Forest Park Owls

OWLETS!!

2012-02-06T20:12:00.013-06:00

Monday, February 6, 2012

After many days of seeing hints that hatching occurred (Sarah sitting higher in the hollow by the day and looking down within the hollow), tonight we saw two owlets!

After a day whose beginning was certainly "a case of the Mondays", arriving at the park was especially welcome. Sarah was even higher in the nest than Sunday but despite looking from several different angles and altitudes no owlets were visible. Charles was in his favorite conifer; one of the the three perch spots he has employed the most this nesting season.

I soon ran into several owl friends, new and old, including Kim and Anna Rois, Terry Bond and my great owl friends and mentees, Brenda Hente, Barb Brownell and Chris Gerli. Today marks a special day for Brenda: it is the one year anniversary of the first time she came to Forest Park for an owl prowl to see Charles and Sarah. Adapting from my term "owliversary", Brenda has dubbed this day her "prowliversary."

Charles began to hoot and we all watched Sarah carefully. Barb and Chris departed to check on another pair of GHOs that they have been focusing on now for several weeks and others of us have checked out regularly.

Sarah emerged from the nest and flew to The Fleur de lis Tree. All attention went to the nest and we soon saw a small, young owlet's white/grey downy body rising up above the bottom lip of the hollow. Watch at about the 5-6 second mark:

Amazing! Here's the first still I snapped. Be sure to double click on it to see a larger image.

Sweet! It's an owlet at least week old and maybe as much as three weeks old. Sarah started nesting on December 17. The average incubation period for Great Horned Owls is 33 days. In addition, Sarah seems to have a one-two week period before she lays the eggs when she is in the nest and settling down to nesting while building up to it simultaneously.

We kept looking and we all saw a second owlet. Unfortunately, I did not get a good photo/video evidence of the second owlet tonight. But here is some more video of the first owlet:

Sarah returned to the nest and I got a shot of her at the nest with the owlet looking up at her.

Charles went flying off east and I reacquired him.

He moved to a softball backstop and I was able to get some pictures of him with a St. Louis landmark and my favorite building in town, in the background.

He eventually flew off east and I headed for home. What a night!

Thanks for reading!

6th Owliversary!!

2011-12-29T20:10:00.005-06:00

Thursday, December 29, 2011

I reached a new milestone tonight. Tonight marks the sixth year since I started to observe and document the owls with great consistency. After first observing the owls one evening in late August-early September (I wish I had written down the exact date), I had a few months of inconsistent sightings. Thanks to networking, research and dogged persistence, I began to see the owls consistently on December 29, 2005. I did write this date down and since then it has been my anniversary or owliversary. I remember hitting the one year mark and then the two year and so on. Reaching the five year mark last year was a big deal. With another year on and the six year mark reached, I am not shy to say that is a big deal again. Observing and documenting Charles and Sarah and their progeny is a great joy as well as a great deal of work and dedication.

Due to my inability with all but the most basic mathematics and my early exposure to Monty Python, accountancy has never been my strong suit. That said, after reaching another year of observing, documenting and sharing these amazing owls, a little number crunching is worthwhile. From December 29, 2010 through December 29, 2011, the following occurred:

I went to the park to watch the owls on 279 nights aka 76% of the nights in the year. Travels in February, April, and June were welcome journeys that renewed mind and body but also cut down on the overall attendance. April and July 2011 had the fewest visits with 19 apiece. December 2011 has the highest number of visits with 29 so far and more to come. The longest consecutive stretch of visits started on November 12, 2011 and has not met its end so far. In the interest of full disclosure, some of these visits have been brief, to say the least. On several occasions time has been short and I stopped by with enough time to find the owls, count heads, and wish them well. Conversely, several visits have lasted over two hours and one went about four hours in length. My success rate in finding the owls in this twelve month period has been one hundred percent. The previous high was nintey-seven percent.

In the last twelve months I have seen the owls hoot, hunt, duet, fly, hop on the ground, mate, nest, raise two owlets, get mobbed and chased by other birds and animals, amaze onlookers, baffle, confuse, bewilder and stupefy me, buzz me at low altitudes, eject pellets, defecate, perch in places new and old, and much more. I gave well received talks on the owls to the St. Louis Audubon Society, middle school students of Emmanuel Lutheran School, The Men's Club and Ladies' Guild of Emmanuel Lutheran Church and Forest Park Forever's Fall Family Funfest. I have led owl prowls for many individuals and groups including Washington University in St. Louis and Alberici Construction. Articles on the owls and my work with them were printed this year in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Show-me Missouri (a quarterly travel magazine) and The University News (the student newspaper of St. Louis University). I continue to teach to and learn from dedicated friends and owl mentees. Their great work, superb questions and quick learning keeps me on my toes and I am proud of them all. Thanks to them, I have also seen other pairs of Great Horned Owls, which is a great aid to my understanding of the species. The number of books I have on owls now exceeds thirty volumes after starting with just one book a few months prior to my first spotting of the owls. The number of views of the videos of the owls and other Forest Park wildlife on my YouTube page is now over fourteen thousand. I received countless kind words, kudos and compliments. Some of my favorites were from folks who thought that seeing the owls or hearing a talk on them would be dull as dishwater but then found themselves wanting to see and learn more about these amazing animals. It has been a great year.

To mark the occasion of my sixth owlivesary, I tried to see as many owls as I could today in Forest Park. I hoped to find seven owls, four Great Horned Owls and three Barred Owls. I found five in all, four Great Horned Owls and one Barred Owl. My girlfriend, Wendy, joined me on this quest and her presence and help was especially appropriate. Of all the many supportive owl friends, mentees and fans, Wendy's support of my work with the owls has been the deepest, the most rewarding and the longest lasting. She has and continues to be the biggest booster of my work and on so many different fronts. From finding new books and articles on owls, to reviewing my stills and video from each night's visit, and generously providing me with new optical and photographic devices, she is truly amazing. I often make good-natured fun of Wendy's fair weather preferences when I lead owl prowls or give talks on the owls. Thankfully, it was an unseasonably warm December day and we reveled in feeling the warm air on our exposed ears and hands. Wendy delighted in seeing all five owls and her enthusiasm was infectious.

I returned to watch Charles and Sarah and they amazed as always. After several nights of not seeing them mate, they mated no more than fifty feet from me. I also had several excellent exchanges of owl and park ambassadorship. Thanks for reading and I look forward to seeing you in the park and sharing the owls with you in the coming year!

Sarah Takes A Drink!

2011-12-24T08:06:00.006-06:00

Saturday, December 23, 2011

Well, last night along with my friend and owl mentee, Brenda Hente, I saw Sarah take a drink in the waterway. This was only the fourth time I have seen her drink in the almost six years that I have been observing and documenting her and Charles. Unlike the previous times there was still a fair amount of daylight left so I could film it. She flew out of the hollow in The 08/12 Nest Tree, where she is currently nesting, to The Middle Tree and after a few minutes she flew down to the waterway. My initial thought was that she was making a predatory attempt along the banks of the waterway but no, she began to drink. My still photos were poor but I got some solid video of the whole process. Watch and enjoy!

Notice how cautious she was while drinking: short sips of water and in between sips she is looking around constantly on the alert. Charles continued to hoot as they had been duetting prior to her drinking in the waterway.

Great Horned Owls and other birds of prey get most of their liquid needs from the prey they eat but if need be they will drink water. I wondered why she was drinking water now and Brenda made a great point that since Sarah is nesting and getting ready to lay eggs, her need for liquid is probably heightened.

The night continued in superb fashion. The owls resumed their duet and mated. It was the twenty-third time (in twenty-seven nights) I have seen them mate this breeding season. We followed Charles when he went off to hunt and were able to reacquire him a few times thanks to ESL (Experience, Skill, Luck). We were getting ready to leave the park, when Charles returned to The Middle Tree and made a food exchange with Sarah. It looked like a small rodent or bird. They duetted some more before Charles headed out to resume hunting. A great night with the owls. Thanks for reading!

Sarah Is Nesting!!

2011-12-18T08:39:00.014-06:00

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Three weeks after the first time the owls mated this breeding season, Sarah has chosen this year's nest location! She is in the 2008 Nest Tree. Now that she has chosen this tree it is now The 08/12 Nest Tree. The nest tree is again a Cottonwood tree and again it is a hollow. It is a beautiful spot, easy to see into and one of my favorite spots in which they have nested.

As you may have guessed they nested in this same spot in 2008, the first year I saw them have three owlets: Bart, Lisa and Maggie. They also had three owlets in 2010: Reese, Malcolm and Dewey. When they nested in this spot in 2008, I was able to see owlets at an earlier age than I have ever done before or since then. We were able to see them fledge over a magical multi-night period.

If you know where this tree is keep a good, safe and respectable distance away from it. At least 50-100 feet. Female Great Horned Owls are notoriously aggressive when nesting and you do not want to be attacked by an owl that can kill and eat Raccoons, Canada Geese and other large and powerful animals.

During the fall I saw Sarah visit this location a few times and Charles several times. They both visited this nest location more than any other and I was leaning heavily to this spot. For variety's sake, I may have preferred a new yet unused spot but I am very happy she has chosen this spot. As in many things in a mated pair's life (be it owls or humans), the male participates in the process but the female makes the decision. Male Great Horned Owls play real estate agent by showing different nesting spots to the females but the females sign the big, stinking check.

This is the second time I have seen them re-use the exact same nesting spot. In 2009, they nested exactly where they had in 2006. Last year, they nested in a different spot in this same tree and it is now known as The 06/09/11 Nest Tree. In each of these years, they had two owlets.

It all started yesterday with a call from my friend and owl-mentee, Brenda Hente. She had stopped by the park for a quick look after running some errands. She found Charles in his favorite conifer but had not found Sarah. We agreed to meet up in the afternoon after I finished my own errands. I got to the park and met Brenda and sure enough was in his favorite conifer and he had begun to stretch and hoot. Here's him in mid-escalator stretch (stretching one of his legs and wings). Be sure to double click on the photos to see larger versions of each shot.

Brenda said she needed my eagle eyes to find Sarah who again had remained undetected. Thankfully my eagle (or owl) eyes have been working especially well lately. I've had some great long-distance naked eye spottings of the owls in recent weeks. I asked Brenda where she had looked and we went from there. We checked out a potential nest spot that both owls had checked out on a memorable night in September. I had never seen them visit this hollow and it was among the contenders for this year's nest spot. We didn't see anyone there so we headed to The 2008 Nest Tree. From about 60 yards away I saw with my naked eye what looked like something in the hollow. We raised our binoculars and sure enough it was Sarah!

We were thrilled especially as we had been thinking that they would start nesting soon! We got closer and closer and got some great views of her in this amazing spot. What a beauty!

As you can see it's a big hollow and you can see well into it. Another fascinating aspect of it is that it faces west and gets big doses of afternoon sun as you see below.

We took a closer look and got the unconcerned but undivided attention of Sarah.

The whole time we were watching her in the nest we kept uttering superlatives and our faces were fixed with goofy grins. It is a thrill, privilege and honor to witness such a big development in these amazing animals' lives.

She eventually climbed out of the hollow and flew to The Fleur de lis Tree, much as she had when she nested in this general area in 2008, 2009 and 2011. After a slowly developing duet, she and Charles mated. They have been very busy mating owls this year. I have seen them mate 18 times in 22 days including two nights when they mated twice in the same night. Much more to write about and share about the mating including some good videos. Thanks for reading and if you want to go on an owl prowl (tour), just give contact me at mglenshaw@gmail.com !

Charles and Sarah sitting in a tree, m-a-t-i-n-g.

2011-11-27T04:25:00.010-06:00

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Amazing. Charles and Sarah mated last night. In the rain and four days earlier than I have ever seen them mate. Incredible.

I got to the park just around sunset and it was already quite dark due to the rainy skies. The rain was steady but it was warm out with temperatures in the high50s to low 60s. Thankfully, I had received a helpful text from my friend and owl mentee, Brenda Hente. Brenda had gone to the park in the morning before the rain hit. She let me know that Charles was in his favorite conifer and Sarah was in her autumnal perch. Thank you, Brenda!

Sure enough, as I approached their territory I could hear Charles hooting and he was still in his favorite conifer. Due to the rain, I just had my point-and-shoot camera and my binos on me (under my umbrella) so my picture/video quality is decent but not as good as it would be on a non-rainy day. Here's Charles captured in mid-hoot:

I went looking for Sarah and she soon hooted in reply. Judging from her call, I was confident that she was no longer in her autumnal perch and may have sought a tree offering greater protection from the rain. I heard her again and determined that she was in The Overlook Hotel Tree. Just as I was approaching this tree, she flew out and landed, as she had for the previous three nights, in The Jungle Gym Tree near The Archy Tree. Here she is, also in mid-hoot:

She was completely exposed to the rain and I made a prescient but inadvertent and innocently innuendo-filled pun by saying, "Sarah's gonna get pretty wet." Ah, thankyouverymuch.

The duet increased in tempo, frequency and yes, intimacy. Charles began his intimate hoots that have a purring quality and also sound like he's practicing rolling his Spanish by rolling his Rs. More "hurr hurr" then "hoo hoo." That said, they had done exactly this type of duetting over the last three nights in the same spots and each night the duet was cut short. Charles would leave to go to nest hollow of The 2008 Nest Tree. Sarah would remain in this jungle tree and hoot a few times before flying east. I would reacquire Charles and he would begin to hoot again but the duet was over.

This was not to be the case on this night. Charles flew out a short distance and landed in a deciduous tree near The Cut-In. Upon landing he hooted loudly and also hooted some one syllable hoots in short succession. I've heard him make such calls after mating and after hearing them tonight I dubbed them "Choo-Choo Hoots" as they are reminiscent of a steam train. Sarah flew and landed close to Charles. The duet continued intensely. Sarah flew past Charles a little waya but the duet continued and he flew to her and they mated. Check it out and crank your volume:

Just incredible. Last year, I first saw them mate on November 30. Prior to that the earliest I saw them mate was in 2009 on December 6. And now in 2011, mating on November 26. I saw them mate on Xmas Eve last year as it snowed but never before in the rain. I called Wendy, my girlfriend, to tell her the news and she was thrilled.

The night continued to amaze. Charles had flown towards The Middle Conifers and after a brief pause, Sarah followed in that direction. I didn't find either of them in this glade but I found Sarah nearby in The Mixed Glade just before she flew north. I reacquired her in a glade of conifers on the south bank of the lake before she continued north. ESL (Experience, Skill, Luck) was flowing last night and I found her just north of The Right Hand Tree. She stayed there for a while and then I heard Charles hoot, first from the east and then from the north.

In a flash, Sarah flew off and I lost her in the horizon line but she not gone far but had gone to a fascinating spot. She had landed on the cable of the bridge just north of The Right Hand Tree. I had never seen one of the owls on this bridge before and it was wild that she was not on the bridge structure but on the cable. Also unlike her previous perches which were sheltered, she was wide open to the rain, which increased in tempo and volume.

Charles' hooting ceased. Sarah remained on the bridge for many minutes. I saw her look east, bob her head from side-to-side for greater depth perception and then fly east along the waterway. I found her just as she flew further east and I'm reasonably certain that I flushed her. I pride myself on a stealthy, cautious approach but there are times when one approaches too close too fast and they fly away. As always when this happened, I apologized and cursed my lapse in stealth. I found her roughly parallel west of The 2008 Nest Tree.

As Wendy and I had dinner reservations I took my leave but my night with the owls was still not done. I heard Charles hoot twice more from the south bank of the lake. I smiled and bade the owls good night and good luck. Wendy and I had a great meal at the superb restaurant Harvest in Richmond Heights. We've dined there several times before and it is always tremendous. I commented to Wendy that it was an especially appropriate choice of restaurant on this night. I saw the owls sowing seeds and we went to Harvest. Thanks for reading!

Will That Be Cache Or...?

2011-08-15T14:12:00.002-05:00

Monday, August 15, 2011

One of the many fascinating things about owls is that they will store or cache prey to eat at a later time. When nesting, male owls are the only ones to do the hunting and they will often catch and cache loads of prey so that their mates and then the owlets have plenty to eat. Owls that live in cold, northerly climates (including Great Horned Owls) are known in winter to even sit on frozen prey that have they uncached (removed from their cache sites) so that the prey is again edible. They act as their own microwave ovens!

Caching is an instinctual behavior and not a learned one. In his great book, Messages From An Owl, biologist Dr. Max R. Terman describes how his Great Horned Owl, Stripey, began caching prey in the first summer of his life. Stripey did not have a chance to learn this behavior from his parents as he was only four weeks old when taken under the care of Dr. Terman. I've seen very little caching behavior by Charles and Sarah. However, I am confident that it is one of those behaviors that they do and I just haven't been lucky enough to witness it frequently.

The first time I saw caching was in the spring of 2008. That year Charles and Sarah had three owlets; Bart, Lisa and Maggie (after The Simpsons). On this particular afternoon/early evening, I saw Sarah fly to The 07 Nest Tree and disappear into the hollow of this Cottonwood in which she had nested in 2007. Out she came with something brown and mammalian in shape in her talons. She landed in The Great Northern Tree and began to feed on what she had carried. The owlets soon joined her in the tree and she began to feed them. From what I saw, I thought Sarah had caught an Eastern Grey Squirrel when she went to The 07 Nest Tree. I carefully made my way towards them for a closer look. I finally got close enough and saw long rabbit legs and a furry rabbit tail. I realized that unless rabbits were now arboreal (tree dwelling), Sarah had uncached an Eastern Cottontail Rabbit! It was great to finally see this behavior.

In my previous post I wrote about Sarah feeding the owlets (of 2011, Dalton and Monica) an Eastern Cottontail Rabbit on March 31. After feeding much of the rabbit to the owlets, Sarah flew off with the last leg and part of the hindquarters. The next night Sarah flew over to The Middle Conifers. In less than two minutes she was back with prey. Again, my initial thought was that Sarah had caught something. I looked closely at the prey and realized it was the remaining rabbit rations. She had cached it in The Middle Conifers the night before and then uncached it!

While this was great to see the events of April 11 were even more fascinating. It was a blustery day and I only had a relatively brief time to spend with the owls that evening. This became one of those nights when a brief allotment of time with the owls became stretched out further since so much fascinating behavior occurred.

I quickly found Sarah and the owlets. Crows began to mob and Sarah and her youngsters and Charles began to hoot and I found him in his favorite conifer. The mobbing crows eventually departed and the owlets began to beg for food with their raspy begging cheeps. Sarah took flight and landed in The Great Northern Tree. I followed her and began to watch her. I saw her perched on what appeared to be a prey item but I was wrong. Soon after Sarah began looking to the left, to the right, above and below as if she was trying to find something she misplaced. It dawned on me that she was looking for prey that she had cached so that she could feed her hungry youngsters. Sarah even changed positions within the tree to continue looking from new vantage points. I had a front row view of this fascinating behavior. Eventually she flew off right past me. Watch the videos below to see Sarah looking for the cached prey and then flying off again.

Sarah continued on flying towards The Bushy Tree. I came around to the other side of The Wooded Area to find her and like in an earlier post, she had quickly caught another prey item and my initial position was better than my current one. She had flown to The Big Dead Tree with the prey and one of the owlets flew to her side. I headed back around for a better view. I got there to find both owlets but no Sarah. Thinking that she may have gone back to The Great Northern to cache the new prey, I headed that way. I took a few steps and found Sarah roughly between The Big Dead Tree and The Great Northern. She was munching away on the prey she had caught. Even though I had a pretty good view, I couldn't tell what it was exactly but it was a gray, fuzzy bird or mammal. I wondered if she was going to eat a bit of it and then feed the owlets.

Charles began to hoot and his hoots had a real purring trill to them. Sarah responded with a constricted/raspy call I first heard in 2010 nesting season. After hearing this call several times during that nesting season, I was worried that the call was an extreme hunger stress call or that she might have a pellet stuck. Thanks to some great, helpful insight from renown owl experts Jim Duncan and Karla Kinstler, I learned that it is a normal Great Horned Owl call and may well be a nesting female's way of telling her mate that food is needed. Now in 2011, it was interesting to hear Sarah make this call with prey in her talons.

Sarah flew off towards The Middle Conifers and I thought she might be heading there to cache the prey. I reacquired her in a Sweet Gum not far from The Middle Conifers. Both owlets had come over to a tree at the edge of The Wooded Area close to Sarah. They knew she had food. With the prey in her talons Sarah flew over to The Middle Conifers.

Sarah then cached the prey and flew back to the edge of The Wooded Area not far from the owlets. With Sarah in plain sight and only a short distance away, I moved cautiously to get a closer look at the now cached prey. From my research, I know that owls will often aggressively defend cache sites. Biologist Dr. Bernd Heinrich describes cache defense well in his excellent book, One Man's Owl, about a Great Horned Owl that he raised and observed. Thankfully my close approach did not meet with disagreement from Sarah. I could now see the prey item more clearly and that it was a bird of roughly dove size.

Then something amazing happened-the cached prey fell out of the tree down to the grass below! I missed filming the fall as I never expected it to happen but I guess the wind got the better of Sarah's caching procedure. Still moving slowly and cautiously I was able to get a closer look at the bird. I still couldn't tell what species it was (please e-mail me if you can figure it out) but I could clearly see that the bird's head had been removed and eaten by Sarah. Birds of prey often eat the head of their prey first taking in the protein and nutrient rich brain. When the hunting is good, Great Horned Owls are known to eat the brain and leave the rest. It was wild to see the severed spinal cord so clearly.

My time in the park with the owls that night was brief but action-packed and fascinating. Later in the spring my friend, Brenda Hente, saw some more caching behavior by Sarah and it too was in The Middle Conifers. I walked home enjoying a stunning sunset, one of the many great side benefits of watching owls at twilight.

Thanks for reading!

The Owlets Have Dispersed

2011-08-07T08:14:00.007-05:00

Sunday, August 7, 2011

After a week of not seeing this year's owlets, Dalton and Monica, I am "making the call": the owlets have left the territory and are out on their own. This is always a bittersweet time. I miss seeing the owlets and their gradual growth and progression. At the same time I am excited that they are heading out to the big wide world and I wish them well with all the many challenges they face. It is also nice to see Charles and Sarah again just as a couple. Great Horned Owls have the longest breeding/offspring rearing season of any owl in North America. The parents only have a short time each year that is not leading up to or directly involved with having and taking care of youngsters. They are now truly empty nesters!

Dalton and Monica hatched sometime in late January to early February so they are six months old. This is the regular age and stage for owlets of the species to disperse. They are large, powerful owls and they have been well taken care of by their devoted parents.

The dispersal process is a natural one and though it can appear tough, it is an important process for several reasons. The owlets are encouraged to disperse by the parents. The parents stop bringing food to the owlets, who are already doing some hunting on their own. This food stoppage forces the owlets to head out and hunt and even disperse. If the owlets continue to remain in the parents' territory they can be chased away by the parents.

On Friday, July 29 I saw what I am 90% certain was Charles chasing one of the owlets away from the territory. I had found one of the owlets and both Charles and Sarah. Charles and Sarah have been duetting a lot recently to re-proclaim their territory and cement their pair bond and this night was no different. As the duet came to a conclusion I reacquired Charles in The Middle Conifers. I was showing him to a few passersby (I'm always keen to do some owl/park ambassadorship) when he flew to the top of a small conifer in The Mixed Glade. Moments later he flew further into the glade and then I saw another owl. It headed out of the glade at great speed followed by Charles. I don't think this was one adult following the other out to hunt, which I have seen before but Charles chasing the owlet out of the territory. Watch for yourself:

It's understandable to feel sympathy for the owlet but this is a natural and important process. If the owlets remained on the parents territory, the impact on the population of prey animals would be intense and in some cases, near catastrophic. Great Horned Owls require a great deal of food to survive and their presence makes a large impact on prey populations and even other predators, some of whom can be eaten by Great Horned Owls. If the owlets stayed and there were now 4-5 GHOs instead of 2, even the abundant prey populations of Forest Park would be severely impacted. Dispersal by the owlets also helps spread out and deepen the genetic pool, which is vital for the health of the species as a whole.

I have more to write about Dalton and Monica and what I observed of them this spring and summer. They were special owlets. One of the most amazing things I experienced with them was getting very close to them on several occasions this summer as you can see in the below photos:

Dalton on May 6:

Monica on July 11:

Be safe and good luck, Dalton and Monica! Thanks for reading!

