and Luck. ESL was working well that night as I reacquired Charles out hunting at the edge of a prairie about a half mile (as the owl flies) from where he had been perched.<br />
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ESL was in good form the next night too as I was leading another owl prowl. We had been watching Charles, who began to hoot regularly, when I suggested we head closer to the nest to look for Sarah emerging from it. As we started down a hill I heard Charles hoot and then, just a second or two later, hoot again. Knowing that a hoot from Charles quickly following another is often a sign that he sees Sarah, I turned around to see her alighting close to him. Something made her change her spot quickly and we were treated with a close view of a powerful, graceful flight with her arching past us and heading to The Four Trees. <br />
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Charles joined her in The Four Trees for a duet. Sarah then flew to The Middle Tree. I told the prowlees that she would likely return to the nest after a brief pause in The Middle Tree. She did just that and one of the prowlees kindly acknowledged my ESL.<br />
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ESL continued as Charles was found over a half mile away that night. Here are some pictures of Charles from last night. (Be sure to double click on each one to see a larger image)<br />
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Sleeping deeply:<br />
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Doing an Escalator Stretch:<br />
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Doing a Fluff Up<br />
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Thank you for reading!<br />
<br />Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-79292009940804728572015-01-06T10:11:00.000-06:002015-01-06T10:11:20.951-06:00Owls On The Radio and Owlet Update<b><u>Tuesday, January 6, 2015</u></b><br />
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The first piece on the owls and my work with them on the radio program, <i>Missouri Environment</i>, on KBIA 91.3 Mid-Missouri Public in Columbia, Missouri aired this morning. The show's host and producer, Gary Grigsby, and KBIA did a great job and you can hear it here:<br />
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<a href="http://kbia.org/post/owl-man-knows-all-about-charles-and-sarah">http://kbia.org/post/owl-man-knows-all-about-charles-and-sarah</a><br />
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It is a thrill and honor to have the owls and my work featured and shared in this way. The second piece will air in two weeks on Tuesday, January 20. I cannot wait!<br />
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Some readers have asked about the youngest owlet and I realized I forgot to include the latest about the youngest owlet in my last post. The most recent night I saw the owlet was on Friday, December 26. No one has reported to me that they have seen or heard it since then either. I hope the owl has dispersed safely and successfully. Should it return I will be sure to let you all know.<br />
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In the meantime, Sarah continues to nest. It has been a week since she started to nest. Here are two highlights with Charles from last night. He perched in Charles' Xmas Tree and began his wake up process by ejecting a pellet and doing an Escalator Stretch:<br />
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Later on while he was in The First of Three Trees, a Great Blue Heron flew passed. It circled back towards The 06/09/11/13/14/15 Nest Tree and Charles went for it. Listen at the 24 second mark for the croaking distress calls of this massive bird as it evades Charles.<br />
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This was possibly the second attack made by Charles last night on a bird of this species. Earlier I heard similar distress calls by a Great Blue Heron and turned to see Charles pulling up to land in a tree near the heron. Amazing to see the owls go after a bird twice its size!<br />
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Thank you for reading and listening!Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520514702094485674.post-13653635764067312902015-01-04T21:10:00.000-06:002015-01-04T21:10:07.542-06:00Sarah Is Nesting, More Media Coverage, and Ninth Owliversary!<b><u>Sunday, January 4, 2015</u></b><br />
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There is a plethora of new news to communicate so I will jump to it! Sarah is nesting! She began nesting on December 30, 2014. She has begun nesting in late December the last three years in a row. Speaking of three years in a row, she is again nesting in The 11/13/14 Nest Hollow in The 06/09/11/13/14 Nest Tree for an unprecedented third year in a row. As such this hollow is now renamed The 11/13/14/15 Nest Hollow and subsequently the tree as The 06/09/11/13/14/15 Nest Tree. A mouthful, to say the least, but chronologically accurate and respectful.<br />
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It is amazing that Sarah is nesting again in this hollow and nesting again, period. This is the tenth consecutive nesting by Sarah of which I know. In re-reading some of the literature today, it was again striking to read that many Great Horned Owls do not nest every year. This fact is in marked contrast with the amazing consistency of Sarah and Charles. This consistency speaks highly of their fitness, both as individuals and as a mated pair. <br />
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As in years past, Charles is perching at the edge of the hollow or in other nearby spots, most typically The Fleur de lis Tree or Sarah's Autumnal Perch. Here he is today at the edge of the hollow. What a beauty.<br />
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Here is Sarah flying out of the hollow tonight, which she did especially early. More to say about that but time is limited. Gorgeous owl, gorgeous flight.<br />