Feeding Time!

2011-05-29T08:00:00.001-05:00

May 29, 2011

The owlets continue to grow in their abilities and they are close to full-grown physically. One of the amazing paradoxes of Great Horned Owls is how fast the owlets grow physically and how slow they take to mature and become independent in every other sense. When leading prowls or otherwise discussing the owls, I often tell people that the owlets, physically, are on par with a seventeen year-old human. In all other senses they are on par with a human toddler. That said, it is thrilling to see their gradual development. Every flight, landing, predatory gesture (to call them attempts at this stage is not quite accurate) is a building block to their independence. This year's owlets, Dalton and Monica, are flying (and landing) better than their previous siblings that I have seen at this age and stage. In recent weeks they have made significant progress towards their full maturation but that's a topic for a future post.

Let's take a little trip back to March 31 to see them being fed by Sarah. On this day I arrived and found the owlets, Sarah and Charles, in that order, pretty quickly. It was a lightly overcast day but I had arrived well before sunset. As I watched Sarah and the owlets from one side of The Wooded Area, Sarah suddenly flew off towards The Middle Conifers on the opposite side of The Wooded Area. I walked around quickly but quietly hoping to find Sarah. I got to the Middle Conifers but I could not find her anywhere in the vicinity. I finally turned around to look at the owlets and there was Sarah in The Big Dead Tree with prey in her talons! In the time it had taken me to walk the roughly 100 yards around to the Middle Conifers, she had caught something and flown back to The Wooded Area. She had already begun to dine.

I knew that if I went back to my original vantage point that I would have a great view of her eating on her own and then feeding the owlets. Not for the first time or the last, I wish I could teleport so that I could get there faster. I hurried back around and was amazed by what I saw. She had caught an Eastern Cottontail Rabbit and within moments, the owlets came over to be fed by her. Since it was still quite some time prior to sunset I was able to use the available light and get some dramatic photos and video. You can double-click on each photo to get a bigger image. The footage might be overly graphic for some people but this is the day-to-day reality of life and death in nature.

Now for some video:

Now that you have looked at the photos and video, let's go back and check out a few key points. Notice how when Sarah feeds the owlet, she keeps her eyes closed. She does this to protect her eyes from the owlet's sharp bill and less than precise movements. Sarah's feeding technique is fascinating as she holds down the rabbit with her massive and powerful talons and tears the prey with her bill. The fact that Sarah caught the rabbit so early underscores the Great Horned Owl's deserved reputation as an opportunistic hunter.

Sarah continued to feed the owlets for a while before flying off with the last leg of the rabbit. And there's more to tell about that...

Thanks for reading!

Post About An Owl Prowl and Owlet Antics!

2011-04-03T10:30:00.001-05:00

Sunday, April 3, 2011

I ran into my new owl/park friends Nicki and Jim Dwyer the other day and they were thrilled to see the now-fledged owlets, Dalton and Monica, as well as the owlets' parents, Charles and Sarah. Seeing the owlets inspired Nicki to write a great post on her blog about the sighting and to organize two more owl prowls. Thanks, Nicki!! The last of these two prowls is this coming Saturday, April 9. More information about the prowl and Nicki's excellent post can be found here. Many thanks, Nicki! I should also note that Jim is one of several folks who have happily succumbed to owl addiction this year. Well done, Jim!

Now that the owlets have fledged they are getting increasingly more active. For owlets of their age and stage I am impressed with how good their landings are. They still have a long way to go before they reach adult prowess and not just in landings but they are off to a great start.

One activity in which owlets often seem to engage is Follow The Leader. One owlet will fly to one branch and the other owlet(s) will follow suit. Here are two videos, in order, showing Dalton and Monica doing this on Thursday, March 28, 2011. In the first video, Dalton flies to a new perch.

In the second video, Monica joins in and doesn't meet with complete success or failure.

On Sunday, March 27, I led an owl prowl for Sally Topping and family along with my owl/park friend Brenda Hente (another new owl addict-bravo!). We followed Sarah and the owlets out to The Bushy Tree. It was the first time seeing these owlets in this tree, which is often a favorite tree for the owls to use during the summer. We had a great view of them as The Bushy Tree is still pretty bare and not thickly leafed out as it will be this summer. As we watched them, the owlets began to allopreen each other. Allopreening is the term for mutual grooming. I have only seen this behavior a few times over the years so it was great to see it and capture it on video.

In his great book Owls of the United States and Canada, the naturalist and photographer Wayne Lynch describes how allopreening is thought to have social and health benefits. The mutual grooming may enforce bonds between individuals be they a mated pair, siblings or parents and offspring. Allopreening also lets the groomee, if you will, have areas groomed that it cannot otherwise reach. In this same book, Lynch also has a great photo of a female Great Horned Owl being groomed by one of its owlets.

Thanks for reading!

Names For The Owlets

2011-03-24T21:35:00.031-05:00

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Choosing names for the owlets is always interesting. The first two groups of owlets in 2006 and 2007 did not get names but in 2008 when there were three owlets, I had to have names and since then I have named each year's owlets.

After some consideration, I have names for the two owlets hatched and fledged this year. I have named the younger, smaller owlet, Monica, after my late aunt, Monica Glenshaw (Aunty Mon), who died on September 20, 2010. I have named the older, bigger owlet, Dalton, after Dalton Brownell, the late father of my good owl and park friend, Barb Brownell. Mr. Brownell died just last week on March 18, 2011.

My Aunty Mon was an incredible lady. A doctor who spent the vast majority of her adult and professional life in rural Zimbabwe doing incredible work with major positive effects both micro and macro as described here. She was a very funny, unpretentious, incredibly hard-working woman with a great can-do attitude. Aunty Mon also had a great love for and connection with animals. I last saw her at my dad's funeral in 2003 and I would have loved to have seen her again before she passed away at much too premature age.

I did not know Mr. Brownell but I have been friends with his daughter, Barb, and her boyfriend/partner/joint-tax filer (and I'm spit-balling on the last one), Chris Gerli for a few years now. Barb and Chris are two of the longest serving fellow observers/owl addicts in both watching Charles and Sarah as well as another pair of Great Horned Owls; John and Jacqueline. No one knows more about these two owls than Barb and Chris. They have done amazing work these past two plus years observing and documenting John and Jacqueline and I am honored to call them owl mentees of mine. Mr. Brownell was surely a superb person both from what I have learned from his obituary and my knowledge of Barb as a person of great knowledge, humor, empathy and compassion.

The ages of the owls correspond with the ages of their namesakes. I don't know if the names correspond with the sex of the owls. Determining the sex of an immature owl requires an extremely up close and personal physical examination, which even if I knew how to do it, I would not do so. I think the owlets would be overly stressed by this process and Sarah might, and with good reason, try to turn me from The Owl Man into The Owl Eunuch. Thank you, no.

Here are pictures of the owlet Monica (be sure to double click on the pictures to see a full size version of each photo):

March 22:

March 23:

March 24:
Here are pictures of the owlet Dalton:

March 21:

March 22:

March 23:

March 24:

And here's both of them from last night, March 24. Dalton is on the left and Monica on the right:

Thank you for reading!

The Owlets Have Fledged!!

2011-03-23T06:10:00.001-05:00

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

In what comes as a pleasant, albeit puzzling surprise, we found on Monday night that the owlets have fledged! Fledging is the process of the owlets leaving both the immediate nest and the nest tree. They are well into The Wooded Area, a good 80-120 yards from the nest. Sarah is keeping a close eye on them and I'm sure Charles' hunting efforts continue apace. Here's the younger/smaller of the two:

Here's the older/bigger of the two:

You can tell the age size/difference by the greater feather maturation in the older one including bigger tufts!

Here are the two of them in one shot:

They are both gorgeous Great Horned owlets and I am so excited that they have fledged!

What is funny and embarrassing about finding the owlets is that I was right by them earlier the same night and I did not see them! The night began with me not seeing the owlets in the nest. I found Charles in his favorite conifer and Sarah a short distance from him just south/southwest of his pine-laden perch. It was puzzling to see Sarah much further away from the nest that she had been of late.

I went back to the nest and met my new owl friend Brenda Hente. Brenda has done a brilliant job of going from zero to owl addict in the last several months. We carefully looked in the nest but saw no owlets so we went to see Charles and Sarah. We located them and as we marveled at Sarah's massive, feather-covered talons, I turned my head slightly to the left and saw the younger owlet! I could barely believe my eyes and I had to look again before I whispered to Brenda that I saw an owlet just ahead of us. As Brenda delighted in seeing the owlet, I looked again and saw that the older, larger owlet was just inches away from its sibling! It was stunning to see them both and I continue to be bowled over that I missed seeing the owlets mere minutes ago!

The owlets were a very healthy distance from the nest and in some low trees a few feet away from Sarah's perch. I had seen one owlet in the nest the night before and now I even wondered that one was an third owlet, even though we had only ever seen two. Brenda and I returned to nest and ran into Kathleen Young, who had been out the night before with her parents. They along with Kathleen's daughter had gone out on a prowl weeks earlier and attended my talk at The Audubon Society and were fast devotees of the owls. We told Kathleen about the owlets fledging and she too was thrilled. We all looked at the nest and seeing no one, we returned to see the fledglings.

We were under a spell as we watched the owlets begin to move about and even bill-clack in their excitement. Their rasping begging cheeps, whispered and gradual at first but soon loud and frequent, filled the air. Charles went off to hunt and we wished him a speedy return. The older owlet took a spill as he made a flight that may have been too long for his experience level. We breathed a sigh of relief as he got off the ground and half-climbed/half-flew to a low perch. After many minutes of ear-to-ear grins fromwatching these owlets, we headed for home.

The owlets' fledging is not a surprise because of their age, they are in the 6-8 week-old range, which is when Great Horned Owlets fledge. The surprise is because we had seen all but nothing in the way of wing-exercising by the owlets. Before owlets fledge they spend many nights flapping their wings so that they build up their wing strength prior to making their first flights. I have seen this every year and a few years back I dubbed this process "hitting the gym." It is an amusing and even confusing process because it looks as the owlets are about to take flight as they furiously flap their wings but they remain fixed to their perches. So how did these owlets fledge with us barely seeing them "hitting the gym?" I'm not sure but a future post will review the time line of what I observed just prior to fledging supplemented with observations from owl friends new and old. Thanks for reading!

Two Owlets!!

2011-03-06T08:12:00.007-06:00

Sunday, March 6, 2011

I returned to the park yesterday afternoon to look for and watch Charles, Sarah and this year's offspring. I found Charles where he had been in the morning, in a tree he's been using this winter mostly as a fly-to perch. This new perch is in a tree between The Great Northern and The Overlook Hotel Tree. Sarah was out of the nest and in a low branch of The Overlook Hotel Tree, looking especially magnificent.

I headed down toward the nest tree and from a distance, I saw that there were two owlets in the hollow!!

Here's a cropped version of the same shot, which makes it easier to see the youngsters. The one that I saw in the morning is on the left and the second owlet is on the right.

It was amazing to see two and I can't help but wonder if there are three. Average clutch size for Great Horned Owls is two-three. Clutches of one, four and five to occur but are far less frequent. Notice how the second owlet, the one on the right, is smaller and less mature than its sibling on the left. GHOs lay their eggs asynchronously, at a different times. Usually each egg is laid one to two days apart but the time between each egg laying can be as much as five to ten days. This asynchronous egg-laying results in asynchronous egg hatching and thus owlets of different ages and stages.

I went to get a closer look of the owlets but the second owlet had descended down into the nest was out of sight. This owlet may have gotten a case of what Wendy calls, "the shys." I managed to get some other shots of the first owlet.

Great stuff for sure! The evening continued with many highlights including a visit from a new owl friend, Taffy Ross, Charles returning twice with food after very short absences (well done, Charles) and a very close encounter with Sarah. Thanks for reading!

Owlet!!

2011-03-05T11:23:00.007-06:00

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Great news-after much patient (and impatient) watching and waiting I saw an owlet in Sarah's nest this morning!!

I found Sarah looking into the nest hollow and I thought and hoped that she was attending to the owlets and that I might get a glimpse. My wish was fulfilled. Sarah flew out of the hollow into The Wooded Area and I took a look and saw one owlet!! It's hard to see the little guy but it's there!

I changed my angle and got a different look at him.

Judging by it's size, it looks to be between three and five weeks old. I wonder if it's one owlet, two, three or what. I have been fairly confident that hatching had occurred for a while now. On February 16 I saw Sarah catch a bat in mid-air (amazing) and return to the nest with it in her bill. This told me that she had more to feed than just herself. Just this Thursday, March 3 I saw Sarah return to the nest with a small prey item in her talons. But I still had not a glimpse of any owlets. The nest hollow is the highest one I have ever seen them use and the branch is so steep that one's field of view is incredibly limited. Hell, I can barely see 23-25 inch tall Sarah in the hollow until she is close to the hollow's opening!

I'm terribly excited to see an owlet! Bravo, Charles and Sarah!! That's six years in a row that they have had youngsters. Thanks for reading!

A Kind Blog Post From Another Blog

2011-02-24T05:12:00.003-06:00

February 24, 2011

Many, many cool and fascinating developments with the owls of late, all of which I'm overdue posting about-what else is new? I've never been busier with owl prowls, every Sunday for the last 6-8 weeks and a few on Fridays and Saturdays as well.

I continue to get an influx of e-mail from folks interested in the owls and going on an owl prowl. My friends Chris Gerli, Barb Brownell continue to do great work observing their pair of Great Horned Owls, John and Jacqueline. A new friend of mine, Brenda Hente, is also doing excellent work in her observations of her pair of Great Horned Owls, Will and Kate. I have also heard from people doing their own Great Horned Owl observations in Minnesota, Virginia and Colorado. As I often say, owls are addictive.

More informal owl ambassadorship continues as well. One such recent encounter yielded a very kind blog post. I met the blog's author, Mark Axe, in 2009 via Edward Crim, the great photographer behind Forest Park 365. Among, Edward's many talents is his ability to connect people who share a passion for Forest Park. Mark Axe is an avid cyclist, photographer and a much better blogger than me! I was out for quick visit to the owls this past Saturday when I ran into Mark for the first time in many months. He was keen to hear about the owls recent activities. He wrote a kind and thoughtful blog post about our encounter, which you can read here. Many thanks for the great blog post, Mark and kudos on your great photo of Charles!

A Post About A Post About A Prowl

2011-02-08T06:21:00.003-06:00

February 8, 2011

On Sunday, January 30, I led an owl prowl organized by Nicki Dwyer. I mentioned this prowl and Nicki's interest in the owls and kind support of my work with them in this recent post. I am happy to say that the prowl went well. A good time was had and the folks in attendance were much taken with the owls. Nicki, being the vastly superior blogger that she is, has already posted about this prowl. Please check out her post and read her kind words and see some photos by her and yours truly. Thanks for reading and thank you, Nicki!

Charles vs. The Eastern Grey Squirrels in The Nest Tree

2011-02-01T14:32:00.004-06:00

February 1, 2011

As a wintry mix descends on St. Louis and I have the day off from work, I thought I would try to do some blog catch up or is it catsup? I'll start with a quick post with lots of video drama and excitement.

Like where they nested last year, this year's nest tree (which is also the same tree where they nested in 2006 and 2009) is also home to at least two nests of Eastern Grey Squirrels. This makes for lots of predatory drama between Charles and the squirrels. For instance, last year in the space of about five minutes I saw Charles make five predatory attempts on squirrels. Now if it sounds like poor house huntng by the squirrels keep in mind two things.

1. Over the years, I have seen Charles and Sarah make more predatory attempts on Eastern Grey Squirrels than on any other species. I have seen one successful attempt. Sometimes the squirrels even charge the owls when the owls are too far away to grab the squirrel with a talon but too close to fly and catch the squirrel. Here's are examples of of these charges.

Hell, a few weeks ago a squirrel snuck behind and underneath Charles and charged hitting him square in the patootee. Charls flew off an hooted in a hesitant manner upon landing. I wish had got that one on film too as it was the first time I saw a squirrel actually hit an owl. What made this even more amusing was that I was leading a new park/owl friend, Bethany Wilfert, on a prowl that night and I had just finished telling her that I had never seen a squirrel hit an owl.

So, these squirrels are challenging prey but with them in such large numbers and so near, I can see why Charles would prefer to "shop" in his immediate neighborhood. In the first video, please forgive the blurriness, the squirrel is just above the opening to the hollow, which is pretty wild. Watch for Charles come blazing in from the left. He had been in The Overlook Hotel Tree and came gliding out of the tree tops on his way to make this attempt. This was on January 14.

After this first attempt, I said to myself, "This is going to go on allllll winter."

The next video taken on the very next day, January 15, shows Charles flying from the first of The Three Trees to go for a squirrel. It was a gorgeous flight and an exciting attack.

Nine days later on January 24, Charles again flew from the first of The Three Trees to go for another squirrel right on top of the nest hollow. He kept an eye on this squirrel for a while afterward.

Two days later, January 26, was a neat attempt and sequence of behavior. Charles flew from The Middle Tree to just next to the nest tree, which at first I thought was a predatory attempt on a squirrel that was heading up the nest tree. As you can see in the footage, he just passes by the nest tree. That said, he landed in another Cottonwood, which put him in a great position to attack squirrels going from The Wooded Area across a stretch of grass to the nest tree. And he did just that, missing the squirrel by a very close margin. Look closely!

Charles missed the squirrel and stayed in The Middle Tree for over an hour, barely moving. As I readjusted my position to keep warm, I looked up at his perch and saw that he flew off out of sight. Thankfully, I looked down at the south bank of the waterway and saw that Charles was just in the process of pouncing on a small URO (unidentified rodent object). He put it in his bill, flew to a low branch of The Eastern Branch Tree and then up to the nest hollow to deliver it to Sarah. He exited the nest hollow and landed in The Fleur de lise Tree before catching yet another URO and again delivering it to Sarah. What a guy!

The most recent Charles vs EGS in The Nest Tree was this past Sunday, January 30. I was leading an owl prowl, which I'll post about shortly and we were lucky and happy to see another close attempt by Charles.

I'm pretty sure that more attempts will occur and I hope to capture as many as I can. Thanks for reading!

Owl Prowl This Sunday, January 30, 2011

2011-01-26T17:56:00.003-06:00

January 26, 2011

A few weeks back while trolling the web for references to my work with the owls and/or this blog, I found a reference on a cool blog about my old neighborhood in St. Louis, the Central West End. The reference was part of a fascinating post about a Barred Owl that came down a person's chimney! I contacted the blog's creator, Nicki Dwyer and we began to correspond. She kindly posted about my presentation for The St Louis Audubon Society, which she attended and enjoyed a great deal, I'm very happy to say. We discussed the idea of conducing an owl prowl that she would organize and coordinate and I would lead. With pleasure I can announce that such a prowl is a go! As of yesterday, 10 of the 15 spots were full! Read all about it in this post on Nicki's blog. Thanks for all the interest and support, Nicki!

Update on Tonight's Lecture

2011-01-18T05:35:00.005-06:00

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Tonight's the night: my talk on the owls for The St. Louis Audubon Society! I can't wait! I am happy to announce an update on the talk. The talk's location has changed to a larger room. The talk will still be held at 7pm at The Dennis & Judith Jones Visitors' Center in Forest Park at 5595 Grand Drive but instead of taking in place in The Learning Lab, it will now be in The Trolley Room. The Trolley Room can hold significantly more people, so I hope this change is a good sign of increased interest.

I am also happy to report that the article in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/home-and-garden/home/article_b2a637ab-f66d-5d3d-81c4-50f16fbfc4e4.html have garnered a great deal of visits to this blog and many e-mails from folks interested in owls and eager to share their enthusiasm with me and learn more about Charles and Sarah. Great stuff!

Here's Charles in The Middle Tree from last night.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Article On The Owls and Me

2011-01-16T08:25:00.002-06:00

Sunday, January 16, 2011

As of midnight, the article on Charles, Sarah and my work with them is online. I'm very excited to share it with everyone! My thanks to Edward Crim, who put me in touch with Glen Curcio and my thanks to Glen, who put in me in touch with the article's author, Jim Winnerman. Big thanks to Jim and photographer Christian Gooden for nicely capturing the owls and my work with these amazing animals. You can find it here: http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/home-and-garden/home/article_b2a637ab-f66d-5d3d-81c4-50f16fbfc4e4.html

They also have a blurb on my talk to The St. Louis Audubon Society and the date has been corrected. Many thanks to Karen Meyer of the Society and Amy Bertrand of the Post in making the correction. Here's the blurb:
http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/home-and-garden/home/article_af197255-a7d9-5df7-ad9c-668b1c049065.html

Again, my presentation to The St. Louis Audubon Society is on Tuesday, January 18 at 7:00 at the Dennis & Judith Jones Visitors Center in Forest Park on 5595 Grand Drive. The talk will be held in The Learning Lab.

Thank you for reading and please feel free to share the article and blurb via Facebook or e-mail so that word spreads even farther!

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Article and a Correction!

2011-01-15T11:59:00.002-06:00

Saturday, January 15, 2011

I am very excited to see an article on the owls and my work with them on the front page of the Home & Away section in tomorrow's edition of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The article is not online just yet but when it is, I will be sure to post a link to it on my blog. The article, done by excellent freelance journalist Jim Winnerman and with deft photography by staff photographer, Christian Gooden, is a nice summary of my history and work with the owls.

Unfortunately, there is an error about the presentation I am giving to The St. Louis Audubon Society. The article lists my talk as occurring on Wednesday, January 19, 2011 when in fact, the talk will take place on Tuesday, January 18, 2011.

I have contacted the editor of this section of the paper and have asked them that they correct the date in the online edition of the artcile. Hopefully, this error will not cause too much confusion. I hope to see lots of folks at my talk on Tuesday, January 18, 2011. Thanks for reading!

Charles Feeds Sarah. Why? She's Nesting!!

2011-01-14T06:16:00.014-06:00

January 14, 2010

Sarah has been nesting since December 19 and yet I continue to play catch up when it comes to posting to this blog. Thankfully, last night's incredible events are a nice way to show and not just tell everyone that Sarah is nesting. Fear not, I plan to tell the whole story (so far) of Sarah's nesting. It is full of amazing twists and turns and no shortage of drama and mystery.

Last night was my first night to watch the owls since Monday, January 10. I went straight home and made dinner for Wendy and me on Tuesday and on Wednesday I met with Karen Meyer, an at-large member of the board of the St. Louis Audubon Society. We went over a few matters relating to the talk I'm giving. I hope to see you many of you at this talk! It is on Tuesday, January 18 at 7:00pm at the Dennis and Judith Jones Visitors Center in Forest Park.

After the two day absence, it felt like it had been a month since I had last seen the owls. I found Charles perched in The Fleur de lis Tree. One of the fascinating aspects of this year's nesting season is that Charles has been varying his roosting spots more than I ever seen before during a nesting season.

Charles began to wake up and groom extensively with a few stretches. Here he is doing a double wing stretch and then cleaning his talons in his bill.

He began to hoot and Sarah, from deep within the hollow in which she is nesting, returned the hoots and another lovely owl duet was born. Sarah is nesting in a new spot in what I have called until recently, The 06/09 Nest Tree. This Cottonwood tree is where she nested in 2006 and 2009. Those years she nested in a large hollow branch. This branch was severely damaged in the first week of June 2009. She is nesting now in another hollow branch of this same tree but on the opposite side of the trunk. I had always thought this hollow too small for the owls to use but they have proved me wrong.

Charles alternated between hooting and grooming when suddenly he changed positions on his branch. He looked to the east towards the waterway and did a noticeable head bob. Owls and other birds of prey move their heads from side to side to help them get better depth perception on what they have in sight. I watched him through my cameras and binoculars and soon realized that he was in the zone for a predatory attempt. He was completely fixed on this area by the waterway. Charles head bobbed a few more times and remained concentrated even though he did return a hoot after Sarah hooted first.

I looked at the area that Charles was scoping out but did not notice any obvious prey such as Eastern Grey Squirrels, Mallard Ducks, Wood Ducks or Muskrats. I paused and realized that there could be a small mouse or other small rodent that caught Charles' attention. This fall and early winter, I have seen several successful predatory attempts by Sarah on small rodents including one by the waterway. I made the call that such a small rodent was the likely target and I waited patiently but with great excitement especially as it was still quite light. My patience was rewarded as you will see below. Please be sure to check out all three videos.

My call was correct, Charles caught a small rodent! He paused with it in his bill and then flew to the hollow where Sarah is nesting and delivered it to her! As you saw in the last video, he hooted immediately upon arriving at the nest and Sarah responded, their earlier duet born anew. He then hooted some more at the edge of the hollow before returning to The Fleur de lis Tree where he continued to hoot. I don't think I'm over-interpreting or anthropomorphizing when I say that his hooting seemed to filled with pride. Here he had just caught a prey item and provided for his mate while she incubates their eggs all while it was still early in the evening.

Charles hooted for several more minutes before flying off north. I waited another 20-25 minutes for Sarah to fly out and visit one of her salon trees where she grooms, stretches and expels waste, be it whitewash or pellets or both. She did not show during that time so I headed off to reacquire Charles. I made a good long loop going north, then northwest before heading south. I did not find Charles again this night but I was not surprised by this given the long time between the time he departed and my pursuit. I was still breathless from this seeing this amazing predatory attempt and food exchange and the fact that I caught it on video! Thanks so much for reading!

Happy Fifth Owl-iversary

2010-12-29T21:04:00.003-06:00

December 29, 2010

Tonight is a superbly significant milestone in my time with and study of Charles and Sarah. It is now five years that I have watched and documented these awe-inspiring animals. I am simultaneously amazed and humbled that this milestone is achieved. I am amazed that I have spent so much time, seen and learned so much and been able to share the owls with so many people. I am humbled that there is still so much to learn about not only this species but also these individuals and that there are so many people I want to connect with these owls.

These last five years have been five of the best years of my life thanks to these owls and my work with them. My appreciation and understanding of nature has grown significantly. Many new friendships blossomed and many old friendships blossomed anew. I know a hell of a lot more about how to dress and prepare for extensive periods of time outdoors in all kinds of weather. I have nowhere near the skills and know-how to call myself a photographer but I can take better pictures and video than I used to. I used to be more of a summer person but I now have become more of a winter person as the owls are so active in winter. I have more answers to questions I did not have prior to watching and studying these owls. I also have no shortage of questions to be answered after watching these owls for so long.

This year has had no shortage of highlights but time is short so allow me to share some data about this past year.

From December 29, 2009 until December 29, 2010, I have:

* Made 271 observation trips to the park to watch these owls
* This means that I got to the park rate 74% of the time over the course of the year
* Which yielded an average per week rate of a little over 5 times per week.
* Of the 271 observation trips I made, on 267 of them I saw the owls, which makes my success rate 98.5%

I went to the park the most in January 2010, 27 times
* I went to the park the least in November 2010, 16 times (not too shabby considering that I was out of town for 11 nights of this 30 day month!)
* The most nights I went in a row was in February 2010-14 nights in a row

Huge thank yous to anyone and everyone who has been to see the owls, read about the owls and/or had their ears bent by yours truly going on and on about the owls! The biggest thanks, as always, go to my girlfriend Wendy. Her support and encouragement on so many levels has been there from day one. Thank you, Wendy and thank you, everyone!

Two Upcoming Talks on the Owls

2010-12-16T22:56:00.001-06:00

December 17, 2010

The owls continue to amaze with even more mating, house hunting and hunting for prey. Despite the freezing temperatures, I watched them tonight and again they mated! This was the ninth time I have observed them mating this season!

While I'm busy as always observing and documenting the owls and their behavior, I am also preparing for two talks I am giving on these amazing animals. The first one is tomorrow Friday, December 17 for members of St. Louis OASIS, "a national education organization dedicated to enriching the lives of adults age 50 and older through lifelong and service." This will be the second time I have given a talk about the owls, both in general and for St. Louis OASIS. Members of this fine organization serve as volunteers at The St. Louis BioBlitz (among many other events) and I met some of these volunteers when I led an owl prowl for the 2006 St. Louis Bioblitz, the first of three I've led for this superb event. The volunteers put some of the staff of OASIS St. Louis in touch with me. The staff graciously invited me to give a talk to the organization's membership as part of a series of classes held at and about Forest Park. I gave this talk in October 2007 and it went well. At that point, I had been watching the owls for just under two years and it was a challenge to condense all my work into an hour. Now after over more than four-and-a-half years of work with the owls, it will be even more challenging to be informative AND concise. It is a good challenge to undertake and I am looking forward heartily to this talk. Registration for the series of classes of which this talk is full but another talk is coming up in the near future.

At this year's St. Louis Bioblitz in September, I met Karen Meyer who is an at-large member of the board of The St. Louis Audubon Society who handles their membership matters. We only had a few moments to talk but I managed to peak her interest and slip her one of the packets of owl photos and information I gave out to the folks going on my owl prowls. I was pleased to get a phone call later in the fall asking me if I would like to give a talk to the Society on the owls and my work with them. I heartily accepted the offer and the date, time and place are all set. The talk will be on Tuesday, January 18 at 7:00pm at the Dennis & Judith Jones Visitor Center in Forest Park. The talk is free and open to the public and I invite and encourage one and all to attend! It is a great honor to be asked by the Society to speak to their members and the general public. Here is a listing of the talk in the current issue of the Society's newsletter.

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you in January!

Charles and Sarah Mate Again and Charles Does Some House Hunting!

2010-12-07T14:25:00.002-06:00

December 2, 2010

Another amazing night with the owls! I was able to get to the park a little earlier last night, which gave me more time to find the owls; always a nice thing to be able to do. It was a bright, clear and cold day and I debuted my balaclava for the first time this year. My "winter plumage", my beard, is less than a week old and still has some growing to do to help keep me warm!

I was hoping to find Charles in his Favorite Conifer as it is one of his his perennial perches, especially in cold weather. Alas he was not there even though I found some recent whitewash underneath this conifer. I first looked for Sarah in her Autumnal Perch but again was unsuccessful. I kept ears, eyes and mind open and an owl sixth sense moment gave me the nudge I needed to find Sarah perched high in the tallest of The Trio Conifers. I had not seen her in a conifer for many months so it was a pleasant sight.

I looked for Charles in several different areas including on the east side of The Wooded Area but came up empty. I returned to Sarah's perch and I heard her hoot and then Charles replied. From his hoot, I could tell he was on the east side of The Wooded Area. I headed that way and found him in unusual spot; a small deciduous tree at the eastern edge of The Wooded Area. I must have walked right by him earlier but did not spot him. D'oh!

Charles and Sarah continued to duet but only for a short while. Sarah continued hooting but Charles did not reply. Often when one of them stops their part of the duet, it means that they have a pellet coming up and thus cannot vocalize. I thought this would be the case but Charles would prove me wrong. As I watched him, he flew right over me to the second of The Three Trees (these used to be The Four Trees until one was cut down this summer). Check out the video below, at the 12-13 second mark Charles fills up the entire frame. He must have been five-ten feet directly above me!

He landed low in the second of The Three Trees, which gave me a great close up view of him.

Some crows flew by and a few noticed Charles and began to mob him. However the mobbing was done almost casually and rather briefly. I think it was late enough that the crows' focus was more on returning to their rookeries for the evening than on mobbing owls. Charles seemed especially focused on the hollow in the third of The Three Trees and I kept a close eye on him. My vigilance was rewarded when he made a short flight to the hollow and got inside it. Amazing!

He looked around in the hollow for several minutes and I was able to get a some shots of him inside the hollow. There is something comforting about seeing an owl in a hollow or tree snag.

How about a little background on this hollow? Very well. This hollow has been in this tree for as long as I can remember. A few years ago, I did see Charles and Sarah on the edge of this hollow but they did not go in it. In June, I saw Charles again at the edge of the hollow for a brief moment before he flew away. With these sightings, I kept this hollow on a list of possible perch or nest sites. That said, I was a little skeptical that it would be used mostly because it is quite low to the ground and close to human traffic as the tree is by a road and a bike path. Still, I try to remember my "owl observation mantra": open eyes, open ears, open mind.

The hollow underwent some changes this summer as an intense thunderstorm made a second opening to the hollow (you can see it on the exposed wood at the fore of the picture). This same storm also removed some exposed branches high up in this same tree that were some of the owls' favorite perches for singing. In typical Great Horned Owl fashion the owls adapted and began using and continue to use some perches in the second of The Three Trees.

The possible use of this hollow became more likely when in the late summer/early fall, I watched Sarah examine this hollow. She gradually and almost reverentially approached the tree and then flew to the hollow. She checked it out from several angles but did not get inside of it. I was able to watch this unfold from an extremely close distance, which made for a stunningly intimate perspective on this behavior.

I changed my observation position and saw that Charles had emerged from the hollow and was perched just on its edge. He flew a short distance east, over the road and high into a Cottonwood that they often use in this immediate area. I followed him and for a moment it looked like he was eating something in the tree but I could not be certain. He quickly flew off southeast and I went to follow him when I was pleasantly interrupted. My friend Chris Gerli stopped by in his van on his way home from a run and we had a good chat catching up on owl and park matters.

As our conversation drew to a close, I thought I heard Charles hooting near The Three Trees. Chris and I said our goodbyes and I headed to The Three Trees. Sure enough, Charles was hooting from their new singing perches in the second of The Three Trees. After his small amount of hooting earlier, it was good to hear hooting in great voice. He flew off northwest at great speed and I headed off after him. I could hear him hooting ahead of me so I was hopeful that I could reacquire him. As I got closer, I heard Sarah calling and I found her in a large Cottonwood between the waterway and the field. After another hoot, she flew off continuing to head north.

I went a fair distance north, getting close to the northern border of the park but I could not reacquire Sarah. I decided to turn back and try a few other parts of the park that I have seen the owls use on the north side of the lake. I crossed over the water way to the tamer of the two islands found in the lake. I quickly found an owl in one of the spots I have seen them use; one of two Sycamores on the south bank of the island. I thought it was Sarah but once the owl hooted, I realized that it was in fact Charles.

Charles took a short a hop to a branch above him and it struck me as a somewhat unusual perch. More often than not, they tend to hang on to the end of a branch perhaps because it allows them to move without navigating between other branches and sub-branches. The unusual nature of this perch was compounded when he began to hoot at a regular interval. When hooting, they usually are on a exposed perch, which gives their calls greater sonic presence as well as a stronger visual element. They like to be on stage!

As Charles hooted from this more unusual and subtle location, I wondered if his hooting was more of a communicating to Sarah act than a communication to other owls. My wondering bore fruit when Charles began to hoot more frequently and I then began to hear Sarah hooting in response! She was further northwest of Charles but judging by her hooting volume, she was not far. They duetted for a few minutes when her hoots became even louder, meaning that she was even closer to Charles (and me). Moments later, I heard her hoot and saw her fly towards Charles and next to him on the Sycamore. They hooted for another moment or two and then Charles hopped up on to Sarah's back and they mated!! Amazing!

This was what I dubbed last year as "Peaches and Herb Duetting" (aka "Reunited And It Feels So Good."

Charles flew off immediately heading north and a few minutes later, Sarah headed east. As I walked to reacquire her, I realized that I never seen them mate in this part of their territory! The forty-odd matings I have observed have occurred mostly in and around The Wooded Area with a few taking place in The Deer Lake Wet Savannah. I found Sarah again about hundred meters from where they had mated but she flew off again heading east at great speed. I decided to head for home, amazed at all the fascinating behavior I observed. Thanks for reading!

Charles and Sarah Mate For The First Time This Season!

2010-12-01T12:53:00.006-06:00

December 1, 2010

I returned to St. Louis on Tuesday, November 30, 2010 after ten days in the Cape Town area of South Africa where I joined many members of my family to attend the wedding of my little sister, Mary. It was a great trip and it had some cool owl and other nature moments as well. It was the longest I had been away from my girlfriend, Wendy, and the owls too! Needless to say, while I enjoyed my time in South Africa (the first time I had been there in nineteen years), my mind was often on my favorite birds, Wendy, Charles and Sarah!

Despite a 30 hour journey from Cape Town to my home, I had enough energy to go to Forest Park and look for Charles and Sarah. After the vast realms of green of late spring in Cape Town, it was intriguing to see the park with its many trees bare or almost bare. As I approached their territory, I heard Charles hooting, which warmed my heart to hear again. I got to The Wooded Area and I saw one of them just southeast of The Great Northern. Even though about eighty yards away, I correctly identified the owl as Sarah and after Charles hooted again, she responded with a hoot of her own.

I found Charles in a well-concealed spot that I have often seen Sarah use the past few falls that I have finally dubbed Sarah's Autumnal Perch. I was able to see both of them quite well but in a flash, Sarah was gone. Thankfully, I could hear her hooting, now closer to Charles. I adjusted my position and found her in the Jungle Gym tree just by The Overlook Hotel Tree. They continued to duet and the duet became more and more intimate, with trilling, purring hoots by Charles and rapid responses by both owls. Sarah flew past Charles and landed in one of the 2008/2009 Salon Trees, on a very exposed branch. This caught my eye and I began to wonder if mating might occur. They duetted more and the already high level of intimacy increased and the next thing I knew, Charles flew over, landed on Sarah and they mated. Amazing!! It was the earliest in a year I have ever seen them mate by a large margin. Last year, they mated for the first time on December 10, which until yesterday was the earliest in a year I had seen them mate. Check out the video of last night's mating:

I had to wonder if they had mated while I was in South Africa or if they had "waited" for me. Either way, it was amazing to see them mate. Charles headed off towards The Four (Three) Trees and after a few minutes, Sarah flew southeast out of The Wooded Area. I went looking for both owls and saw what was almost certainly Charles flying east, high over The Muny. I tried to reacquire him and came up empty but I was thrilled to be back in the park, to see the owls and observe and document them mating for the first time in this mating season!

Article On The Owls and Me in St. Louis Magazine!

2010-08-03T13:40:00.003-05:00

August 3, 2010

As some of you know, the owls and my work with them were profiled as part of a cover story on Forest Park in the May 2010 issue of St. Louis Magazine. The article is now online and can be found here. I will also include a link to this article on the links section of this blog. Thanks for reading!

Another blog post by Deepa Mohan and Edward Crim's photo exhibit is extended!

2010-05-24T15:57:00.005-05:00

Monday, May, 24, 2010

I ran into my friend, Deepa Mohan, in the park last Saturday, May 15. I had already spotted Sarah in the mostly bare tree on the east side of The North-South Path.

I had just found one of the owlets and then I heard a voice call my name. It took me a moment to recognize the voice's owner but it was Deepa. I let her continue the story with this post from her blog. Thanks, Deepa!

My friend Edward Crim's photo exhibit at Norton's Fine Art and Framing in Maplewood, Missouri of his Forest Park 365 project has been extended through June 12. All the details can be found here. I highly recommend this exhibit to one and all! Wendy and I attended the exhibit's opening on April 30. We had a blast meeting old friends, new friends and being surrounded by Edward's superb photography. Edward was far too kind as he paused in mid-conversation to introduce me by proclaiming that The Owl Man was in the building. A nice photo montage of the exhibit opening can be found here; see if you can find Wendy and me!

Article on the owls and me in the new (May) issue of St. Louis Magazine!

2010-05-24T15:30:00.004-05:00

Monday, May 24, 2010

The cover story of the current issue (May 2010) of St. Louis Magazine is a fourteen page article on Forest Park. Among the sub-articles is a nearly one page article on the owls and me! It is a great piece, both wide-ranging and succient, written by the magazine's culture editor, Stefene Russell. At the top of the article is a gorgeous picture of Sarah in the 06/09 Nest Tree taken by no other than Forest Park photographer phenom Edward Crim. I am thrilled and honored that this article is out and that the owls and my work with them are portrayed so well!

The owl article is not online yet but you can get a taste of the cover story here. Once the article is online I will be sure to link to it. The cover story does a great job of displaying and explaining the amazing place that is Forest Park. My friend and fellow owl watcher Chris Gerli has his well-deserved business, City Cycling Tours, mentioned in the cover story as well. All of the photography in the cover story is by Edward Crim and it is a treat to read. I would encourage any and all to purchase this issue, which just hit the stands in the last couple of days. For those of you not in the St. Louis area, you can purchase individual issues from the magazine's online store. Thanks for reading-both this blog and the article!

Great blog shout outs to this blog!

2010-04-25T10:15:00.003-05:00

Sunday, April 25, 2010

While I continue to watch the owls and their owlets but not get enough blogging done, I've been lucky to have people blog about the owls and me! Here's a rundown with links to these blogs included.

Karla Kinstler is a ceaseless owl enthusiast and expert. Not only is she the director of The Houston Nature Center in Houston, Minnesota but she also lives with Alice, a female Great Horned Owl who Karla studies closely (along with other wild and captive owls), she blogs about Alice, blogs about owls, and by no means lastly, she founded and started the annual International Festival of Owls. I hope to attend this festival soon and perhaps even present about my observations of Charles, Sarah and their progeny.

During the winter I was concerned about some different vocalizations and behavior of Sarah's while she was nesting. As she was nesting, I was also concerned about the well-being of her youngsters. I reached out via e-mail to several owl experts and Karla was at the top of my list especially as she has published a detailed study of vocalizations of Great Horned Owls. I was able to read this study the other day and it was excellent. I look forward to re-reading it and absorbing it even more. I was quite chuffed when she wrote back to me immediately. Karla helped allay my concerns and she even forwarded my e-mail to another owl expert. During our correspondence, she expressed an interest in delving into my blog posts to learn more about Charles, Sarah and family. With that in my mind, I was happy to see her post recently on her general owl blog about my blog and the videos I have taken of these amazing owls. You can find this post here. Many thanks, Karla!

One of the great things about Edward Crim and his Forest Park 365 photography project was how he linked people who were passionate about the park with other like-minded folks. I met Mark Axe, an avid cyclist, naturalist and photographer, via Edward. I was out in the park one day and I ran into Edward and Mark was with him. Months later, I ran into them again watching the owls as I made my way into the owls territory. Since then, I have seen Mark in the park a few more times. More recently I saw him in the owls' territory and I met his family; his wife, Anne, and their son, Dan. A few days after that, Mark and Anne stopped by the owls territory and with some help from me they were able to see Charles, Sarah and two of the owlets. Mark wrote a really nice post about this visit and added some great photos on his blog. Many thanks, Mark!

Back in September 2009 I wrote a post about an owl prowl with a new owl friend Deepa Mohan which included a link to her blog post about our owl prowl. Deepa is a keen naturalist and photographer and her energy and enthusiasm are palpable. Since then, Deepa and I have remained in contact even when she returned to her home country of India. Deepa returned to St. Louis a few months ago and we have done a few owl prowls since then and she has also gone looking for them on her own. Recently she has written not one, not two but three excellent posts about the owls and owl prowls with some great photos. Many thanks, Deepa!

Great event with the great Forest Park photographer!

2010-04-25T09:10:00.001-05:00

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Fear not, I am working on some long overdue blog updates about Charles, Sarah and their owlets. Needless to say there has been a ton going on with the owl family including branching, fledging and relocating and much more.

In the meantime, I wanted to give a heads up to a gallery exhibit opening by friend, Edward Crim. As many of you know Edward is a photographer of immense skill and artistry. In 2009 he went to Forest Park every day of the year and took photos of what he saw: people, animals, plants, architecture, you name it. He posted his photos everyday along with writings that described what he encountered in the jewel of St. Louis on his great website Forest Park 365.

An exhibit of his work will be held at Norton's Fine Art and Framing in Maplewood, MO. The exhibit open's next Friday, April 30 and Edward will be showing his photos and reading some of his writings and more. Read all about it here. Wendy and I will be there and we hope to see many of you there. If you can't make the opening, do your utmost to stop by the gallery before the exhibit ends at the end of May.

I was lucky to get an e-mail from Edward a few months into his project. We met for an owl prowl and became fast friends. His enthusiasm for the park is boundless and I am glad that he got a good case of owl addiction. He often featured owl photos on his site and even a few photos of yours truly. The only one that I was not overly keen on was this one, where I look I'm starring in "The Owl Man" musical and I'm being played by the actor who played Friedrich in the film version of "The Sound of Music." I don't know, maybe it's just me.

Bravo on the exhibit, Edward! I look forward to seeing it and you!

Owlet(s)!!

2010-03-03T05:16:00.005-06:00

March 3, 2010

Last night I saw one owlet and heard possibly two for the first time this year!! Woo-hoo!!! Seeing owlets for the first time in a year is always exciting but this year it is especially thrilling. Due to some heretofore (by me) unobserved vocalizations and unusual behavior by Sarah, I have been concerned about her health and the subsequent health of her owlets for a little over three weeks now. While I still have my concerns, the mere fact of seeing and hearing an owlet and possibly more is a huge relief.

When I arrived at the owls territory last night, I heard Charles hooting from a new perch spot of hi. While I looked for him I glanced over at the nest. There at the edge of the nest was Sarah. It struck me as a little odd that she was out of the nest well before sunset but she had done that the night before as well. Like the night before, I wondered if this early departure indicated the presence of growing owlets in the snag/hollow thus making space inside limited. This combined with the milder weather might make an early departure from the nest an attractive option for Sarah.

She flew away from the nest to a tree just east of The Nest Tree. I located Charles and watched him hoot and eventually expel a pellet. As I watched Charles, Sarah moved to two other trees each a little further east than the next. She then flew back to the first tree to which she had flown. Charles flew from his perch and landed near Sarah in one of the Salon Trees; what I call the trees where Sarah grooms and expels waste after she leaves the nest. Sarah flew back to The Nest Tree landing on the lower lip of the snag/hollow. She looked inside the snag/hollow and with my binoculars I could see a fluffy grayish-white owlet move through the cracks of the snag/hollow and just above the lower lip of the snag/hollow! I began to hear faint but unmistakable owlet begging cheeps as well.

I took out my video camera and shot the below video. While I was filming I heard a begging cheep, closely followed by another such that it may have been a second owlet.

Sarah stayed in the nest for a few more minutes before leaving the nest once more. More occurred in the evening including a dramatic owl/squirrel face off but I have sign off for now. Thanks for reading!

Lecture Tonight on Citizen Science!

2010-02-09T13:33:00.007-06:00

February 10, 2010

Sometimes when I point out the owls or other animals in the park to a passerby I am asked if I am a biologist, ornithologist or other professional scientist in the life sciences. On a interesting psychological/sociological note, I tend to get asked this question more when I have a beard, as I do now, than when I am clean shaven! I answer that I am not but am an amateur or inspired amateur naturalist.

While this answer is correct, a better answer might be to say that I am a citizen scientist; a non-professional doing work in a scientific field. In my textual research on owls and birds in general, I have read numerous times in books and journals of the important contributions that citizen scientists have made and continue to make to ornithology.

Tonight as part of the Academy of Science-St. Louis' Science Seminar Series, there is a lecture at the St. Louis Zoo tonight on the subject of citizen science. I will be attending and hope to see some fellow owlficiandos/park fans there! Here's more information:

Feb 10th, 2010 (Wed)

Citizen Science: From the Cosmos to Coneflowers— The Story of How Ordinary People Are Enabling Large Scale Discovery

Time: 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM

Pamela Gay, Ph.D., Astronomer, Assistant Research Professor, Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville; Co-Host, Astronomy Cast; Team Member, Galaxy Zoo

We live in a new age of technology-driven science, with new instruments and new computers that allow us to collect more information – more images, more DNA profiles, more environmental sensor data, than ever before. With this flood of information, scientists are no longer able to explore all the images, all the data, on their own, so more and more – science is turning to the public and requesting help. From the discovery of rare “Green Pea” galaxies to the first sighting in fourteen years of a rare non-spotted ladybug in the Northeastern U.S., ordinary citizens are contributing to discoveries in science.

It is possible to get involved in meaningful science either by going online or by going outside. The Galaxy Zoo project invites people to help astronomers better understand our evolving universe by classifying online galaxy images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Rather be outside? The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a variety of bird counting projects to help track the population of birds around the United States. Starting with the original citizen science projects begun by Benjamin Franklin, astronomer, writer, and podcaster, Pamela Gay, talks about citizens and science, the problem of data flood, and the ways ordinary citizens today can, and do, contribute to the pursuit of scientific discovery.

Photo © Pamela Gay

All Seminars are held in The Living World (north side of Zoo)
Parking FREE in Zoo North Lot.

FREE & OPEN to ALL.