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Since Sarah has begun to nest, there have been many highlights of note. One was last night when she followed Charles out east/southeast and they mated in an area of great importance to and of much work by my cohorts in the <a href="http://www.greatrivers.org/" target="_blank">Great Rivers Chapter</a> of the <a href="http://extension.missouri.edu/masternaturalist/" target="_blank">Missouri Master Naturalist Program</a>. <br />
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Another recent highlight was seeing Sarah from the waterway drink on Friday, January 2. Sarah has regularly drunk early in her nesting period. It is likely that the forming eggs require additional liquid input beyond the owls usual supply of liquid that comes from their prey. You can read about Sarah quaffing previously <a href="http://forestparkowls.blogspot.com/2011/12/sarah-takes-drink.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://forestparkowls.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-great-end-to-old-year-welcome-new-year.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://forestparkowls.blogspot.com/2014/01/sarah-takes-another-drink-ducks.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Here is Sarah drinking on Friday. Note the care and caution with which she drinks.<br />
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The commencement of Sarah nesting and the time just before and after were not observed and documented by me. I was happily ensconced in New Hampshire at the home of my brother, Peter, and his family for several days with 19 of the 24 members of my large immediate family. Living in four states and two countries it is hard to get many of us together but we did so this year, our biggest gathering since 2010 and 2005. My friend and owl mentee, Brenda Hente, did yeoman's work keeping an eye, two actually, on the owls and documenting their doings AND keeping me appraised. Huge thank yous to her and an appropriate thank you gift is on its way.<br />
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The new year also happily brings along new media coverage on the owls an my work with them. This coverage will be on the public radio station of Columbia, Missouri, KBIA 91.3 FM as part of a bi-weekly program called <i>Missouri Environment</i> produced by Gary Grigsby. In addition to producing this program, <a href="http://journalism.missouri.edu/staff/gary-grigsby/" target="_blank">Gary is an Associate Professor at the University of Missouri, Columbia</a>. I first heard from Gary a few years back and we have been in touch since then. He came out in September 2014 on an owl prowl I led for the <a href="http://www.academyofsciencestl.org/academy-programs/academy-of-science-st-louis-bioblitz/" target="_blank">2014 St. Louis Bioblitz</a> a project of the <a href="http://www.academyofsciencestl.org/" target="_blank">Academy of Science - St. Louis</a>. Happily, Gary enjoyed the prowl immensely. I was quite chuffed when he told that he was so taken by the owls and my work with them that the one story he planned would now be two stories.<br />
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The first story airs this Tuesday, January 6th at 7:04am CST. It will be on the<a href="http://kbia.org/" target="_blank"> station's main page</a> at<br />
that day and anytime on the page for the show <i><a href="http://kbia.org/programs/missouri-environment" target="_blank">Missouri Environment</a></i>. The second story will be two weeks later on Tuesday January 20th at 7:04am and on the same links as above. If you want to hear the story live on the air you can at some distance. According to KBIA's FAQ:<br />
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"KBIA has a repeater station, KKTR, at 89.7 FM, broadcasting from the campus of Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, and covering all of Kirksville and most of Adair County. The KBIA 91.3 FM signal broadcasts from the KOMU-TV tower, located six miles south of Columbia. The primary signal radius of KBIA is about 60 miles; KBIA's digital-only side channels are available in a somewhat more concentrated area. All three KBIA channels are available worldwide in live streaming audio."<br />
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Thank you to Gary for his interest, dedication and enthusiasm. I cannot wait to hear the stories and I hope you feel the same!<br />
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Last but not least, while I was in New Hampshire, I reached my ninth owliversary. I began to see the owls consistently on December 29, 2005. Every time that this date rolls around is a time of much reflection and gratitude. I never imagined that I would get to know any owls. never mind this amazing pair in as much depth as I have. Their impact on my life is beyond estimation and I am overjoyed and ever-amazed how they impact the lives of others.<br />
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I have not had time to do my usual data crunching that I do when I reach an owliversary but I am confident that I maintained my average of watching Charles, Sarah and their offspring 260-300 nights a year. Outreach efforts continued to grow and flourish with 40 talks given and 68 owl prowls led in 2014 up from 28 and 57, respectively in 2013. I gave my first talks in Illinois, three in all, and my first in Kansas City. Many talks, both in and out of town, were for new institutions and ones that kindly had me back for subsequent presentations. I have over 10 talks booked for 2015 and including ones in Edwardsville, Carbondale and Springfield, Illinois and in Union and Neosha, Missouri. If you work with a organization that would like to host one of my talks, please contact me at: mglenshaw@gmail.com<br />
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Thank you for reading and Happy New Year!Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01622677185777264763noreply@blogger.com2