For more information call 314-533-8586 or email mbauer@academyofsciencestl.org

Science Seminar Series Co-sponsored by:

I first heard the term citizen science in 2006. After watching the owls just shy of nine months I led my first my owl prowl on Labor Day weekend 2006,. The prowl was part of the 2006 St. Louis Bioblitz. The Bioblitz is a twenty-four hour snapshot survey/census of all the flora, fauna, soil, and water in Forest Park. I had gone on an owl prowl and reptile expedition on the 2004 St. Louis Bioblitz. I was excited and nervous to be leading an expedition. Excited because as it was the first owl prowl I had ever led it was a culmination of all the field work and research I had done up to that point. Nervous because on each of the three nights prior to the Bioblitz, I did not see Charles, Sarah or either of the two owlets they had that year!

Thankfully, all went well. I had a great group with me and they were understanding when I explained that I had not seen any of the owls over the preceding three nights. So when one of the owlets appeared just as we got to The Wooded Area, the group was especially happy to see this owlet. The owlet stayed around for about twenty minutes. It groomed, stretched and begged providing great examples of their behavior and inspiration for questions and comments.

After the owlet flew away I showed them where Sarah had nested and where Charles' hollow had been before it was damaged in a series of storms earlier that year. We walked back to the registration tent and I showed them some pictures I had taken over the months. Everyone in the group was enthusiastic and we all went on our way with smiles on our faces. I exhaled, happy that this prowl had gone well.

It turned out that the group was even happier with the prowl and me than I thought. I learned in January 2007 that the prowl had been so well received that I was the clear choice for the Bioblitz Citizen Award, one of two awards given to Bioblitz expedition leaders. To say that I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement and I gratefully accepted the award at a Bioblitz follow-up event and ceremony at the St. Louis Zoo. The award occupies a place of pride on my mantel next to a great owl statue from Ireland made from peat bog wood that my mom gave me.

Indications of hatching?!?

2010-02-03T06:29:00.003-06:00

February 3, 2010

Sometime yesterday morning or afternoon, I was thinking about the owls (big shock) and wondering how I might know when the owlets have hatched. I remembered that at least once in years past I had seen Charles, towards the end of the incubation period, fly to the nest and hoot at/into the nest at a gentle volume and with great solemnity. I interpreted this as him being aware that the owlets had hatched or were nearly ready to hatch (just prior to hatching the owlets can be heard from within the eggs) and that he was welcoming his new progeny. Well last night he did this very same behavior.

Charles had flown from The Wooded Area after starting off in his favorite conifer. He landed in The Hilly Wooded Area in one of the trees that Sarah has been using for grooming this season when she takes a break from incubating the eggs. A few minutes later, Sarah flew out from the nest and landed above Charles in the same tree. They duetted for a moment (Charles had been hooting prior to her emergence) before Charles flew off to The Nest Tree and landed on/in the snag/hollow. At first, I thought my eyes played tricks on me and that it was in fact Sarah who went to The Nest Tree, but no there was Sarah grooming and stretching.

Moments after landing Charles began to hoot within or at the snag/hollow and his volume was soft and his approach considered. Watch for yourself!

He stayed a couple of minutes before flying out to his favorite perch in the tree in front of the snag/hollow. Sarah joined him in this perch before he made a predatory attempt at a nearby tree which hosts a squirrel nest. I went for a better view of him and Sarah and while I took my eyes of off him for a few seconds, he disappeared on me without any indication as to the direction in which he went!

It was amazing to see Charles go to The Nest Tree and hoot within or at the snag/hollow. The last time I saw him go to the snag/hollow was weeks prior to Sarah nesting there. I think his actions are a decent indication that hatching has occurred or will be occurring shortly. If this is the case, it is an amazing and touching way for him to welcome his youngsters to the world.

What Is Charles Doing While Sarah Is Nesting?

2010-01-31T13:30:00.000-06:00

January 31, 2010

Charles is on full-time hunting duty. When the eggs hatch male Great Horned Owls are known to hunt, hunt and hunt some more until the nest overflows with food. This is not always the case but some remarkably prey-filled nests have been observed over the years. One such nest was described in Life Histories of North American Birds of Prey, Part 2. Owls by Arthur Cleveland Bent, a giant work by one of the giants of American ornithology. The nest contained remains of:

a mouse
a muskrat
eleven rats
two eels
four bullheads (fish)
four ruffed grouse
a woodcock

All of which weighed over eighteen pounds! I have seen this portion of Bent's work quoted in numerous books on owls. I first read it in Great Horned Owl by Dwight G. Smith. If I had to recommend one single book on the species, it would be this one for its concise, informative text and brilliant pictures. I have not seen evidence that Charles creates a veritable Sam's Club of prey items for Sarah. That said, having seen them raise eight owlets in four years speaks well to his hunting abilities.

On Wednesday, January 13 Charles flew off west/northwest. I reacquired him in a low branch of a tree near the wooden bridge that connects The Grand Basin with Picnic Island (last year I reacquired him one night on this bridge's railing-breathtaking). I was quite chuffed to see that he was sitting in the tree with a small rodent in his bill. He flew back in the direction of The Nest Tree; undoubtedly bringing his prize to Sarah just over twenty minutes since he had left the vicinity of The Nest Tree.

One of the interesting aspects about this season's nest tree is that it within a dense population of Eastern Grey Squirrels. In fact, I am reasonably certain that there is a squirrel nest within The Nest Tree itself. Throughout much of the owls' activity in the area, the air is filled with squirrel warning cries. I have seen both Charles make numerous predatory attempts, none successful so far, on these squirrels. I have seen Sarah make a few predatory attempts on Eastern Grey Squirrels on milder days. I hope this a reflection of her taking advantage of the warmer weather to have some more activity and perhaps keep her hunting skills sharp and not an indicator that Charles is not providing enough food. Here's Charles making a predatory attempt on a squirrel on January 6, 2010, one of five he made in a span of five minutes that day:

Charles has been fascinating to watch but not without his challenges. His daytime perch sites varies between his favorite conifer and a few different deciduous trees close to The Nest Tree. On Monday, January 25, he was in an unusual but not unprecedented spot in the middle of a large cypress that made him look like a Christmas tree ornament. When he his in his favorite conifer he transitions from out of The Woody Area to trees close to The Nest Tree. Sometimes he stops at an edge of The Wooded Area near The Second Catalpa, other times he makes a non-stop flight.

Over these past few weeks, I have see many of these transitory flights and they have been master classes in speed and precision. Unfortunately, my luck at capturing them on video has been poor. On January 23 he was in his favorite conifer. I moved to a spot between this hallowed conifer and The Nest Tree and kept the camera trained on The Wooded Area. He hooted regularly but remained in his needle-covered nook. I hit record on my camera and chided him gently for not flying out yet. The next thing I knew, he was flying past me about twenty yards away. I managed to get the camera trained on him for the last portion of his flight. I later realized that since I was recording before I saw him, that I may have captured some more of this stunning flight. I reviewed the footage and sure enough I got some of the beginning of the flight and its end but missed the middle. Look at the right sight of the screen and at the twelve second mark, look for Charles come blazing out of The Wooded Area!

Charles evening routine is basically unchanged but no less intriguing. He stretches, grooms, hoots and then goes off to hunt. Sometimes Sarah will respond in kind to his hoots and I have observed duets, both short and long. Sarah continues to duet from within the snag/hollow, a mode that I have described as "diva duetting."

With the plethora of Eastern Grey Squirrels in and around The Nest Tree, Charles' hunting often begins close to home; what a locavore. One of his favorite perches near the nest tree is on the end of a dead branch belonging to a tree that faces the opening of the snag/hollow. Seeing him there with his impressive silhouette is never less than memorable.

When he does leave the immediate area of The Nest Tree, he has gone south more than any other direction. He tends to stay within The Hilly Wooded Area for a while when he goes south. Over the years I have learned some of the owls' favorite hunting and singing perches in The Hilly Wooded Area. This helps make reacquiring them possible but even still this is one of the trickiest areas in which to reacquire the owls. The number of large trees, loud crunchy leaf litter and rolling hills all add up to create this challenging course. This also makes reacquiring them a memorable and rewarding experience.

A few weeks ago, I followed Charles off south in The Hilly Wooded Area. I quickly reacquired him in the low branch of a tree no more than fifteen feet off the ground and about forty feet feet away from me. Despite my best efforts to approach silently, the frozen ground covered with crunchy leaves and sticks announced my presence. Charles did not seem to notice me and I was glad that he had not. I took up an observation position next to a nearby tree. If I can, I like to have a tree or some other large structure between me and the owls in case I need to take cover.

I continued to watch Charles when I began to hear something rustling in the leaves behind me. Charles took notice of this noise too and he turned around, facing me to get a better take on this sound. I saw him prepare to fly in my direction and I realized I had a second or two to decide my course of action. I chose to move behind the tree and as I did Charles flew low right past where I had just been standing. He flew so close to me that as he passed by me I could have touched him! I was confident that he was not threatening me or threatened by me but I was puzzled that he seemed not to notice me until he flew past me and veered off slightly to the left. Whatever the explanation, it was one of the closest encounters I have ever had with the owls and it left me breathless even though it was mere seconds in length. Such encounters underline a thought I have often; while the park is our park, for the owls and all other fauna and flora it is their home and it is important to be mindful of this distinction.

Sarah Is Nesting! Part II (Lots of Videos!)

2010-01-31T13:00:00.002-06:00

January 31, 2010

To recap, I first found Sarah in the The Possible Nest Tree on December 31, the night she and Charles mated twice; the first time I had ever seen them do that. After seeing her in this tree again on January 2 and 3, I made the call that she was nesting. The Possible Nest Tree was now The Nest Tree or to give it a more chronologically accurate name to account for past and future nest trees, The 2009-2010 Nest Tree.

While I made the call that nesting had begun, I kept my mind and my eyes open for more mating. I'm glad I did. On January 3, Sarah emerged from the nest and continued to duet with Charles. Within moments Charles flew in from fifty yards away, landed on Sarah and they mated, after which he flew off north/northeast. See for yourself:

While I appreciate the owls' biological instincts, I thought that Charles was less of a gentleman for not giving Sarah more than a few moments out of the nest before mating with her. Naturally, my associative brain took the keyword "gentleman" and linked the word with a line from a movie, in this case Caddyshack featuring the late great Rodney Dangerfield. Tender ears beware.

But they were not done just quite yet. On January 6, they had a nice duet going when Sarah flew close to Charles and they mated! This was the last time I saw them mate this season.

Overall, I saw them mate thirteen times between December 10 and January 6. This ties last year's record of the most matings seen in a season but it was the longest mating period yet. I have now seen the owls mate over forty times over the last four years.

So after mating some more and the nest choice made, now what? First off, the eggs would need to be fertilized within Sarah and then gradually formed and then laid. I'm still learning more about this process so I do not want to give incorrect information about it. However, it is fair to say that this process takes several days. Owls lay their eggs asynchronously i.e. at different times. For Great Horned Owls the period between each egg laying is usually one to two days but can be as many as seven to ten days. As the eggs are laid at a different times, so do they hatch at different times, creating a discernible difference in age and size of the owls. This difference in size and age is understood to be a way to ensure that at least some of the owlets will survive the challenging first few weeks and months of their lives.

Sarah keeps the eggs warm and safe. This is an epic task and Sarah handles it with devotion and aplomb. While few animals would take on an adult Great Horned Owl, there are many animals that would love to get to their eggs; squirrels, crows, raccoons, opossums, snakes and a number of birds such as crows and jays. Great Horned Owl eggs are reasonably hardy and able to survive cold temperatures for brief periods of time without being incubated. That said, it is imperative that the eggs stay incubated for the vast majority of the average of thirty-two days it takes for them to hatch after being laid.

Sarah stays on the eggs or with the new owlets all day and night except for a few short breaks. When I come to watch the owls at dusk, Sarah flies out of the nest to a nearby perch and stays out of the nest, on average, for three-six minutes. In that brief time away from the nest she stretches, grooms, defecates and perhaps expels a pellet and then it is back to the nest for many more hours. On slightly warmer days she will stay out up to ten to fifteen minutes and might fly a little more. She may take another break or two during the full twenty-four hour course of the day. From what I have have observed and read I would wager that she is on the eggs for well over ninety percent of a full day through rain, snow, frigid temperatures and more.

As the snag/hollow is not covered on top, Sarah literally acts as the roof of this area. Females Great Horned Owl in exposed nests have been found buried in snow and ice keeping their eggs or young owlets safe and warm. We recently had many day of stretch of weather well-below freezing including some days with temperatures adjust for wind chill below zero degrees Fahrenheit. Several people assumed that I was not going to the park in such cold weather. I corrected them by stating, if the owls can mate and nest in the depths of winter, then I can observe them! That said, it was jolly cold.

Since the owls are nesting in a new (to me) tree and locale within their territory, observing and documenting them during this time and for the coming weeks is and will continue to be a stimulating challenge. I am learning the best places to watch them, where Sarah goes to groom, stretch and expel waste, and the like. At the beginning of the nesting period, I was watching the nest tree at a safe distance from different position in which I could see the opening of the snag/hollow. This year's nest shares a trait with all but one of the other nest locations that I have seen Sarah use; you cannot see inside the nest thus you cannot see Sarah (or anyone else) until they are at the very opening of the nest. It is a classic game of now you don't see it and then you do.

My early viewing post in which I could see the opening of the snag/hollow did not work too well. I was able to see Sarah emerge from the snag/hollow, look around for a few moments before flying away to attend to her toilet. However, as I was looking east she quickly disappeared in the minimal horizon line. I was hesitant to go look for where she perched temporarily due to the poor visibility as I did not want to intrude on her unwittingly.

After a few days at this viewing post, I decided to watch from the other side of things, looking at the nest tree as I faced south/southwest. This observation post was back lit by the setting sun and provided greater illumination and clarity to Sarah's behavior. Even still, as I could not see her emerge from the inner reaches of the snag/hollow, it was tricky to see and document her flying out of The Nest Tree. Finally, I had some luck on January 16 and several subsequent days documenting Sarah's departure from the nest. As you can see below, each day had its differences but all of them were exemplars of the sublime power and grace of Great Horned Owls.

January 16, 2010

January 18, 2010

January 22, 2010

January 24, 2010

Notice that when Sarah leaves the nest she is in free fall; she has to clear the nest tree before she can flap her massive wings. For an example of the reverse procedure, here's Sarah returning to nest on January 20, 2010

So when will the eggs hatch? My best rough estimate is sometime in/around/after February 10. Given the depths of the snag/hollow, I do not think we will see the owlets until they are a few weeks old; towards the end of February or the beginning of March. With the exception of the very visible nest location in 2007-2008, I have never seen owlets until they were at least a few weeks old. I am terribly excited that Sarah is nesting and at the prospect of owlets. Wish them luck!

Sarah Is Nesting! Part I

2010-01-18T14:14:00.041-06:00

January 22, 2010

While I am still working on detailing the events of late December and early January, I think I need to jump ahead a tad. For over three weeks now, Sarah has been nesting in The Possible Nest Tree turning it into The Nest Tree. If all goes well there will be owlets this year!! Here's out it went down...

As December drew to a close Charles and Sarah continued to be very active and amorous. I saw them mate several more times including a few times in the Deer Lake Wet Savannah. I had not seen them mate in that part of the park since the 2007-2008 mating/nesting season. On December 31, I joined Edward Crim and friends new and old for a morning walk through much of the park to mark not only the last day of 2009 but the conclusion of Edward's remarkable project Forest Park 365. Congratulations and a job well done, Edward!

During the walk we made a stop at Charles and Sarah's territory. I scouted ahead and found Charles in his favorite conifer. I showed Charles to the others in groups of two or three. Everyone was thrilled to see him and was amazed at his majestic beauty. I think the biggest takeaway they received was that the owls are just one of many gems in the park that while relatively unknown are there all the time. They just take more time and effort to find and observe. I was a little concerned that we did not find Sarah but I thought that maybe she had taken up a nest spot and that The Possible Nest Tree was a likely candidate. As we passed by this tree I turned to my friend and long-time owling cohort, Chris Gerli, and said sotto voce, "I wonder if Sarah is in The Possible Nest Tree."

The morning tour wound up superbly with one of our last animal observations being a Bald Eagle-amazing!

Chris and Barb kindly offered me a ride home, which I readily accepted. I asked if we could stop by the 2007-2008 nest tree. I wanted to itch a small scratch in my mind that hinted that Sarah might nest there again. They kindly agreed to the detour and we piled out to look at the hollow at which we spent many hours watching Sarah, Charles and that year's offspring: Bart, Lisa and Maggie. The hollow was unoccupied by any owls. We discussed the possible nest scenarios and then they showed me where they had followed the Great Horned Owls in Kennedy Forest after these owls had mated on an amazing evening just a few nights prior. That's right, there is a second mated pair of Great Horned Owls in the park. I hope to write more on that later. After a great tour, Chris and Barb drove my tired and grateful body back home.

I arrived home, changed clothes and headed out to run some errands with my girlfriend Wendy. Near the top of the agenda was to get some food into me. Even though I had eaten before the morning walk, the three-and-a-half hour walk had drained my fuel tank to its dregs. As a couple of errands took us south, we agreed that a late breakfast at Chris' Pancakes & Dining would go down a treat. By the time we arrived I was yawning non-stop. Wendy said it was a race between what biological imperative got to me first; eating or sleeping. Thankfully, breakfast arrived in a flash and was ingested at a not-much slower rate. Revived, we finished our errands and went home. I knew I would go back to the park; I had to find out where Sarah was. As sunset approached, I strapped on my go-to-the-park clothes, cameras and binoculars and headed to the territory of Charles and Sarah.

I found Charles again in his favorite conifer. After waking up he began to hoot and then flew off to an edge along the south side of The Wooded Area. He hooted directly at The Possible Nest Tree for several minutes. He then flew to a tree just in front of the snag/hollow of The Possible Nest Tree and continued to hoot in its direction. From within The Possible Nest Tree came the muffled sound of Sarah hooting from within the snag/hollow of this tree. She was doing what I have dubbed "diva-duetting", which I described in a recent post as, "It is as if Sarah is some great operatic diva like Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland or Kelly Clarkson. She refuses to go onstage due to some minor mishap but she still insists on performing for her adoring public... I always enjoy hearing diva duetting, as it seems to illustrate the deep bond between these two remarkable owls."

But unlike the events of Christmas evening described in said post, when Sarah flew into the snag/hollow and diva-duetted, on this night Sarah was already in the snag/hollow-a substantial difference. She had likely been there earlier in the day when we walked by it and for many hours before and since then. Sarah emerged from the nest and she and Charles mating shortly thereafter. This was the tenth time I had seen them mate since December 10, making it the second time I observed them mating 10 times or more in a breeding season. You can see them mate below, just move to the 1:25 mark.

I followed Sarah off northeast near when she reversed direction and headed back to The Hilly Wooded Area. I followed her again and as I got into this area, I was stunned and thrilled to have Charles fly directly over me, hooting in flight about twenty feet above me. After I caught my breath, I wondered if having seeing Sarah already in the snag/hollow that he knew that she was nesting. Knowing this, perhaps a biological/hormonal switch was thrown inside him telling him that he was on full-time food acquisition duty for both he and Sarah. Perhaps he may have been making his first food drop. I did not have to wait for long for Charles to return again. He flew right by me at great speed about thirty feet away from me. He and Sarah resumed their duet on a tree just in front of The Possible Nest Tree and they mated again!! This was the first time I had ever seen them mate twice in one night, in less than an hour in fact and I was completely flabbergasted. Even now I cannot believe I saw them mate twice in a night! Charles flew back near me and landed, making some short but intense and rapid hoots.

After I picked my now very sore jaw off the ground, I watched them for a little while longer before heading home to tell Wendy the amazing news.

While I was reasonably certain that Sarah was nesting and this tree was this season's nest tree, I like to be completely certain of such things. Long-time owl friends know that I like to give things like nesting or owlet dispersal a little more time before I "make that the call." With this in mind, I returned to the park on New Year's Day but a driving snow made me "make that the call" that I would not see the owls that night. Thankfully, Barb and Chris had more luck that night with the Great Horned Owls in Kennedy Forest; they saw them mate again and witnessed some close fly-bys and other heart-stopping owl behavior.

On January 2, I made way back to their territory and sure enough Sarah was already in the snag/hollow of the now very likely Nest Tree! I wanted to make sure that I saw her in this spot with my own eyes for three nights before I made the call that nesting was occurring and that this was the nest spot. I was back again on January 3 and again Sarah was in the snag/hollow. I made the call; Sarah was nesting and The Possible Nest Tree was now the The Nest Tree or The 2009-2010 Nest Tree.

More to come in part II of this post!

Mating Owls Have A Merry Christmas!

2010-01-04T13:34:00.030-06:00

Friday, December 25, 2009

After two rain-drenched days on December 23 and 24 filled with a great deal of Christmas shopping and no visits to see the owls, I was eager to return. We had some slight snow flurries in the morning and early afternoon, not enough for a truly white Christmas but enough to add an extra special touch to the day. After a great morning of presents (including several owl-related ones) and nibbling, it was time to go the park and see the owls.

I headed to the The Quintet Conifers but did not find anyone there. I wondered if it was time for the Thanksgiving Owl Mysteries to morph into the Christmas Owl Mysteries. The snow returned and in picked up in pace causing me to deploy my umbrella to provide a layer of protection to my cameras and optics. I decided to look next in The Mixed Glade and The Middle Conifers. I had just started in that direction when I realized I should check The Crossroads Conifers while I was in the area. No sooner had I changed my direction, then I heard Charles hoot from the vicinity of these recently named conifers.

Sure enough, I found an owl in The Crossroads Conifers but it was too obscured to get a positive identification. I saw flashes of Charles and Sarah but nothing definitive. After some more observation, the owl flew out of this glade of trees and landed in the top part of the tall dead tree in The Quintet Conifers. Its position at the top of this conifer looked the owl statue we at the top of our Christmas tree. Now in this exposed spot, I could tell by its dark plumage and massive size that it was Sarah.

I thought it was more likely that it was Sarah who flew out of The Crossroads Conifers. I have only found Charles in these conifers a couple of times but I have found Sarah there about ten-fifteen times over the past two years.

While I was glad to see Sarah, I wondered where Charles was especially as I heard him hoot. I did not have to wait long to find him. He hooted from The Hilly Wooded Area and I found him in a deciduous tree not far from The Crossroads Conifers. I know I had not looked carefully in that area so it is possible that he had been there and I had not taken notice.

I was happy to find both of them and just as I watch Charles, Sarah flew over and landed next to him, mere feet away, on the same branch. They duetted briefly before Sarah flew dove off the branch flying south. If Sarah had not left, I would wager that there was a good chance that they would have mated right there.

Charles began to hoot loudly and frequently, about once every thirty seconds. With his hoots competing with the strong wind, the neighborhood Eastern Grey Squirrels took notice. Their warning cries filled the air and one squirrel that was on its way to the tree in which Charles was perched managed to re-route its path sufficiently to avoid Charles.

He continued to hoot for a while longer before he defecated. In my observations of these owls, defecation is an almost guaranteed precursor to flight and fly Charles did. He flew a modest distance to a tree close to The Possible Nest Tree. His hooting continued undiminished. Judging by the muffled responses from Sarah, she was in the snag/hollow of The Possible Nest Tree.

This was not the first or last time that I have heard the muffled sounds of Sarah hooting from within a hollow. I call it diva duetting. It is as if Sarah is some great operatic diva like Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland or Kelly Clarkson. She refuses to go onstage due to some minor mishap but she still insists on performing for her adoring public. Unfortunately, on this night it was sufficiently windy that while I could hear her, the recordings I made did not pick up this diva dynamic. I always enjoy hearing diva duetting, as it seems to illustrate the deep bond between these two remarkable owls.

The deep bond between them was even better illustrated by what happened next. Sarah flew north out of The Possible Nest Tree and landed in a branch quite close to me; about fifty-eighty feet horizontally and about fifteen to twenty-five feet vertically. Charles did not waste any time. He flew over to this branch but instead of landing on the branch or elsewhere on the tree, he landed on Sarah's back and they mated!! Listen below at the twenty-nine second mark for the high-pitched sound that Charles makes when they mate:

Charles flew off west/northwest and it almost looked like he flew right down to the ground but instead he disappeared from my site within moments. This was the sixth time I had seen them mate this season, six times in fifteen days, and the first time I had ever seen them mate on Christmas! The very first time I saw the owls mate was on Christmas Eve 2006. Must be the mistletoe...

It became time for Sarah to depart, which she did in a northeasterly direction. I found her only a short distance away still in The Hilly Wooded Area. She groomed for a short while before continuing in the same direction. I reacquired her in the same tree, just slightly higher up, as I had before prior to her joining Charles, on the tall dead tree in The Quintet Conifers.

She did not stay long and went bombing off north. I went looking for her and Charles for a little while, hoping to spy them in some of their favorite spots in the around the road and the lake. My luck ran out but I was more than thrilled to have seen what I had. After many amazing things witnessed this evening and Christmas dinner in the offing, I headed for home to feast upon Wendy's superb meal of roast beef, creamed spinach (of the gods), and a great three-berry pie from our amazing local bakery, Sugaree Baking. A very merry Christmas indeed!

Owl Prowl With New Owl Friends

2010-01-02T19:42:00.012-06:00

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Several days prior to this Tuesday before Christmas, a new colleague and friend of mine, Aaron Hipp, mentioned that he was interested in a return trip to see the owls. Several weeks prior, Aaron and another new colleague and friend, Stephanie Zayas, had joined me for an owl prowl. While Charles and Sarah did not duet a great deal that night, we had a good time following them to The Second Catalpa, The Right Hand Tree and eventually Charles to The Bare Tree on Wildlife Island. After the prowl, we enjoyed a beer and a bite at The Boathouse before we headed home.

As Aaron's work strongly involves public parks and I spend hundreds of hours in Forest Park, it was natural that we became friends and associates. Kudos go to our mutual friend and colleague, Chad Henry, for suggesting to Aaron that he speak with your friendly neighborhood owl man and park patron. Chad is a big booster of the owls, the park and my work with them.

As Tuesday, December 22 drew closer, Aaron mentioned that his charming wife Pam and Pam's mother Maria, who was visiting for the holidays, might join us. Of course, I welcome all interested parties but I reiterated to Aaron the need for proper apparel now that we would be visiting the owls one day after the first day of winter. I need not have worried. When Aaron and I arrived at the park and we met Pam and Maria, a four-time marathoner in 2009 alone, they were suitably decked out for cold-weather owl prowling.

In the course of many owl prowls, formal or informal, that I have led, I have always made a point to address the apparel one should wear especially in cold weather. Unfortunately, my advice has not always been heeded to the fullest:). An owl prowl is comprised of two extremes: fast, quiet motion or quiet combined with a complete absence of motion. In cold weather, this means that you must dress in quiet, abundantly warm clothes. Over the course of this evening's hour-long prowl, I did not hear a single whine, fidget or complaint from Aaron, Pam or Maria about the cold weather. Bravo!

I gave Pam and Maria a quick tour and history of the owls and their nesting spots and offspring. We began to hear Charles hoot so we headed for The Quintet Conifers. Both Charles and Sarah were in his favorite conifer. I directed them to close but discreet viewing positions and it was great to see their draws drop at the sight of these two gorgeous owls.

First Charles and then Sarah flew south to a large dead deciduous tree not far from The Bushy Tree and The Second Catalpa. They had used this tree a fair amount in recent weeks and did so this evening. They continued a duet that had begun in The Quintet Conifers. The duet increased, decreased and then increased again in pace, intensity and intimacy.

At several points I thought that mating would happen at any moment. Having recently seen the footage of Charles and Sarah mate on December 19, I could tell that my fellow owl prowlers were keen to see them mate in person.

Sarah flew to a nearby tree and the duet continued. From our perspective, I thought that her new position made her physically inaccessible to Charles for mating. Perhaps it was Sarah's position or it was not in the cards or our discreet but four person presence was too much but mating did not occur on our watch. Charles went bombing off east and the disappointment in not seeing them mate was palpable.

We still had Sarah in our sights and then she joined Charles by flying in an easterly direction. It looked like she was heading towards The Eastern Tree but may have paused on her way. Indeed she had paused as keen-eyed Aaron found her in a deciduous tree near The North-South Path. She stayed there briefly before she went flying off to The Eastern Tree. We hustled over and just as we reacquired her in The Eastern Tree she made a gorgeous flight past The Four Trees and over McKinley Drive.

As we reacquired her on the east side of McKinley Drive we saw a muskrat swimming in the waterway below us. Pam, in particular, was pleasantly surprised to see this aquatic rodent. This was a very gutsy muskrat as he seemed completely unfazed by us. Sarah flew off northeast and again we gave chase. We found her by Deer Lake but she continued on northeast. We finally reacquired her in the sloping tree immediately west of the Franz Siegel statue. Moments after we found Sarah she blasted off east, about as far east as I have ever seen her or Charles go.

We decided that we had pursued her enough and we headed back to where we had parked. I was preparing to walk home when someone suggested dinner at The Boathouse. We all agreed but found that they are only open for dinner Thursday-Sunday during the fall and winter. Rats. Plan Bs were discussed and we quickly agreed on the new Central West End location of the excellent pizza purveyors, Pi. Knowing that my life might be forfeit if I went to the new Pi for dinner without my girlfriend, Wendy, I asked the others if she could attend. They graciously and heartily welcomed her. I called Wendy and before the word "Pi" had finished escaping my mouth, she said yes. We drove the short distance to Pi, Wendy joined us a few minutes later and we had a great meal with engaging and wide-ranging conversation. Maria saved the best surprise for last when she generously and kindly treated us all to this excellent repast. Thanks, Maria!!

5th mating of the season observed!!

2010-01-01T19:09:00.018-06:00

Monday, December 21, 2009

I arrived at the owls' territory later than I would have liked; about twenty-five minutes after sunset. The clouds that had covered the area had begun to dissipate before sunset, giving me a little extra time but I was still late. To my ears, it sounded as if Charles was hooting near The Bushy Tree and Sarah was responding in kind from The Wooded Area. I went in for a closer look and my eyes confirmed what my ears heard and my brain had analyzed.

Charles was indeed in The Bushy Tree issuing hoots that rang clear in the cold night air. Sarah responded readily making for a delectable duet. Shortly after I found Charles, he flew off south in a dramatic fashion before pulling up to land at the pinnacle of conifer in a mixed glade of conifers and deciduous trees. I could not help but exclaim at the amazing flight that Charles had made.

Just as Charles completed this flight a group of Canada Geese flew by him; a real visual treat. Shortly after Charles had arrived at the pinnacle of this conifer, Sarah stopped hooting. I worried that my exclamation had possibly scared her into flying away. I did not have to worry about Charles, he hooted consistently for a few minutes before going quiet but I could still see him. He flew off west, at first at a healthy altitude before dropping down low and flying close to the east side of The World's Fair Pavilion, possibly for a predatory attempt.

Curious about Sarah's whereabouts, I risked losing Charles and went to look for her in The Right Hand Tree. I did not find her there so I returned to look for Charles. I heard Charles call from The Hilly Wooded Area and I heard a muffled response from Sarah. Charles was in the same tree where they had mated the night before, a tree just in front of The Possible Nest Tree.

I decided to stay with him, wondering if the muffled hoot I heard from Sarah indicated that she was inside the snag/hollow of The Possible Nest Tree. Charles continued to hoot but I did not see or hear Sarah even when Charles increased his hooting rate from every forty-five to sixty seconds to one every thirty seconds. He groomed for a while and turned his attention for a brief while to a noise on the ground below possibly from a prey animal. Not for the first or last time, I wondered if they would nest in The Possible Nest Tree. Charles stopped hooting for a good four to six minutes as I pondered what would happen next.

While the owls can do their disappearing acts and frustrate and confound their faithful observers, wish fulfillment does happen. Seconds after I said aloud that I would love to see Sarah, out she flew north out of the snag/hollow of The Possible Nest Tree! There was a healthy chance that she had been there for a decent amount of time. She landed about forty to sixty yards away from this tree. I urged Charles to hoot but I thought that he may not have observed her leaving The Possible Nest Tree. I have seen at least one interaction between Charles and Sarah that might indicate that even Great Horned Owls cannot hear the silent flight of others of their species but that's another story...

I mentally urged Charles to resume hooting but telepathy was not happening the whole time this evening. I moved a short distance and found Sarah. She was in the same tree or one next to it when she appeared out of nowhere one night earlier. Charles finally resumed hooting and Sarah responded. In an almost exact instant replay of the night before, she flew flew back and joined him in the same tree and moments later they mated!! Listen at the twenty-seven mark for the high pitched sound that Charles makes when they mate.

Charles went blasting off past me going north/northeast doing short, possibly excited hoots as he flew. I went to watch Sarah and in another instant replay of the night before she did disappearing act. I could not complain too much as I had seen both owls and witnessed them mating for the third night in a row and for the fifth time in eleven days! In addition, I had agreed to be home by 6:30 so Wendy and I could decorate our Christmas tree. With the owls mating well after sunset all but once so far this season, I had worried that I would leave the park before they mated. Thankfully on this night they mated just after six and I was home at six twenty-five. The tree was decorated joyously as we enjoyed Christmas music, eggnog and of course, owls featured among the ornaments and decorations.

More owl suprises, mysteries and 4th mating observed this season!

2010-01-01T19:05:00.000-06:00

Sunday, December 20, 2009

I began this cloudy and somewhat mild day in Kennedy Forest and with the return of the Thanksgiving Owl Surprise. There in the same stretch of woods was a Great Horned Owl. It was perched in vine covered tree where I had seen a Great Horned Owl over a few weeks in February and March of this year.

I had not been to this immediate area since December 5, when I had not found any owls. By looking at this owl, I could not tell if it was the same one myself and others had observed in late November. I noticed something dangling beneath this owl. At first I saw it was a couple of short branches coming out of the large branch on which the owl was perched. I looked some more and noticed that texture and color of this dangling devices did not match the tree at all; they were smoother, even elegant. I looked again and realized that I was looking at a rabbit legs. I went in for a closer look and saw that the owl had a headless rabbit, most likely an Eastern Cottontail Rabbit, in its talons!

As a general rule, raptors eat the head of their prey first. When the hunting is good, Great Horned Owls are known to eat the brain and leave the rest of the animal behind. Eating the head first is a good strategy as the brain is rich in protein and other nutrients. I was glad to see that the owl had found food and I wondered when he had caught it. While primarily crepuscular and nocturnal, Great Horned Owls are renowned opportunists and will hunt during the day if the opportunity and/or need arises.

While I watched this owl carefully and cautiously, I must have gotten too close for comfort and it went flying off, rabbit in its mouth, heading south. I kicked myself mentally and apologized to the owl for spooking it. Part of me wanted to try and reacquire this owl but I knew I had to get going to find Charles and Sarah. I headed out to their territory at a brisk pace, eager to find them before sunset. About a third of the way there, my girlfriend, Wendy, called me with the sad news that the actress Brittany Murphy had died at the young age of thirty-two. Wendy and I are big fans of the great but recently concluded comedy show King of the Hil l, on which Brittany Murphy did the voice of sweet but not overly bright Luanne Platter.

I arrived at their territory and it was the return of the Thanksgiving owl mysteries (which you can read about here and here). I could not find the owls in any of there usual spots. When I arrived I heard some vague hooting sounds but I could not pinpoint them as I had both a hat and balaclava over my head and ears. After much searching and no success, I struck out northeast hoping to find them in some of their favorite haunts in that area of the park. I did have any success, at first, but I persisted. At 5:32pm as I came to the front of the Franz Siegel statue, I saw an owl in a large deciduous tree in the wetlands behind the statue.

I looked closer and judging by this owl's massive size, I identified the owl as Sarah. Later on, I would get a good look at her face and PIDed the owl as Sarah. Soon after I found her, she leaned over as if to drop a pellet and sure enough she out came a pellet. She also groomed rather extensively, which was interesting as they usually groom and drop pellets before heading out for the evening and here it was about an hour after sunset. I wondered how early a start she had had and why.

Sarah groomed some more, did a double-wing stretch, and a fluff out that caused a feather to fly off of her (this had also happened the day before too.) With great power and in stark silence, she flew off southwest towards the waterway east of Deer Lake. I gave chase but could not find her in some of the more frequented spots along this section of the waterway. I thought that she might be headed back to The Hilly Wooded Area for some Peaches & Herb Duetting so I headed that way.

I kept a vigilant eye open on my way to The Hilly Wooded Area but I did not find anyone just yet. Or should I say, any owl. As I went along The North-South Path and approached The Quintet Conifers I had a great sighting. I got a brief look at a four-legged mammal and its bushy tail. My first thought was raccoon but it was too big for to be the masked bandit. I then thought it might be a coyote but it was too small and short legged to be a coyote. With a clearer view of the animal it all clicked; it was a fox!! I had never seen one in the park despite of the thousands of hours I have spent in the park, the vast majority in the early evening and early morning when these animals are most likely to be seen. I have met numerous people who have seen foxes in the park and I can not help but gnash my teeth at their good luck and my complete absence of fox sightings!

The fox eventually saw me, paused and headed off east/northeast into the heart of The Wooded Area. I thought of giving chase but I did not want to alarm or accidentally corner this capable predator. I was thrilled to see the fox but unfortunately it was too dark for me to identify the species-d'oh!! Both fox species native to Missouri, the Red Fox and the Grey Fox, can be found in Forest Park. The species are almost exactly identical in overall size, making coloration one of the distinguishing traits for identification. Hopefully the next sighting of a fox I have will not be years away and will occur when some more light is available!

Just after I saw the fox I spied an owl in The Hilly Wooded Area. I carefully and quietly made my way over to the owl until I was within thirty feet of it. It was in a low branch about fifteen to twenty feet above the ground. I hoped it was Charles as I had not seen him yet this night and judging by size it was him. He flew off southeast at a low altitude for what seemed to be short distance but I did not see him land. I went around to reacquire but came up empty. Thinking that my angle of approach needed adjustment, I went back to the tree from which he had flown and again came up empty, but not for long.

Out of the north but out of thin air flew an owl and it landed thirty feet away from me. A slightly audible sound arose from its landing on the dry branch. My breath was taken away by the speed of its sudden appearance and my proximity to it. Judging by size, I took it be Sarah. I wondered if her close distance to me displayed a comfort level that they have with my presence in their territory and their lives. People often remark that the owls must know me or I am asked if I think they know me. I answer that there may be some recognition on their part and if there is it because since day one, I have done my best to keep my presence discreet and respectful. I wear muted colors, I try to keep a low level of sound (I even wrap my plethora of keys in a cloth so they do not hear my janitorial jangle), and I move slowly and cautiously. The owls are wild and powerful animals and deserve respect and caution.

As soon as this owl appeared, it disappeared flying off south. I gave chase and was rewarded with hearing Charles hoot! It was great to know that I had definitely found him. My first priority each time I come to watch the owls is to find everyone and then I can go from there. I moved forward and found Charles in a tree just west of The Possible Nest Tree.

The Possible Nest Tree is an interesting one. It is most likely a Cottonwood and it has a large snag/hollow formed by the breaking off or other damage to its main trunk. I gave the tree its name in the fall of 2008. As Charles and Sarah duetted throughout that fall, they would often fly to this tree and hoot on the tree and even into the snag/hollow, frequently in an intimate manner with gentle, purr-like hoots. As mating season approached, this behavior continued. Given their affinity for this tree and their history of nesting in hollows of Cottonwoods, I thought this tree might become their nest site. Not being completely certain that they would nest there, I gave the tree its name. It turned out that I was right to not break out the jump-to-conclusions mat. They instead nested in the tree where they had in the 2005-2006 mating/nesting season.

This fall, they again often duetted in this tree and each one of them went into the snag hollow on a few occasions. Seeing them return to this tree and continue to duet so tenderly I began to wonder if they had some history with this tree. Was this where one of them hatched, was it where they nested the first time or was it something else?

I was about forty yards from Charles and he began to hoot loudly and frequently. A few minutes later I heard Sarah just east of The Possible Nest Tree. They began to duet, about two hours after sunset i.e. Peaches & Herb Duetting!

The duet built up in pace and volume and then Sarah came blazing by me a mere five to ten feet to my left! She landed about sixty feet away from me as I my heart rate slowly returned to normal! The duet continued with Sarah behind me to the left and Charles ahead of me to the right. A few minutes later Sarah flew over to where Charles was hooting landing in a branch just above him. Within moments, Charles flew up to Sarah and they mated! This was the second time that I had seen them mate two nights in a row this season and the third time I had observed them mate well after sunset this season. Listen below at the twenty-three second mark for the high-pitched sound that Charles makes when they mate-amazing!

Charles flew out of sight heading south. Sarah hooted loudly and I wondered if their mating close to The Possible Nest Tree had any connection as to where they might nest. Sarah remained in her mating perch so I headed up for a closer look. I saw her quite clearly until a classic scenario occurred. I took my eyes off of her for a brief moment and when I looked back she was gone and I had no idea where she went. This disappearing act the owls frequently conduct is one of the most challenging aspects of their behavior. The observer shifts their attention on something, anything else and when they look again for the owls, the owls are nowhere to be seen. It leaves the observer at a complete loss as to where to look next. They move so quickly and so undetectably that one does not if go to near, far, east, west, south or north. Even with hundreds of nights of observation under my belt, I still get stumped by the disappearing act.

This night, though, I was not overly upset by the disappearing act. I had found Sarah well past sunset and well away from the core of their territory never mind that I had seen Peaches & Herb duetting and mating, all well past sunset. I continued on through The Hilly Wooded Area and I reacquired Charles in one of his favorite hunting perches. I had found him in this tree several times in recent weeks. Interestingly, his exact position varied each time. While I was loathe to leave him in such a viewable spot, I had to get going. Wendy and I were planning to buy our Christmas tree this night and I had already been out longer than anticipated. I wished the owls well and good night and headed home, my head swimming with all that I had observed.

Happy Fourth Owliversary!

2009-12-29T21:47:00.003-06:00

December 29, 2009

Tonight marks a big milestone in my observations of Charles and Sarah. Tonight makes it four years that I have been consistently watching these amazing owls. Those of you who have been on my e-mail list for some time received an e-mail last year, that I will quote in full below, marking the third anniversary of these frequent and detailed owl observations. But before I quote that e-mail, I want to share with you some information gleamed from the photo and video recordings I make when watching the owls. From December 28, 2008 until December 29, 2009, I have:

* I made 268 observation trips to the park to watch these owls
* This means that I got to the park rate 73% of the time over the course of the year
* Which yielded a per week rate of 5 times per week.
* Of the 268 observation trips I made, on 260 of them I saw the owls, which makes my success rate 97% (the owl mysteries of November and December 2009 brought this rate down)
* I went to the park the most in March 2009, 27 times
* I went to the park the least in February 2009, 18 times (not too shabby considering that I was out of town for 5 nights of this 28 day month!)
* The most nights I went in a row was in November 2009-12 nights in a row, followed by January 2009-10 nights in a row. 4 months had7 nights in a row.

All told, I have spent hundreds of hours in the park watching the owls. I am on my second pair of boots and my second backpack in the course of this year. I have taken thousands of pictures and videos. I have sent scores of e-mails and made scores of blog posts. I have seen the owls make predatory attempts, successful and not on:

* bats (species undetermined)
* Canada Geese
* Wood Ducks
* Raccoons
* Mallard Ducks
* Eastern Cottontail Rabbits
* unidentified insects
* American Robins
* Black-Crowned Night Herons
* Eastern Grey Squirrels

I have seen the owls: mate, nest, raise two unique youngsters (Art and Mo), groom, stretch, hunt, fly, expel pellets, defecate, duet, drink water for the first time (I saw Sarah do this tonight!), loose a momentous part of their territory and life history, get chased out of trees by Eastern Grey Squirrels, go further west and southwest then I have ever seen before, stay in post-perch trees for record lengths of time (tonight I watched Sarah stay in the same spot of one tree for 96 minutes shattering a very recent record by Charles of 75 minutes), and much more.

I have led two formal owl prowls and several informal ones, been consulted by professional naturalists, and have shared the joys and wonders of these owls with friends new and old. I have sweated gallons and felt my fingers and feet go numb, I have prepared hundreds of bottles of water, and have read and re-read countless books and articles on owls.

Thank you so much for reading and for your encouragement and support!!

Here is what I sent to my e-mail list last year-it still holds true!!

While I continue to write updates about the doings of Charles and Sarah over the past week or so, I wanted to write something this evening to commemorate and celebrate a milestone. This evening marks the third anniversary of when my observations of the owls went from occasional to highly consistent.

If I may digress, here is a little background. I first saw owls of any kind in Forest Park in August/September 2005 on a walk home from work. The owls were Great Horned Owls and were quite likely the owls that I have come to call Charles and Sarah. This late summer-early autumn evening owl observance was amazing. I saw and heard both owls hoot and fly and I even saw one chase a Great Blue Heron. I was instantly hooked.

I began delving into the literature on owls and making pilgrimages at dusk to where I first saw the owls; the wetlands area near the Franz Siegel statue. I met with little success but with just enough to keep me encouraged and returning in hope of further owl observations. I was joined on some of these excursions by either my girlfriend Wendy or my friend and colleague, Mark Rank. Unfortunately these joint excursions were unsuccessful. As Mr. Murphy and his eponymous law would have it, I would only see the owls, albeit briefly and inconsistently, when alone.

Then one day in the fall of 2005, I got a huge tip that would change my luck immensely. I was speaking with a then PhD student; Bipasha Biswas who I knew visited the park regularly. I brought up the owls and she remarked that she saw them with great regularity in and around The Boathouse. I thanked her for the information and shifted my attentions to The Boathouse. My attentions were soon rewarded and my success rate in seeing the owls went from a paltry 1 out 10 to a more substantial 3 out of 10. I even had co-observers of the owls as Wendy finally saw one on a cold, rainy evening. The observations remained short and inconsistent but progress had occurred.

As the fall semester of 2005 came to an end, I looked forward to a healthy amount of vacation and the additional owl searching time available to me. On December 29, 2005, I approached the area near the Boathouse between Government Drive, Pagoda Circle and McKinley Drive, where many of my recent observations had occurred. My devotions were soon rewarded and then some as I saw a Great Horned Owl fly into a hollow between two-thirds and three-quarters of the way up an immense deciduous tree.

With great excitement, I watched the owl settle into this hollow, which encapsulated the owl in a way that seemed correct and comforting. The owl dozed for a while and then began to groom, stretch and then hoot. I was spellbound. The level of intimacy and detail with which I was able to observe the owl surpassed every previous sighting.

The owl then flew off to one of four large deciduous trees in close proximity to each other (now known as The Four Trees) and began to call some more. After substantial hooting, the owl flew off at a rapid pace and disappeared from sight. I could not believe my luck. I hoped that this hollow would turn out to be the very thing I had been looking for; a specific place where an owl regularly spends significant amounts of time, a place that can be viewed with consistent success.

I walked home briskly to share the news with Wendy. As I walked home, I thought of a name for the owl. The name Charles came to mind quickly and instinctively. For one, I knew Wendy would find it irresistibly adorable. Two, the name Charles seemed to fit the simultaneous common and special reputation of the Great Horned Owl as the name has a broad range of associations from the names of royalty to the names of everyday people.

True to her nature, Wendy was ecstatic and listened as I went on in great detail about the hollow, the owl and everything it had done. I re-read relevant portions of the few owl books that I owned at the time and I could not wait for the next day to arrive so I could seek Charles out anon.

The next day as I had hoped, there was Charles in the hollow! For the second evening in a row, I saw him doze, wake up, doze again, wake up again, groom, stretch, hoot, fly a short distance, hoot and then fly out of sight. My success rate now skyrocketed from 3 out of 10 to 8, 9, and 10 out of 10! For many months now, I have been at a point that if I arrive with enough time before sunset (preferably 30-45 minutes), I will see one or more of the owls.

After December 29, 2005, everything just snowballed. I began to see a second owl more often and after much confusion (self-caused) I was able to determine that Charles was indeed a male and the second owl a female. The second owl was soon named Sarah after I saw the two owlets they had in the late winter/early spring of 2006. I watched the owlets grow up over the spring, summer and early fall and then saw Charles and Sarah begin the build-up to mating in the fall of 2006. On December 24, 2006, I saw Charles and Sarah mate for the first time and tonight I saw them mate for the sixth time in the last ten days.

In the three years since the great, fateful day of December 29, 2005, I have seen an amazing panoply of Great Horned Owl behavior; everything from hunting to child-rearing to moments of danger to moments of comedy.

In conclusion, I would like to make a few acknowledgements. Firstly, to the person who gave me such a huge tip on where to find the owls, Bipasha Biswas. Bipasha, the information you gave me has yielded rewards I cannot fathom. It is important to note that Bipasha has gone from PhD candidate to now being Dr. Biswas, Assistant Professor of Social Work, Saint Louis University. Secondly, to all of you: you have read my words, heard my words, viewed my pictures and videos, gone on owl prowls, and kindly given your praise, interest and encouragement. I thank you for your patience and kindness. The biggest thanks of all go to my girlfriend, Wendy. She is beyond encouraging. She listens to detailed descriptions to countless evenings of owl observations, she reads and proofreads my scribblings, she finds countless books, articles and references to owls, she helps me with physical items to assist me in my owl observations: clothing, optics and cameras and when the weather is sufficiently decent, she comes out for an owl prowl. Thank you, Wendy and thanks to all of you for your continued support and encouragement!

3rd mating observed this season!

2009-12-20T09:18:00.016-06:00

December 20, 2009

After an interesting but fragmented week of owl sightings:

saw them on Sunday, did not see them on Monday

saw them and observed them mate on Tuesday

saw only Sarah on Wednesday

did not get to the park (holiday part at work) on Thursday

saw only Charles on Friday (but new owl friends Shelly and Mark saw both of them)

I was more than ready to get to the park yesterday (Saturday, December 19) well before sunset and find both Charles and Sarah. It was grey, cold and windy and there were patches of snow on the ground from the flurries that hit the area on Friday night. I went to The Quintet Conifers and I found Sarah in the conifer to the right of Charles' Favorite Conifer. I looked for Charles in this conifer but he was not there. I heard Sarah hoot briefly and I my have heard a one note hoot from Charles so I looked extra carefully for him. I altered my position slightly and saw that he was in the same tree as Sarah! They do not use this conifer a great deal but enough to make it worthwhile to examine this tree carefully. It is always special to see them perched together in the same tree. They have perched together more often in the past few months than in any other time during my observations.

While it was great to see them in this tree, it was hard to find clear angles for to take pictures of them. They each varied their positions a little and did some grooming. Charles did an Escalator Stretch and later a Double-Wing Stretch. Sarah moved again and they began to duet in full. Initially, they had their backs to each other but then Charles moved above and to the right of Sarah.

Sarah made a short flight to an exposed branch on a deciduous tree between The Quintet Conifers and The Trio Conifers. The duet paused briefly but resumed again. The wind was intense, making my eyes water and pushing Sarah in mid-flight as she flew to another deciduous tree. After another pause in the duet, perhaps to the wind, the duet continued and at a faster pace and with more intensity.

Charles flew out of The Quintet Conifers to a deciduous tree and continued to hoot. I thought the duet would continue as it had not seemed to reach its peak. On scale of 5 the duet was at a 3 but they had started at 2. The duet did continue but before it became a 4 or 5, which usually proceeds mating, Sarah flew over and joined Charles in the same tree. Moments later they mated as you can see below.

This was the first mating of the year that I had seen and I was thrilled that I was able to film it and at a close distance. This was also the earliest in the evening that I had seen them mate so far this year.

So, how do owls mate? The best way I can find to answer this is to quote, at length, an excellent description from page 151 of the superb book Owls of the United States and Canada by naturalist and nature photographer Wayne Lynch, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007:

“Birds, by comparison, are much less athletic in their quest for insemination. To begin with, birds don’t have a penis, although ratites such as the ostrich, emu and greater rhea, as well as storks, flamingos and geese have a thickening wall of their cloaca that can become erect and function like a penis.

Without a penis, how do birds stay linked together long enough for insemination to occur? Owls and other birds have perfected the maneuver called the “cloacal kiss” – the cloaca being the terminal portion of a bird’s intestinal tract into which the kidneys and reproductive tracts also empty. During mating, their cloacae pout and kiss for three or four seconds-just long enough for millions of sperm to be passed to the female…Sometimes the male brings a present of prey, as Snowy Owls and Great Horned Owls occasionally do, but it is not a necessity.

…During mating, male owls of all species balance lightly on the female’s back. To keep their balance, they may extend their wings slightly and gently grasp the female’s nape….Once the cloacal kiss is completed, the male quickly dismounts. The pair may shake and fluff up their feathers, rub their bills, together, preen each other briefly or simply fly apart.”

Charles flew off a modest distance to a large deciduous tree in the eastern third of The Wooded Area. Sarah remained in the same spot for several minutes before flying off towards The Four Trees. With Sarah out of sight, I watched Charles for several minutes before he made an impressive flight out of The Wooded Area. He dove low and then pulled up with remarkable athleticism and popped out over the trees on the eastern edge of the area.

I went around to reacquire them, hoping I could find them in some of their favorite haunts in the area east/northeast of The Wooded Area. No such luck-they had gone further than I had hoped. I continued in the same direction checking out additional further haunts around Deer Lake, the wetlands and the waterway but without success. As my time was limited due to a social engagement that evening, I concluded my search and returned home. I was a little bummed to not have reacquired them but I was ecstatic to have finally seen them mate this year.

2nd mating observed this season!

2009-12-16T06:30:00.007-06:00

December 16, 2009

I got to the owls territory 20 minutes after sunset yesterday. I did not hear any hooting so I had to decide where to start my search. Since they have been using The Hilly Wooded Area a great deal recently, I decided to begin there. ESL (Experience, Skill, Luck) paid off again and moments later I found Charles in one of his favorite hunting perches in this area. I have found him in this tree several times in the last few weeks. Interestingly, he is always in the same section of the tree but his exact spot varies.

I watched him in this spot for seventy-five minutes. This duration likely exceeds and certainly meets the longest time I have seen him or Sarah stay in one tree after they leave their daytime perches. And yes, it was cold. When I got home, the weather report indicated that the temperature was 23F but felt like 14F. While watching Charles in this perch, I changed my observation post a few times to try and get some blood flowing. I was happy to move even more when I saw him fly off west, brilliantly illuminated by the streetlights as he flew over the road.

Charles did not go far as I heard him hoot in a mixed glade of conifers and deciduous trees close to The Hilly Wooded Area. His hoots resounded loudly through the still night air and even through my hat and balaclava to reach my ears. I could not see him for a while until I tried another angle and found him silhouetted in a large deciduous tree. He flew another short distance and continued hooting and again I had to find the right angle before I could see him, this time in a conifer.

I hoped his hooting would bring Sarah into the area and that they would do some Peaches & Herb duetting as I mentioned in my last post. I did not have to wait long at all. From The Hilly Wooded Area, I heard a strange animal call like a yelping meow followed by the dulcet tones of Sarah hooting. I do not know if Sarah made the odd call but Charles responded to her hooting immediately. They began a nice duet that accelerated in pace. I could not see Sarah but it sounded like she was close to The Possible Nest Tree.

Sarah was calling to the left of me and Charles to the right so I figured that I would likely see them if one flew over to join its mate. I was wrong. The next thing I knew Sarah was over in this mixed glad duetting rapidly and intensely with Charles. I did not see her fly there at all. Charles had changed his position slightly but I could not see him or Sarah. Mere seconds later they mated. I did not see them mate but Charles made the high-pitched call he makes while they mate. Sarah hooted while they mated; one of a few times that I have seen her hoot while Congress was in session. Listen to the video below and at the 41 second mark you can hear them mate as Charles makes his high-pitched call.

Just after mating, Sarah flew, again unseen by me, back to The Hilly Wooded Area while Charles remained, for a while, in this mixed glade. I went to reacquire both of them but was unsuccessful. I decided to head home, grateful to have the blood flowing at an even great rate, especially to my cold feet!

It was amazing to observe them mate again. It was especially interesting that I did not see Sarah at all; I only heard her. Instead of flying from place to place, it seemed like she teleported instead! I'm glad I endured the cold watching Charles. If had not been patient paid I would not have been able to observe Sarah and the second mating of the season. That said, I was glad to return to my warm home and tell Wendy all about what I had observed!

Even more owl mysteries and the first mating of the season!

2009-12-11T05:38:00.014-06:00

December 11, 2009

After an astounding evening on Monday 12/7 (fear not, there will be a post about it), I did not go to the park on Tuesday 12/8. It was pouring rain, cold and generally unpleasant. I returned to the park on Wednesday 12/9 and so did the owl mysteries.

Just as I leaving work, I saw my friend and colleague Timothy Hower leaving as well. I called his name and waved hello. He graciously asked if I wanted a lift to the park and I did not hesitate to accept. With sunset so early these days, every second counts. We got to the owls territory, I thanked Timothy and made my way to The Crossroads Conifers and The Quintet Conifers. No Charles, no Sarah to be found. Even though it was a few minutes after sunset and overcast, it was more than light enough to find them. I looked around The Wooded Area and a little around The Hilly Wooded Area but without success.

I noticed that the southern portion of The Wooded Area had been cleared within the last three days of Bush Honeysuckle, an invasive plant. This work starkly altered the appearance of the portion of woods. While I'm glad that this work was done, I was and am concerned about the timing of the work and its possible impact on the owls. Great Horned Owls as a species and Charles and Sarah as individuals are highly adaptive critters but for this work to occur as mating season arrives is disquieting.

I spent the next hour looking around the core of the owls' territory and heading out west and north hoping to find them but without success. Like the other recent nights when I did not find the owls, I was (and am) at a loss for an explanation of where they had gone and why. Also in-keeping with the other nights of no sightings, I dreamt of owls that night.

Yesterday, Thursday 12/10, was a bright, clear and cold day and I arrived at the owls' territory a few minutes after sunset. I felt confident that the bright conditions would give me more time to find the owls before they went off to hunt. Once again, I could not find them. I thought I heard a hoot or two from far off in The Hilly Wooded Area but it was so vague, distant and inconsistent that I dismissed it. After perusing the nucleus of their territory I went west and north again but from a different point of attack than I had on Wednesday 12/9. It was stimulating to take this different tact but it was no more successful than the previous night.

I then headed northeast, stopping at some locations where I have reacquired the owls both recently and in years past. No such luck this night. Only going south remained, so I went in that direction resolving to conclude my search in The Hilly Wooded Area before heading home. I did not find them on my way to this area and once I arrived there, I only had a glimmer of hope that I would find the owls.

The Hilly Wooded Area is one of the more challenging areas in which to reacquire and observe the owls. It is not the most densely wooded area in the park but the trees are large enough in number and size that there many places for the owls to perch. The large number of trees dump lots of leaves, twigs and branches on the floor making a stealthy approach difficult but not impossible. The frozen ground last night made the leaves extra crunchy and loud. Over the years I have learnt some of their favorite hunting perches in this area and while this helps, it is not a guarantee of success.

I went to a couple of these perches and found no owls but as I came near another perch, I flushed an owl and it flew off past me going north. In the dim light I was pretty sure I saw it pull up and land 80-100 yards from me. Judging by the size of the owl, I decided it was Charles. I thought briefly that it may have been one of the neighboring Barred Owls but I dismissed that thought.

Faint hooting began to waft through The Hilly Wooded Area. Since I was wearing a balaclava and a hat over that, my hearing was limited. I removed my hat and I could hear the hooting more clearly. I walked towards the hooting straining to hear it over the crunching leaves. As I got closer I identified the hooting as Charles' and then I began to hear Sarah hoot in return. In the last week or so, I have seen Charles and Sarah do this post-dusk hooting several times. I've begun to think of these singing sessions as Reunited Duetting or in my sillier moments, as Peaches & Herb Duetting.

I found Sarah hooting in a tree near The Possible Nest Tree a modest distance from where Charles' hoots originated. Moments later, she flew off towards Charles and I heard the distinctive high-pitched call that Charles likely makes when they mate! Although I did not see them mate and while I have heard this call twice outside of the mating season, given the givens I'm sure that they mated! Amazing!!

The only downside that the batteries on the camera with which I shoot video died and I was scrambling to replace them when they mated, so I missed capturing the high-pitched mid-mating call. D'oh!

It was 6:15pm when they mated, over an hour and a half after sunset and one of the latest if not the latest times I have ever observed them mate. This is the earliest in the year I have ever seen them mate. I wonder if the sudden onset of bitterly cold winter weather has had any effect on the timing of mating. In 2006, I first saw them mate for the first time on 12/24, in 2007 on 12/14 and in 2008 on 12/19.

I have been extremely privileged to observe Charles and Sarah mate now 30 times over the past four mating seasons and I hope to continue to add to that figure this year and beyond. It is a privilege not only to have observed such intimate behavior but also because the behavior has been seen relatively few times and only recently described. Mating was first described in the scientific literature in 1998, an especially late date given the fact that Great Horned Owls are the most widespread, commonly found owl in North America. This late description of a key piece of behavior underscores the challenges of observing an animal that is crepuscular and nocturnal, extremely well-camouflaged, and flies silently.

Thrilled at having first found the owls and then observed mating for the first time, I went home with a smile on my face and shared the news with an estatic Wendy.

Thanksgiving owl mysteries continue!

2009-12-07T13:09:00.024-06:00

Monday, December 7, 2009

After a week of some amazing owl behavior, which included duetting in and around The Possible Nest Tree early in the week and each of them going after a raccoon on Friday, December 4, Charles and Sarah disappeared and reappeared once more.

On Saturday, December 5, I was in Kennedy Forest where I ran into Barb Brownell and Chris Gerli.

We were all looking for other owls (more on that in a soon-to-be completed blog post, I promise) so we looked together. After this search concluded and they showed to some of the spots where they had followed these owls, we jumped in their car and headed off for the territory of Charles and Sarah. Just like Thanksgiving, we could not find the owls.

Barb and Chris could only stay for a while but while they were there, we could not find the owls. On my own, I went looking around all over just as I had on Thanksgiving and with the same lack of success. I did not see or hear anything that indicated they were in their area, My friend Edward Crim and his family looked for the owls earlier that day and he described in his blog that he too was unable to find them. I felt slightly vindicated that many well-practiced eyes and ears drew a blank but I was still puzzled and concerned about where the owls were. Also like Thanksgiving, it was a beautiful night and the owls made an appearance in my dreams that night.
On Sunday, December 6, I headed to the owls' territory as soon as I arrived in the park. Exactly like the day after their Thanksgiving disappearance, Charles was back in his favorite conifer and Sarah was once more in her new perch in The Crossroads Conifers.

Sigh. Why had they left? Where did they go? When did they leave and when did they return? Why did they not leave a note (again)? Plenty of questions, no answers.

Having relocated the dynamic duo, I had a little more time before sunset so I went to the other portion of The Successional Woods. On Saturday, November 29 I heard a Barred Owl call once from that area. I have found Barred Owls in this area before but it had been a while since I had found them. I went to one of the few glades where I had luck finding these owls before and just as I began to approach this area, two large birds went flying away at a rapid rate. I was able to identify one as a Barred Owl and while the second bird was likely a Barred Owl, I saw it too briefly to absolutely positive. I tried to relocate them but without success. I headed back to The Wooded Area to watch Charles and Sarah.

I became concerned about Charles that night even after I found them. He and Sarah got a nice duet going. She flew from her perch in The Crossroad Conifers to the top of the bare tree within The Quintet Conifers.

Sarah glided off southeast, passing by me in heart stopping fashion at eye level and within fifteen feet horizontally. Charles flew out of his favorite conifer but only a short distance to a nearby tree. Minutes he later he again flew another short distance and his landing was a little awkward. Even taking into account that short flights and their landings can be awkward, it still seemed odd and that he flew such a short distance and not to one of his more typical fly-to perches, which are further away. I began to wonder if he had been injured.

I watched him in this second perch from a close but safe distance as night descended. After 30 minutes of minor head movements and no hooting, he did a double wing stretch and groomed for a half minute. His movements resumed being limited to small head movements. I resolved that if he did not fly after being in this perch for an hour, then I would gently flush him from his perch and watch him fly to see if he was in good shape or not. Meanwhile, my fingertips were investigating the possibility of emancipating themselves from the rest of me. While I was warmly dressed, standing still on a cool evening makes keeping toes and fingers warm an all too palpable challenge.

As the hour mark neared, he expelled a large pellet but still did not hoot. If a pellet is on its way up it will serve as an impediment to hooting. Usually, once a pellet is expelled, they will resume hooting, often with gusto. Charles then flew off , making another short flight. My view of the flight was partially obscured but what I saw was a solid flight. Still, I wanted to be certain he was okay. I walked directly to his perch and only as I got to within a few feet of him did he fly off east. Thankfully, it was a long, high and powerful flight that took him out of The Wooded Area. I felt relieved that he was okay and I went to reacquire him.

I found Charles in one of the large Cottonwoods between McKinley Drive and The Muny. He began to hoot in a loud, strong voice, which reassured me even more. Further reassurance came as he flew off southwest into The Hilly Wooded Area. Satisfied that he was fit as a fiddle, I headed for home. My route home took me through The Hilly Wooded Area where I found him once more. I watched him for a moment more before he flew off south. I could him hear him hoot from from The vicinity of The Possible Nest Tree. I made my home eager to regain feeling in my fingertips and still curious about the owls disappearance and reappearance.

Thanksgiving owl suprises

2009-11-29T09:01:00.039-06:00

November 30, 2009

Thanks to benevolent bosses, I was able to leave work at 2pm on Wednesday, 11/25. I had debated about where to go before I went to Charles and Sarah's territory. I finally decided to head into Kennedy Forest on the west side of the park and then go see the Dynamic Duo. Just short of the summit of the hillside along the southbound Skinker Boulevard, I turned into the forest. I stopped and looked to see if any Barred Owls had returned to some previous perch/roost sites. They had not so I continued on eastward into the forest.

I took one of the non-paved paths that wanders through the forest. As I walked on a northerly portion of this patch I saw some whitewash (bird droppings) on the ground. I looked around the vicinity and I saw some more whitewash. The volume of whitewash was enough to indicate that this was the perch site of a large bird, possibly a large bird of prey.

I looked up and directly above me was indeed a large bird of prey. I was 99% certain it was a Great Horned Owl but I could not see its head and face. Walking carefully to a better vantage point I saw the tell-tale tufts and massive eyes of a Great Horned Owl. Bloody hell.

While I was thrilled to find this owl, I want to emphasize that I did not stumble upon this owl by a mixture of accident and skill alone. I knew that this area had a recent owlish history. In August, one of my owl friends Christine e-mailed me that she had seen a Great Horned Owl in this area. After receiving her e-mail, I searched in vain for an owl amongst the near jungle-like foiliage that had flourished with the record rainfall we had this summer. I had already had my own observations of a pair of Great Horned Owls for a few weeks in February and March of this year in this very section of Kennedy Forest. As quickly as I found them, this pair disappeared. Given the owl occupancy in this stretch of woods, I always keep my eyes peeled for any all signs of an owl when I'm there.

Thrilled to have found a Great Horned Owl again in Kennedy Forest, I called two of my owl friends to see if they were able to come out and see this gorgeous owl. First on the list alphabetically by last name was Edward Crim, photographer extraordinaire of Forest Park 365 fame. Edward was excited to hear about the owl but was had already made his daily sojourn to the park. I let Edward know where the owl was and that it was located where we saw an owl the first time we met back in March. Next on the call list was the aforementioned Chris Gerli. He too was quite chuffed to hear about the owl. He hoped to come out if the day's work finished early and I gave him directions on where to find this owl.

As I called Edward and Chris the owl began to hoot. The low, long notes the owl made indicated that it was a he; a male! I noticed that the hooting was on the tentative side, not quite fully formed. The male owl of the pair I found in this same area in February and March hooted in a similarly immature fashion as well. I went back to watch the owl hoot and was pleased to see that he had altered his position in the tree and was much more visible.

I was struck by his extra-large white bib under his chin and the edge of immaturity in his plumage. He looked and sounded like a sub-adult still on the cusp of full maturation. He kept up a steady rate of hooting and it struck me that he was hooting quite early in the day. It was well over an hour before sunset and generally Great Horned Owls begin to hoot closer to sunset than this chap was.

Filled with excitement about this new owl I headed off to see Charles and Sarah. Less than a third of the way there, my cell phone rang with Chris Gerli on the line. Work had finished early and he wanted to find this owl. We struck an easy bargain: I would show him this owl for a short and then he would drive us to the territory of Charles and Sarah. Chris was along shortly, I piled into his van and we made our way back to the forest.

The owl was still hooting and we could see him easily. As we made our way to our vantage point we saw two people coming the other direction. Through waves and hand signals it became clear that they knew an owl was in the vicinity. They and their extraordinarily well-behaved dog joined us and we exchanged hellos and names. Sally and Patience had been watching this owl for the past three nights and were glad that we could identify the species for them. Chris and I were glad to have some more information about how long this owl had been there. We told them about Charles and Sarah, several aspects of the natural history of the species and I mentioned that they (and anyone) could contact me via this blog. Just before Sally and Patience departed, the owl flew off west and continued to hoot after he landed.

Chris and I got a good look at where it had landed and we headed off to reacquire him. Then things took another turn. The owl continued to hoot and then we heard a response. It was a Barred Owl calling from a southwesterly direction. The Great Horned Owl hooted again and the Barred Owl replied in kind. What became odd was that out of four hoots by the Barred Owl, one sound like a text book Barred Owl call (often rendered as "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?") while the other three sounded like a melange of a Barred Owl hoot and that of a Great Horned Owl. The cadence was Barred Owl like but the tonality had the smooth woodwind sound of a Great Horned Owl. Chris and I were not surprised though no less thrilled to hear a Barred Owl as we both found them in Kennedy Forest over the years. We reacquired the Great Horned Owl and watched him hoot at close range. My apologies for the lack of video footage but I had a memory card error that day and the footage I took was unusable. D'oh.

Between our great chat with Sally and Patience and reacquiring Charles and then looking for the Barred Owl, Chris and I spent more time in this vicinity than we had expected. After discussing the possible location of the Barred Owl, we jumped in his van and headed for the territory of Charles and Sarah. We only saw Charles for a short while and on the following day, Thanksgiving, I was not able to get back to Kennedy Forest or find Charles or Sarah as I described here.

Chris Gerli and Barb Brownell found the owl on Thanksgiving, 11/26 and they observed it hooting in the bright afternoon sun for at least half an hour. On Friday and Saturday, November 27 and 28, I started my time in the park by looking for the Great Horned Owl in Kennedy Forest. On both days, I was able to find this owl brilliantly camouflaged in the same vine covered fork between two large branches. This owl was so well-hidden that on both days, an Eastern Grey Squirrel jumped right over the owl to get to from one fork of the tree to the other without seeming to notice this parked predator. I heard the owl hoot briefly on Friday but not at all on Saturday. The day time hooting, well before dusk, is puzzling. While I have not been able to do an extensive perusal of the literature, I do not recall previously reading anything wild Great Horned Owls hooting in the afternoon like these owls.

On Saturday, 11/28 a new wrinkle in this story emerged. Taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather, up to 70 F, Chris Gerli and Barb Brownell headed to Kennedy Forest. Their goal was to watch the owl in depth and to gauge his flying skill and maybe even look for signs that it was Mo or Art; one of the owlets that Charles and Sarah had this past nesting season. They called me as I was watching Charles and Sarah. I listened to their intentions and wished them well.

Their next call came a short while later. Not only had they found the male owl and heard it hoot but they also heard the distinctive reply of a female Great Horned Owl before finding this same female! The two owls began to duet and fly to different singing perches with adult aplomb. This behavior demonstrated to Barb and Chris that these were adult owls that had paired up or were actively in the process of doing so. Chris and I spoke twice more on the phone that night and his breathless excitement was infectious. The owls continued to duet and fly south until Barb and Chris lost them as the owls headed off in southeasterly direction.

I looked for these owl on Sunday 11/29 but did not find them at all. I debated looking for the owl on Monday 11/30 but decided instead to hit some recently unvisited parts of the park such as the prairie-savanna and waterway around Steinberg Ice Rink.

I met Chris Gerli and Barb Brownell looking for this owl on Saturday 12/5. This was the first time we had been back to this area since 11/28 and 11/29, respectively. We again did not find the owls or any very recent evidence of them such as fresh whitewash or pellets. Had the owls left or where they in another part of the park? So far, we do not have further information.

So now the big question is who are these Great Horned Owls in Kennedy Forest? Several scenarios exist:

one of them is one of Charles and Sarah's owlets from this year
one of them is one of Charles and Sarah's owlets from the year before
one of them is an young adult from somewhere else in the wider St. Louis area
both of them are young adults from somewhere else in the wider St. Louis area

To look at these possibilities, let us review what owlets of the species do when they leave their parents' territory. Great Horned Owls are remarkable parents, mating, nesting and hatching in the depths of winter. They do this because it takes so long for the owlets to mature and become independent. It is also thought that the owlets' efforts at hunting coincide with the arrival of more prey, especially the more inexperienced and thus vulnerable offspring of the owls' prey. After 5 or more months of careful care by the parents, it is time for the owlets to go out on there own. The parent owls stop feeding the owlets and will even chase them out of the parents territory. In describing the slow maturation of the young and the parents eventual cessation of care to human parents, the human parents side with the owl parents. I found this to be especially true if the human parents have children in their late teens and early twenties!

So what next for the owlets? Fundamentally, they have to survive and then work on finding and defending a territory before finding a mate and reproducing. Owlets are known to remain on the edge of the parents territory, the owlets' former home, while doing their best to eek out an existence without incurring the wrath of their parents. But the owls that are not able to raid the veritable fridge, head out away from their parents' territory.

With the exception of some of the northern subspecies of Great Horned Owls, which are forced to move south when prey populations crash, the species is sedentary. That is, if an individual owl is already established in a territory. For those that are not, they have to travel to find a place where they can survive and then work on progressing to territorial ownership, defense and then pair formation and reproduction. This first year or two is the only time of significant travel for most owls of the species.

So how far do they travel? As it is with many aspects of the natural history of Great Horned Owls, it can be hard to generalize. The species is the most widespread, commonly found owl in North America. Even the subspecies we have in Missouri, Bubo bubo virginianus has an immense range; all of the eastern U.S. and past the Mississippi River and portions of southern Canada. This immense range generates countless variables about the lives of owls in these different parts of the range. Great Horned Owls in Springfield, Missouri and Springfield, Florida and Springfield, New Hampshire will have some similarities but also in many differences in: what they eat, where they nest, when they nest, where they roost, population density, territory size and more.

While some studies focus on owls in a particular region or locale, other studies survey these more localized studies to come to more general conclusions. In his encyclopedic and sometimes slightly confusing book, North American Owls: Biology and Natural History, noted biologist Paul Johnsgard cites such a survey type of study that answers the travel range question nicely, "A study by Stewart (1969) of 434 banded recoveries from Great Horned Owls banded in various parts of their breeding range indicated that 93 percent were recovered within 80 kilometers (almost 50 miles) of the point of banded." So many owlets that have dispersed (left their parents territory) travel significant but not immense distances.

With all this in mind, that's why I spelled out the possible origins of these owls as:

one of them is one of Charles and Sarah's owlets from this year
one of them is one of Charles and Sarah's owlets from the year before
one of them is an young adult from somewhere else in the wider St. Louis area
both of them are adult from somewhere else in the wider St. Louis area

Owls that are not paired up are called floaters and are the singles of owl life. Very little is known about the lives of floaters and how they transition to couple-hood. That said, it does have to be a challenging life, especially for young adult owls, to be without an established territory and its cover and supply of food. Like many other predators at the top of the food chain, the biggest limiter on the population of Great Horned Owls is starvation. Large portions of Great Horned Owlets, at rates as much as over fifty percent, will not survive their first year. Of those that survive, significant portions of the survivors will not make to or past their second year. Survival is tough, even when one is at the top of the food chain.

Were these young adults stopping by Kennedy Forest as part of their process of establishing their own territory? Did they hear or otherwise run into Charles and Sarah and get the message that attempting to stay longer never mind establish their own territory in the area was a fool's errand? I hope to return to Kennedy Forest soon and try to find these owls again. My gut tells me that I will not find them again but I will keep my eyes and my mind open. Even if my owl friends and I do not find these owls again, this Thanksgiving owl surprise will be an interesting chapter in the annals of Forest Park Owls.

Thanksgiving owl mysteries

2009-11-27T19:25:00.043-06:00

November 27, 2009

I got to the owls' territory on Wednesday 11/25 a little later than I had wanted to but at the same time at a faster pace, thanks to one of my owl/park friends, Chris Gerli. Chris and I found Charles in his favorite conifer. He flew to the December 17th tree and began to hoot. We looked for Sarah but could not find her. Chris had to get going and moments after he left, Charles went flying off in an easterly direction. I debated about looking for Sarah in other areas or following Charles. In the end, I did a bit of both but came up empty.

On Thanksgiving (Thursday, 11/26), I went back to their territory just under two hours before sunset. As I had not seen Sarah the night before, I decided to stop by their territory and count heads before heading out elsewhere (more on that later) and then returning to their territory at dusk. Lately, Charles and Sarah have been sharing his favorite conifer quite often but they were not there. I then went to a stand of conifers that Sarah has been using lately, that my girlfriend Wendy and I have now dubbed The Crossroads Conifers as they are located near where a bike path crosses with three roads. Neither Sarah or Charles was there. I then went into The Cut In to access The Wooded Area from a different perspective. I searched from The Cut In to The North-South Path. No dice. I looked in the vicinity of The Owlet Conifers, where I had found Sarah on a recent Sunday. Nobody home. I looked in The Possible Nest Tree. Nothing. I went around the hill and looked in The Mixed Glade and The Middle Conifers without success. I looked in the hollows of the trees where Sarah nested in 2006/2009 and 2008. The hollows were vacant. I bashed through the eastern portion of The Wooded Area, in the hope that my loud footfalls would stir up some owls, something I usually abhor, only to find nobody home.

As I emerged on to the road, I saw a familiar looking car and its owners, Chris Gerli and Barb Brownell. Before we even exchanged Thanksgiving greetings, we exchanged owl updates; we know our priorities! Their news was better than mine but not about Charles and Sarah-more on that later. They were dismayed to hear that I had not found Charles and Sarah especially as I had looked everywhere and then some. Now armed with three pairs of eyes we re-traced some of my steps but still came up empty.

Throughout my search and our search, a large number of American Crows began to congregate around The Hilly Wooded Area. They were vocal and loud but never in a way that suggested that they were mobbing a bird of prey. They varied their position but again it did not appear that mobbing was taking place. It was unusual to see the crows loittering about in this manner as they tend to fly a west to northeast route as the afternoon descends into twilight. Over the last several weeks the number of crows making this journey has grown steadily but this was the biggest group of crows that any of us had seen so far this year. American Crows and many of their close relatives were decimated by West Nile virus to a point where it became noteworthy to see any of these birds. We all agreed that it was good to see the crows population flourishing again.

As we contiuned our search, the crows began to alter their positions more, even landing in some of the aforementioned favorite perchsites of Charles and Sarah. There is no love lost between crows and birds of prey and this enmity is especially pronounced between American Crows and Great Horned Owls. When a crow finds a Great Horned Owl, they sound the alarm and all the crows join in to harrass, call at and even fly by and bite at the owl. This behavior is called mobbing. Mobbing is a whole other tin of worms but suffice to say, the keen eyesight and brains of crows make for excellent owl detectors. As these crows flew around the territory of Charles and Sarah, I hoped that they would uncover our dynamic duo. No such luck. The crows meandered around casually as if no owl had ever made its home in the vicinity.

Barb and Chris departed for a Thanksgiving dinner at a local bistro and I continued my search. As sunset approached and arrived, I walked around the core of the owls' territory searching in vain for Charles and Sarah. I even hooted, hoping to draw one or both of the owls in to repel an interloper. I have only rarely hooted to attempt to find Charles and Sarah. Playing recordings of or imitating owl calls should be done judiciously as it can make false impressions of intruders that upset the local owls. In human terms, think of sitting in one's living room and hearing an unknown human saying in a loud voice, "I like this living room and I want to stay here." Most humans would be upset and react accordingly. It is the same with owls.

My hooting came to naught so I headed to one of the owls' favorite hunting spots over the last few autumns, the north and west side of Post-Dispatch Lake. No go. No one in The Bare Tree, The Right Hand Tree or anywhere else. I even hooted at these places but without success. With the sun having set an hour and half earlier, I headed for home.

I relayed the worrying news to a sympathetic Wendy as she made the finishing touches to an exceptional Thanksgiving meal of chicken pot pie. The recipe she uses is a sublime blend of comfort food and decadence as chicken baked in fresh cream mingles with peas, carrots, tarragon and onion and a 1/4 cup of brandy and homemade crust. The pot pie went down a treat with a Sicilian Chardonnay. Dessert was a superb pumpkin pie from our great local bakery, Sugaree Bakery , topped with freshly whipped cream. Even amongst the flurry of culinary delights, I could not help but worry about Charles and Sarah.

That night I slept a long time but uneasily as I dreamt of, among other things, owls. I often dream of Charles and Sarah and other anonymous owls but this time my dreams were undoubtedly borne out of anxiety and concern. I woke and had a relaxed morning followed by some successful errands but my thoughts remained on the owls.

As soon as we returned home, I made my preparations to head to the park and then made my way to the park at an extra fast pace. After heading out to see the owl suprise (wait for it), I got a call from my brother John. We had a good chat as made my way to the territory of Charles and Sarah. We rang off just as I was in the inner-core of the owls' territory that I have dubbed The Arena. As I looked around at The Eastern Tree, The Four Trees and the 2006/2009 and 2008 nest trees, I hoped that I would find Charles and Sarah. Minutes later, I did.

There in The Crossroads Conifers was Sarah. I exhaled about half-way. There in his favorite confifer was Charles. I exhaled the remaining half. At the same time, I couldn't help but think, "WHAT THE HELL!?!?! WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GO!??!!" Not being a parent, I still have often described the times that I worry about the owls as "the closest I will come to an approximation of the sensation of what it might be like to entertain the notion of an illusion of a simulation of parenthood."

Having exhaled, I reveled in watching Charles and Sarah wake up, stretch, groom, duet and depart for points beyond. I was able to follow Charles and I ended up reacquiring him about half a mile from his favorite conifer. After that, my tank of ESL (Experience, Skill, Luck) ran out and I headed for home, greatly relieved and eager for chicken pot pie leftovers.

I mentioned mysteries plural and that is where things get odd. In 2007 as in this year, I looked forward to Thanksgiving. Moving back our clocks an hour in the early part of November made finding the owls after work a very real challenge, then and now. With several days off at Thanksgiving, I looked forward to arriving at the owls' territory well before sunset and as a result observing the full panoply of their early evening behavior. In 2007 I was unable to get to the park the Wednesday of the Thanksgiving weekend. On Thanksgiving itself, I had to go to the park well before sunset as our friends Vickie and Art (the namesake of the owlet Art) hosted us and other friends for a superb Thanksgiving dinner. I did not find the owls before sunset on Thanksgiving that year. Over the next two days, Friday and Saturday, I did not observe any sign of Charles and Sarah.

This absence of observation was especially odd as the fall/early winter is one of the best times to observe Great Horned Owls in this part of their range. At this time they are busy duetting to proclam their territory and re-cement their pair bond. After not seeing Charles and Sarah the Friday and Saturday of the 2007 Thanksgiving weekend, I found them on the Sunday of said weekend in some of their favorite perches. I felt the oft-expressed dichtomy of human parents who, in some situations, do not know what to do first after defused crisis situations : to hug or strangle their progeny.

I am happy to report that I saw Charles and Sarah yesterday, Saturday 11/28, in the same perches as they were on Friday. It was a night full of showing the owls to people in the vicinity, a practice I call owl ambassadorship. Wendy joined me and marveled at the beauty of the owls and the unseasonably warm weather. Charles was innocently flushed by a cyclist just as a group of crows made their nightly commute and they mobbed him thoroughly. The crows departed and Charles and Sarah got a nice duet going before they flew off north. I hope I get to see Charles and Sarah more over the next few days and with a minimum of extraneous drama and effort!

A wet, short but good day

2009-11-13T12:45:00.029-06:00

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Between the day's rain, weekend errands and some social outing that night, it was a short time in the park this day. I had just enough time to count heads and enjoy seeing the owls. On my way over to their territory I saw an American Robin bathing enthusiastically in a puddle.

Charles perched in a nicely sheltered spot in his Favorite Conifer. Conifers offer the owls great coverage from wind, rain, snow and unwelcome eyes.

Art was in an exposed spot just southwest of Charles and in the midst of an intensive bit of grooming. Some of the most intense owl grooming sessions I have seen have occurred after rain and snow. Maintaining healthy feathers is vital for all birds and as the feather construction and arrangement of owls' feathers makes owls' silent flight possible, this maintenance is especially imperative for owls. Silent flight not only allows owls to make stealthy predatory attempts it also provides them with a quiet background from which to hone in on potential prey with their acute hearing.

In the above photo, Art is pulling one of the feathers called primaries of his right wing through his bill. By doing so, he removes any loos feathers, dirt and parasites. In the photo below, his head is just barely visible as he grooms around the inside of his right wing and his back.

Sarah was perched just a short distance behind Art.

The recent rain made the burgeoning blooms of the trees pop with color. While it was great to see this evidence of spring, I could not help but think of the challenge of finding owls and other critters in the thickly leafed trees of summer. Every season has its trade-offs of advantages and challenges for observing animals. The bare trees of winter make it easier to acquire and reacquire the owls but the frigid temperatures and cutting winds turn owl observation into a type of endurance sport. Summer's challenges are finding parent owls and owlets among the wave of green foliage and then keeping track of the ever more adventurous owlets and their active parents.

After watching Sarah and Art, I repeated the recent pattern of looking for Art after I had found the rest of the family group. On my way over to finding this wandering owlet, I saw a Great Egret on the south bank of Post-Dispatch Lake and a Snowy Egret on eastern bank of Wildlife Island.

I found Mo again in the White Pine he had been using recently; could this be his favorite conifer?

There were good indications that this was the case as I found a fair amount of whitewash (owl droppings) and a bit of squirrel, or possibly rabbit or raccoon, fur on the ground around this tree; themselves a good indication that Mo was being fed by his parents.

While these indicators of feeding cheered me, I still hoped that Mo would join the rest of the family group, sooner rather than later. I headed for home but not before taking in some more evidence of spring.

To find an owlet, you have to think and act like an owlet

2009-10-30T12:57:00.016-05:00

April 17, 2009

April continued to live up to the promise of spring with another gorgeous, warm day approaching the 70s.

Like the other day, I found Charles in Charles' Fav Conifer from the far side of The Wooded Area. Check the below picture closely for the yawning male Great Horned Owl. I was chuffed to not only see him yawn but also to capture it with my camera. For the hundreds and hundreds of hours I have spent watching the owls, yawning remains an infrequently seen behavior.

I spied Sarah in Wooded Area only a few minutes after finding Charles. Charles flew to The Bushy Tree, gracefully landing in the same spot as night before. Shortly after, I found Art not too far from the Quintet Conifers.

By adjusting my vantage point, I could see Charles, Sarah and Art from one place. As a fast and unidentified heron or egret came flying through Sarah did a double winged stretch. She followed this by fluffing out a bit and grooming some. While watching Sarah I realized that Charles was not hooting at all and he had not done so the night before either. The post-nesting season period from the spring until the late summer is the least vocal time of the year for the parents. Hooting and duets do occur but with nothing like the vigor of the autumn and winter.

Wendy called and she was going to come out tonight and look for Mo. After I rang off, I saw a group of fellow animal fans that I saw on occasion; nice folks who are always eager to hear the latest about the owls and other critters in the park.

I called Barb Brownell and Chris Gerli . I then met up with them and then went to meet Wendy. Barb had been interviewed today by Katie Rank for the article that Katie wrote about me. I thanked her for taking the time to be interviewed. I met up with Wendy and we joined Barb and Chris at the north bank of the lake to look for Mo.

We looked carefully but could not find him until Wendy took a new tack. She did a great imitation of the raspy begging cheep made by Great Horned owlets. After just a few of the calls, Mo responded with his own begging cheep that led us to find his location. I gently scolded Wendy for reasons she was well aware of, namely that while imitating the call of an animal can help you find the animal, it can also be a unintentionally confusing and/or provocative gesture to the animal. However, as someone who when hungry, gets as if not more whiny than a ravenous Great Horned Owlet, Wendy knows how they feel. As she said about the begging cheeps that night, "They come naturally to me." Wendy's sincerity and overall grooviness won the day.

We found Mo in the group of conifers along the lakeside, the same group where he had some spent some time last night. We speculated if he had gone back to other side of the lake last night after I had left and only to return to the north side of the lake. Mo moved around the conifer going from thicker sections of branches to more exposed perches. His begging cheeps decreased for a time but soon ramped up again. We moved further away from the group of conifers just in case Sarah came by; we did not want to get in between her and Mo!

After Mo moved back to a thicker section of conifer, Wendy and I took our leave and headed out for dinner. This way, we knew for sure that one of the hungry little ones would be fed!

A Wild Turkey, a Barred Owl and a family of Great Horned Owls walk into a bar...

2009-10-12T13:40:00.048-05:00

April 16, 2009

I was sitting on my desk working when my cell phone rang. It was Chris Gerli of City Cycling Tours calling, his voice grim and full of concern. I swallowed with trepidation as I awaited bad news about the owls. Chris came right to the point; after coming closer to joining the rest of the Great Horned Owl family last night, the owlet Mo was back on his own on the north side of the lake. Sigh.

Why did he come back? I was still in the dark about what initially led Mo to his lakeside residence but it seemed clear that this return was a deliberate, willful act of his own. Chris said that Mo was in a conifer not far from the dual-use path. I thanked Chris for his call and shook my head at this latest development. I had really hoped that Mo would be with the rest of the family. This place would offer him greater access to food and more security from his watchful parents.

Armed with the news about Mo, I headed off into the park, which was reveling in a bright, mild spring day. I walked up Skinker Blvd and as I was along a fairway of the golf course, I saw a Wild Turkey hen. At first, I did not even do a double take; my brain just registered that it was a turkey. Then I thought, "A turkey!" It was the first Wild Turkey I had seen in the park for many months. Overall, I have had relatively few sightings of this species in the park but this has made the sightings even more memorable.

This hen continued on its merry way, seemingly unaware or unconcerned about the rush hour traffic.

I stopped at the glade of White Pines at the edge of the prairie-savannah near Kennedy Forest to look for the long unseen Barred Owls. Sure enough they were not were there nor had they for the last several weeks. Last year, they went through a similar pattern; regularly found in the late fall through winter and then as spring unfolded they left their coniferous commune for parts unknown.

Continuing on into Kennedy Forest itself, I paused to look in vain for the two Great Horned Owls that I found for a few weeks during the winter. My owl searching was not all for not as I found a Barred Owlnot far from one of the eastern entrances of Kennedy Forest. I had never seen an owl in this specific part of the forest and I was thrilled to see this splendid owl.

While on my way over to the territory of Charles and Sarah, I could not help but stop and revel in the park in bloom.

I ran into photographer maestro and Forest Park booster extraordinaire Edward Crim who was able to direct me to Mo; about half way up a pine tree on the north bank of the lake. It good to see him alive and well and in a conifer for the first time!

We headed off to The Wooded Area to locate the rest of the family. Like many of my recent posts about this time of year, Charles was again in his Favorite Conifer but in an atypical branch. Sarah perched in a large deciduous tree in The Wooded Area.

Charles flew off to The Bushy Tree so Edward and I rounded the bend to reacquire him. The sun was setting beautifully over the park. Seeing countless sunsets in all their glorious varieties is one of my favorite fringe benefits of my owl observations.

The Bushy Tree was just starting to show the buds that would eventually bloom and demonstrate that my name for this tree was not unfounded! Charles looked particularly magnificent in this tree this night.

As Sarah flew eastward and we finally saw the other owlet, Art, go to The Quintet Conifers.

Still full of concern about Mo, we went back to lake area and found him on the grassy ground of the north bank. He got some grief from American Robins but not enough to prevent him from nuzzling some branches with his head, an all too cute bit of behavior. Moe's cuteness did not convince some nearby Mallards as they flew off after getting rather close to him for their comfort. And yes, Great Horned Owls can and do eat ducks among many other things.

Mo made a few short flights, which made me wonder if he was more comfortable learning to be an adult owl out here in this less thickly wooded area. While The Wooded Area offered the protection of his parents and more hiding places, this more open area might offer a less demanding more gradual environment in which to mature.

Watching Mo, I could not help but think of my own development in regards to a particular natural area setting; the ocean. As a three to five year old, I had not reached a comfort level with the raucous surf of the Atlanic Ocean along the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where my family stayed for a week or two most summers. Instead I reveled in the almost wave-less bodies of water in and around the Tidewater region around Norfolk, Newport News and the like, that we encountered on the trip down from the suburbs of Washington, D.C. My family kindly stopped at these mild waters and I splashed around with delight. Over the years, I came to tolerate then love the pounding Atlantic surf and the joys it offered.

Next Mo flew into one of a group of conifers. He moved within the tree, learning which branches could hold him best. Overall, this is a slow learning process for owlets. In my years watching the owls, the poor choice of perching spots is an almost fool-proof way of identifying an owlet from an adult, especially as the owlets' flying skills improve and their physical appearance matures.

Mo then made a nice flight back to the ground. He moved to the base of tree and it seemed to provie a good hiding spot as he began to beg in earnest. The two of us seemed to each be in a curiousity cunundrom, do we venture out and closer to see and learn more or do we play it safe. I wondered if curiousity was the two way street with each participant weighing the pros and cons. I wanted to get closer to Mo but was keenly aware that Sarah might not be happy about that and make said unhappiness clear in a way that could lead to me getting stiches. By the same token, I think Mo wanted to venture out more but had enough sense and instinct to stay relatively obscured. With this pleasant stalemate in full swing, I headed home a little early after the late night the night before.

Extra! Extra! Friend of The Owl Man Gets More Great Press!

2009-10-02T13:02:00.002-05:00

October 2, 2009

My friend, Edward Crim, just got a great write up in the new issue (September 30,2009) of the West End Word about his amazing photography project Forest Park 365, http://web.me.com/edwardcrim/FP365/FP365/FP365.html

Congratulations, Edward!

It's a great article that does a superb job of describing him and his project. Edward is a superb photographer of animals, plants, people, architecture, landscape, you name it. His dedication to the park and to his project of photographing the park every day is beyond reproach.

The article features a great shot of one of this year's owlets, Art and Edward kindly made reference to me in the interview-thanks, Edward!

A new owl friend!

2009-09-17T14:08:00.004-05:00

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Enjoying the quiet this past Sunday morning, I checked my e-mail. I found a very nice e-mail complimenting me on my blog and expressing interest seeing more of the in the wildlife in Forest Park with like-minded folks. I immediately replied back and let the sender, Deepa, know that I would be happy to meet her that very day and show her the owls and as much other wildlife as possible. Through a series of e-mails and phone calls, we arranged to meet at the park's visitor center.

After a brief troll through the wetlands and surrounding areas in which I saw my first American Kestrel in many months along with a Great Egret, a juvenile Night Heron (most likely a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron) and a few Bullfrogs, I headed to the visitor center. I stopped on the way to talk to Chris Gerli and then I met Deepa, her daughter Anjana and son-in-law with their lovely infant daughter Kavya. We had a nice chat and then Deepa and I headed out from there. I'll let Deepa tell the rest of the story via her cool blog. Enjoy!

A big day for Mo and lots of other cool owl happenings!

2009-09-14T13:11:00.038-05:00

April 15, 2009

Even though it was tax day, it was a gorgeous one; bright, sunny and windy. I saw a nice indicator of spring as I saw three herons and egret species close together in the riffles by the Suspension Bridge; a Great Egret, a Snowy Egret and a Green Heron. Gorgeous.

I did not find Mo on my initial search of the north side of the lake. Little did know what excitement would happen with Mo later this evening.

While I was looking from the north side of The Wooded Area, I found Charles in Charles' Favorite Conifer -a real needle in a haystack moment. If I moved just inches from my vantage point, I would have lost sight of Charles. This was not the first time I had done found him from this perspective but it was the first time this year.

I came back around The Wooded Area and reacquired Charles in this tree from a more typical perspective. He did some early evening grooming. In order to maintain basic health and hygiene as well as maintain their silent flight capability, owls groom themselves thoroughly.

Just outside of The Cut-In, I found Sarah along the northwest section of the area and then I found the owlet Art, quite close to her. Art was doing some early begging cheeps and he made a short hop or two from branch to branch.

Sarah made a short flight into The Bushy Tree. I came around and found Sarah in The Bushy Tree. She was big, gorgeous and bathed in the late afternoon sunlight.

I could see Art not to far from Sarah in The Bushy Tree. A couple of large dogs began moving around the edge of The Wooded Area and then inside of it. I could not see an owner and I noticed that Sarah was keeping a close eye on the dogs, especially with the owlet so near to her. I think if the dogs got too close for comfort that Sarah would have done something about it, just like this Great Horned Owl did to this dog:

I went back to the other side of The Wooded Area and heard the dogs barking but what was happening was still unclear. I reacquired Charles at the northern edge of The Wooded Area, just like the day before.

By this point Art had moved and was now in and around The Quinetet Conifers. I came around to other side of hill and saw Sarah still in The Bushy Tree. She did a Double Wing Stretch, which, along with defecation, is often a prelude to flight. A couple of bats flew around and I could see a few Mallard Ducks on the ground. Sarah seemed to be checking both of them out at various times. She then executed an Escalator Stretch with a quick return of wing and leg to perching position. Charles began to hoot as I watched Sarah's stretching. Sarah took off and flew north to the roadside in a powerful and gorgeous flight.

Charles continued to hoot and I reacquired Sarah in a Cottonwood along the road. She flew off a short distance across the road and landed in a tree. Soon after she returned back to The Wooded Area with something in her talons-she caught something! I couldn't tell what it was but she dropped it off in The Wooded Area, possibly in the The Great Northern before returning to the roadside. Charles flew off across the lake, a gorgeous flight that he interrupted to go after but ultimately miss a bird in flight.

I happily ran into Chris Gerli and Barb Brownell and we sprang into action! We heard a great deal of robin calling but no owlet begging. Chris found Art in The Great Northern and the owlet was feeding on its own; an impressive at this young age. The Great Northern was the sight of several feedings of last year's owlets by Sarah.

This tree gets its name from its massive size and northerly position as well as referencing the hotel on the great TV series, Twin Peaks. In the second of its two series, Great Horned Owls were used in the show in a powerful manner that greatly impressed me, then in my late teens. Although a decade-and-a-half passed between this series of the show and my first encounters with Charles and Sarah, the show was undoubtedly a step on the path to where I am now with owls being an important part of my life, particularly this pair and their progeny.

Sarah went blazing over us while vocalizing in a screech/cheeping manner after doing a pause/practice attack at the top of a tree and landing in the Eastern Tree.

With the light fading fast, we agreed to go looking for Mo along the north bank of Post-Dispatch Lake. As we got closer we began to hear Mo making begging cheeps. We moved in closer and saw him make a nice flight to a low branch of a deciduous tree. He continued to beg and then he blasted off low to the ground, possibly going for a bird on the ground as we heard some bird calls and Mo bill clacking. We reacquired Mo in another low branch but now in a conifer. We didn't see any further evidence that he caught something.

Things then got really exciting. We saw Sarah fly over to this side of the lake with some food in her talons. Mo then made a loud squawk and flew over to the small tree in which Sarah had landed. We could see some food exchange/feeding taking place for a few moments until Sarah flew down to the ground. Mo began to emit begging cheeps at a rate and with a fevered intensity I had never observed. He was so excited at the prospect of food that he even bill-clacked.

He pursued Sarah with the food but she headed back across the lake with the prey item.Working with the last remnants of daylight, we struggled to see what was happening but the next thing we knew, we heard and then saw Mo on the other side of the lake! He had followed Sarah over to get some food. His flight across the lake likely took him across the water at one of its thinner points but at a distance of about 70-80 yards, it was quite significant achievement for a recently-fledged owlet. We all agreed pretty quickly that Sarah was likely luring Mo back to the parents' territory using food as bait. As a support to this theory, I mentioned an episode described in The World of the Great Horned Owl by G. Ronald Austing John B. Holt, Jr., one of the seminal works on the species, in which a mother owl encouraged at least one of her youngsters to fledge by luring them out of the nest with food.

We had a good view of him on the south bank of the lake. Shortly after he made a short flight to another portion of lake bank, we decided to head home. We were optimistic that Mo would join up with the family group in The Wooded Area and we looked forward to seeing the family back together again.

The owlets have left the building!

2009-09-08T21:44:00.009-05:00

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Kindly allow (owlow) me to skip ahead to the present day. I plan to continue my gradual process of blog updates about the doings of Charles, Sarah and this year's owlets, Art and Mo, but I need to jump ahead briefly.

Tonight I went to the park for the seventh consecutive night and I did not observe the owlets at all. I have been keeping a keen eye and ear out for them as it has been some time since I have observed these fascinating owlets. To recap:

Last definite sighting of both owlets, Thursday, August 20, 2009

Last possible sighting of an owlet, Tuesday, August 25, 2009.

Since this date, I have not observed the owlets at all. A few days after August 25, when I still had not seen the owlets, I told myself that I would give two weeks from August 25 and if I had not seen the owlets within that two week period then I would make the call that they had headed out on their own.

Over the last two weeks I have not seen or heard the owlets but I have found some possible evidence of them. Evidence that might point to natural processes taking place or a premature end to their young lives. Along the north bank of Post-Dispatch Lake, I have found two stretches of the bank with numerous feathers (mostly body or contour feathers) on the ground. I'm not a feather expert but I'm pretty certain that some of the feathers are owl feathers. I think the other feathers are duck feathers as a few Mallard Duck families hung out on these stretches of lake shore.

My hope is that the owl feathers are a result of the owlets undergoing their first molt, completing the transition from juvenile to adult plumage. My fear is that the feathers are evidence that the owlets were attacked, injured and possibly killed by another animal. This concern is assuaged by the lack of other evidence such as blood trails and corpses. On the other hand, the large volume of feathers, particularly on one of the stretches gives me cause for concern.

While adult Great Horned Owls have very few natural predators, the owlets they are vulnerable to animals that would otherwise not pose a threat to them as adults unless they were were injured or ill. Of the animals that live in the park, the ones that could pose a hazard to even six month plus old owlets like Mo and Art are: Red Foxes, Red-Tailed Hawks, Coyotes, Raccoons, and Minks. In addition, many medium to large domestic dogs would be a formidable threat to an owlet.

The previous four groups of owlets born to Charles and Sarah have all left their parents territory well into September, usually between the second and third week of the month. I hope the owlets early absence is the result of their independent streak (particularly in Mo's case) and not the result of a predatory encounter with the owlets in the role of prey.

After making the call on Tuesday, September 8, that the owlets were no longer around, I have not gone looking for them. I have gone directly to Charles and Sarah's perch sites and watched them. As always, this is a bittersweet transistion. I am glad I can focus my time and energies more closely but I miss seeing the owlets and their continued growth and development.

I wish Mo and Art well and I look forward to continuing to tell their story retroactively! Thanks for reading!

Where in MO is Mo?

2009-08-24T12:36:00.024-05:00

April 14, 2009

As I had the previous days, I began my search with Mo. Yet unlike the days previous, I did not find Mo at first. I checked the trees in which I had seen him and many others that were within the realm of possibility. A key lesson about wildlife observation,that I have learned from my time with the owls, is the importance of keeping one's eyes and mind open. While I have learned many of the owls favorite perches and spots, they are known to mix it up when you least expect it. I have had a few incidents that have brought home this point. I won't pretend and say that I always keep my mind and eyes as open as I should but I get better as time goes by.

I hoped that Mo had rejoined his family in The Wooded Area so I headed there next to test this hope and locate the rest of the family. I soon found Charles in that special tree known as Charles' Favorite Conifer. Keeping my eyes and mind open, I next located Sarah. She was perched high in the tallest of The Trio Conifers. I had looked for in this tree but did not find her until I looked at the tree from a different vantage point. This "angle-dependent" phenomenon is one of the trickier things to which I have learned to adapt and use in my time with the owls. Finding the right angle or vantage point can make or break finding them and observing them with the greatest success.

Having located Charles and Sarah, I now to keep my eyes extra open for the owlets and their protective mother. Female Great Horned Owls are fiercely protective mothers and it is not unusual for them to attack humans that get too close to their young. As I looked for the owlets I frequently looked behind me to see if Sarah was showing any signs of alarm or attack. It was more than a little unnerving to look for the owlets with her behind me as I was well aware of how fast and silently she could get to me if I came too close to her youngsters. At one point, I turned with alarm to a wooden clacking sound only to find it was a woodpecker (most likely a Red-bellied Woodpecker) burrowing into a tree. Thankfully, it was not angry bill-clacking by Sarah. I have heard owlets bill clack when excited or at play but I'm just fine that I have not heard the adults bill clack. Bill clacking by the adults t would mean that they were unhappy, quite possibly with me. As I continued to look for Mo, Charles began to groom himself.

I continued my search by entering The Wooded Area via an obscured path I call The Cut In. I found this path in the summer of 2008, when it became an invaluable entryway into a different but important vantage point inside of The Wooded Area. I looked in vain for the owlets but due to my past success in finding owls and owlets in this area and this day's atmosphere, I could palpably feel the potential for seeing owlets.

Cutting out of The Cut In, I wound my way around The Wooded Area until I was north side of the area. Once there I saw a an owl flying that may have been a youngster but my glimpse was too brief to be sure. Making my way back to The Trio Conifers and The Quintet Conifers, I heard Charles hoot what was likely the first hoot of the evening. Sarah was no longer in the tallest of The Trio Conifers and I wondered if it was her I saw flying. In addition, not knowing where she was even more disconcerting than earlier when I knew where she was!

My concern for Sarah's location abated slightly as I saw at the pinnacle of Charles' Favorite Conifer the wavering, near-frantic wingbeats of an owlet trying to maintain its balance. The owlet's presence was confirmed by a typically rasping begging cheep. Now the question became, which owlet was this?

The owlet flew down from the conifer to a tree that had lost much of its height through disease or storm but formed a nice low horizontal platform. I reacquired it and saw that it had joined Sarah who had some prey! Sarah began to feed the owlet, tearing off pieces of the prey that the owlet would then grab from Sarah's mouth and bolt down. I could not tell which owlet it was at this time.

I saw Sarah feed last year's owlets several times on this deciduous dining room table. This feeding session did not last long as Sarah flew off out of The Wooded Area with a large portion of prey in her massive talons. The owlet did not give chase but I did as I was curious to see if Sarah was taking the prey to feed the other owlet.

From my vantage point, it looked Sarah's flight took her to The Mixed Glade, a group of conifers and deciduous trees. I walked around to this side of The Wooded Area (again) but could not find her in The Mixed Glade. I looked around carefully and much to my surprise I found her in The Bushy Tree. Not only was she in a spot I did not expect (it looked like she had flown past The Bushy Tree) but the prey she had carried was nowhere to be found! The only conclusions that came to mind was that she had cached the prey or given to a yet unseen owlet before flying to The Bushy Tree.

I should mention that as it was mid-April, The Bushy Tree was bare and not at all bushy. This tree is a Catalpa and in the summer it becomes extremely bushy with dense leaves that make finding owls in it rather tricky. This tree has been a favorite summer perch for the owls for as long as I have been watching them. I had not seen any of the owls in The Bushy Tree for many months so it was stimulating to see Sarah but I was still puzzled about what she done with the prey.

I went back to area near The Quintet Conifers and saw Charles expel a pellet from out of his mouth. I missed filming this act by seconds but the loud impact of the pellet on the ground below indicated that it was a good size pellet. I realized that Charles had been rather quiet so far and that the pellet that was on the way up was responsible. Pellets are a compressed mass of undigestable materials such as bones, fur and feathers. When a pellet is on its way out of the gizzard and back up an owl's throat, it restricts their ability to eat or vocalize. On several occasions, I have seen one of the owls remain utterly silent until they pass a pellet whereupon they vocalized with vigor.

Charles took off flying beautifully for a short distance until he came to the northern edge of The Wooded Area, not far from the north-south path that runs through the middle of the area. I readjusted my position and was able to see Charles, Sarah and Mo all in their respective perches from one spot, a rare occurrence. By this point, I was feeling more certain that the owlet was Art. I now headed back around The Wooded Area to look again for Mo.

As I got to the northern side of the area, I found Charles who was perched in an in a much higher than normal spot in a deciduous tree. I looked back at Sarah in The Bushy Tree and saw her head bob. While owls have incredible visual acuity, they will bob their heads from side to side and up and down to improve their depth perception on an object of interest. Sarah then flew through The Wooded Area until she landed near The Trio Conifers and The Quintet Conifers. I reacquired Art and Charles before heading off to look for Mo. Despite the approach of sunset and having expelled a pellet, Charles remained silent.

I returned to the starting point of my prowl and while I still had not found Mo. I did see a Great Egret, a Green Heron and a female Wood Duck. Even though it was cool and grey, seeing the egret and the heron reinforced the certainty of spring's arrival. The Wood Duck was perched on a tree, always a somewhat surreal but pleasant sight. I enjoy seeing Wood Ducks land in trees, marveling at their ability to land on a branch with their webbed feet lacking the articulated toes of most birds.

I was even more pleased soon after by sighting two humans, my friends Barb Brownell and Chris Gerli; two of the most dedicated owl and wildlife watchers I know. I hoped they had found Mo and they had! Barb and Chris had seen him make several good flights and emit a number of begging cheeps. They had even seen him make a few attacks on sticks on the ground. We speculated that this was more than predatory play but a very real quest for food by a hungry owlet out on his own. I was glad to know Mo was alive and under keen-eyed observation.

We found Mo again as he was on the ground further west than he had been the past few days. His current position was just next to one of his parents' favorite perches on this side of the lake. I let Barb and Chris know about this perch and that I had spent many hours watching Charles and Sarah in this tree, as recently as this fall and winter. On a number of occasions, I have been able to see them in this tree from the other side of the lake, a distance well over 100 yards.

Chris had heard Charles hoot earlier and was curious to find him, so Chris headed off back to the other side of the lake. Just as Chris left, Mo made a long flight along the very edge of the lake until he landed in a small deciduous tree. At first, Barb and I were apprehensive as it looked like Mo was going to try and fly across the lake and we were concerned that he would not be able to make that distance. Even at the thinnest part of the lake, the distance is a pretty long way for a recently fledged owlet to fly. Mo made two other long flights along the edge of the lake and we could hear him making loud begging cheeps.

We decided to head for home and as we headed for their car (Barb and Chris are kindness itself and always give me a ride home when we run into each other. Thankfully, I don't take them too far out of their way) Barb saw one then we all saw both of the parent owls along the road. I made a rough judgment as to which owl was which and we headed in for a closer look. The closer look revealed an an understandable error. The owl that Barb spotted was not an owl rather it was a rather large, owl-shaped branch on a Cottonwood. I told Barb not to feel bad as that branch had tricked me three times before I could remember to not be fooled (again) by this branch. Throughout my time watching the owls there have been branches and other structures that fool my eyes and make me look closer at something that looks like but is not an owl. We all had a good natured laugh at Barb's well-intentioned but mistaken sighting and head for home.

An interview, two prowls, hawks, owls (two kinds), annoying rain and other fun!

2009-07-31T13:34:00.036-05:00

Sunday, April 12, 2009

This was going to be a busy but fun day. The day was grey and a little cool but not too bad. It began on a different path than most Sundays in the park. I started off in the park but headed north and west to meet Katie, Libby and Mark Rank. Katie and I were meeting so that she could conduct an interview with me about the owls and my interactons/observations with them for her school newspaper. I wrote about this interview and how it came to be and how it turned out earlier and you can read all about that here.

After a stimulating interview and owl prowl, the Ranks headed for home and I continued my visit in the park. I first went to the other section of The Successional Woods to look for the Barred Owls that reside there. I found one but as I went in for a closer look going as quietly and cautiously as possible, the Barred Owl flushed and flew away. I have found these owls to be extremely touchy and easily disturbed. While I'm not too surprised by this, it can be frustrating. As a way of explaining my understanding of their behavior, allow me to quote an e-mail I sent in late 2008 to a contact of mine at Forest Park Forever. This person tipped me off about seeing Barred Owls consistently in this portion of The Successional Woods and they asked me about the Barred Owls being so close to Charles and Sarah and overlapping territories among the two species in general. Here's what I wrote (with a few corrections):

I really appreciate you contacting me and for asking for my input.

I have seen this Barred Owl in the portion of the Successional Woods you described but my last sighting of it was in the spring of this year. On several occasions this spring I had heard warning calls, mostly from American Robins, coming from that area so I went to investigate and I saw a Barred Owl. I don’t get deep into that part of the Successional Woods all that often but I always keep alert for this Barred Owl. I have never heard this Barred Owl vocalize even though I am often near this part of the woods. My best guess is that this Barred Owl is an offspring of the Barred Owl pair(s) in Kennedy Forest and this area might be a transitory residence before establishing their own territory.

I’m glad you have seen this Barred Owl with such recent frequency but like you I have only seen one there and yes, it’s proximity to the very heart of the Great Horned Owls territory is cause for concern. For example, one of the first encounters I had with Barred Owls ever in the park was in the winter of 2006/2007 and it was in the same part of the Successional Woods. At that time, the mated pair of Great Horned Owls (Charles and Sarah as I call them) had an active nest along Government Drive, right across from The Boathouse. Charles and Sarah were duetting and then I heard two Barred Owls call and respond to each other from within the Successional Woods. Within seconds, Charles headed to the very epicenter from which the calls emanated. I was unable to reacquire Charles that night but that was the first and only time I have heard a Barred Owl call from the Successional Woods and the only time I observed two in that area. I remember shaking my head knowing that the Barred Owls were putting themselves at risk.

In Wayne Kramer’s "Owls of the United States and Canada: A Complete Guide to Their Biology and Behavior", there is a stunning photo of a Great Horned Owl on top of a Barred Owl that the Great Horned Owl had killed. On a slightly smaller owl scale, Dwight G. Smith, in his book "Great Horned Owl" tells an anecdote of a study he was doing with radio-collared Eastern Screech Owls. One night, they followed the radio signal but could not find any owls. They eventually traced the transmitters-they were inside of pellets from a Great Horned Owl. In the same book, Smith gives a rundown of the different raptor species, diurnal and nocturnal, small, medium and large that Great Horned Owls have taken as prey. It is not a short list.

About the only raptor I have read about sharing or overlapping territories with tolerant Great Horned Owls are Red-tailed Hawks and even then, it’s a shaky peace. Red-tailed Hawks and Great Horned Owls are often described as diurnal-nocturnal counterparts. Great Horned Owls are frequently observed using old nests made by Red-tailed Hawks but even then the Red-tailed Hawks can be on the losing end of things; at best losing the nest and at worse losing their lives. While Red-tailed Hawks are a threat to Great Horned owlets, Great Horned Owls are a threat to Red-tailed Hawks of any age. This spring, a Red-tailed or other Bueto hawk landed in the same tree of one of the owlets and within seconds, Sarah came blazing towards the tree and chased the hawk away from their territory.

I think the Barred Owl in the Successional Woods is able to stay safe and alive for two main reasons. One, it keeps a low profile. I have rarely heard it vocalize and I have never seen it outside of the woods. Two, in my observations, Charles and Sarah do not go into this part of The Successional Woods . The most I have seen them do is fly over the woods or fly to a high branch of a tree there for a short time before flying off east. Great Horned Owls generally like open areas with perches for hunting. With their daytime perches and the core of their territory in the other portion of the Successional Woods (what I call The Wooded Area), they may not have a need to use the Barred Owl’s portion of the woods.

In documenting the Barred Owl I realized that I had forgotten to upload the previous day's footage so I headed for home. It was a tad frustrating to go all the way back home but it proved worthwhile. I uploaded the footage and even had a bite to eat.

I came back to the park via the AAA Golf Course. Like last year, there is an active hawk nest right by one of the course's greens. I had noticed this nest three years ago and had kept an eye on it. Both this year and last year, my friend Chris Gerli told me that the nest was being used. On this day, both parent hawks were in residence. One of them was in the nest while the other was in a nearby tree.

There was some movement in the nest by an adult. Perhaps the adult feeding or brooding a chick but I could not see a chick. The rain that threatened throughout the day began to fall. The rain was mild enough that I could use my umbrella and the smaller of my cameras but strong enough that I packed up SLR.

I headed north and heard and then saw a Belted Kingfisher near the Vadenventer Gates. I had never seen them in that area before, which made this sighting even more enjoyable than usual. My next stop was to look for Barred Owls again but they remained out of sight.

I continued on to The Wooded Area. I heard a begging cheep close to The Quintet Conifers and I found Art in this area.

I reacquired Sarah in the same spot where I found earlier in the day with the Ranks. The rain was back on after a little pause, unfortunately. Charles was still in his favorite conifer but had moved within it to an unusual spot in the tree which brought him quite close to Art.

I then went to reacquire d Mo as the rain paused for a while. I found and I decided to stay and watch him. Chris Gerli and Barb Brownell came through the area with Chris' niece, Mia. Last year, Mia had joined them for an owl prowl and proved to be an adept owl finder. I had also met this trio earlier this year for an owl prowl. I'm glad that Chris and Barb continue to impart their passion for wildlife to Mia!

We watched Mo for a while to before heading over to The Wooded Area to find the others. We found Art shortly before Charles went flew off from his perch. Art did a great flight of at least 60-75 yards ending with a solid landing, all of which impressed us greatly. Barb, Chris and Mia had to head off and I decided to return, again, and watch Mo for the rest of my time.

The rain held off for a while but returned at a whipping pace. As I watched Mo, I heard Charles hoot from The Wooded Area. Mo did some more hopping around and position changes along with head bobbing followed by begging cheeps. He moved out to the end of a branch, which looked like a nice launching pad. The rate and intensity of the rain increased forcing me to I open my umbrella. Mo's begging cheeps increased in volume. He took off and landed in another tree. His flights while small were solidly executed. In the early stages of the post-fledging portion of an owlet's life, each of their flights is a big deal all combining to give the owlet the experience and skill to mature into an adult owl.

The rain continued but my battery power in my video camera began to ebb. I worried about the rain and its possible detrimental effects on Sarah and Charles finding food and sharing it with their youngsters. With the rain unceasing, batteries failing and a long, fun day gone by, I jumped on the bus and headed home.

A brief encounter on a bright day!

2009-07-28T13:35:00.009-05:00

Saturday,April 11, 2009

I was not able to get to the park on April 9 and 10 due to weather obstructions and work/social obligations. In addition, an early dinner engagement with friends limited my time on this particular Saturday to a well before sunset visit but I would make the most of my time in the park.

It was another gorgeous day with abundant and welcome sunlight. In the interest of time, I stopped by The Wooded Area first to look for Charles, Sarah and Mo. True to form, Charles was in his favorite conifer enjoying a good sleep.

Looking quickly but carefully, I did not find Art and Sarah in The Wooded Area. I had a thought/hope that perhaps they were with Mo so I headed in that direction. I found Mo in the same tree that he was in on April 8, even on the same branch just further out on it. Mo looked especially fluffy today.

After seeing Mo, I ran into my friend and fellow owl enthusiast/park enthusiast Chris Gerli of City Cycling Tours. We had a nice chat and I told him all the latest about Mo and the rest of the owl family.

My time was running out so I headed home as I did I went by the western portion of The Wooded Area, which I had not been to yet this day. Just inside of this section of woods, was Art bathed in the bright afternoon sun. This was the first time I had seen him since he fledged in a different part of The Wooded Area and not in the area around The Trio Conifers and The Quintet Conifers.

I hurried home and upon arriving cleaned up and changed. Wendy and I enjoyed a good meal and good conversation with our friends at a neighborhood restaurant, La Gra Italian Tapas. Naturally, the owls were discussed.

More Mo (and Charles, Sarah and Art) and a special guest appearance!

2009-07-02T12:36:00.034-05:00

April 8, 2009

After finding Mo the night before well away from his family in The Wooded Area, my first priority was to find him again. The bright sunny day was tainted by blasting winds that were so intense that a wind advisory was issued.

While keeping my eyes and mind open to other trees, I went to the tree where Edward and I found Mo last night. I carefully circled the tree, taking it in from all angles, but I could not find Mo. I was just about to head off to The Wooded Area to search for the rest of the family when I turned back and took another look. About halfway up the tree was a good-sized bird. My first thought was, "It's a Wood Duck." I changed my angle slightly and realized that it was Mo! He was well tucked into the corner of a branch that transitioned from horizontal to an angled vertical incline. Mo faced west/northwest Mo slept with his eyes tightly closed against the setting sun. His buff and tan feathers and complete lack of motion kept him well-hidden.

That said, I was relieved to see him but anxious about his safety and well-being in both the long and short term. I found some whitewash under his perch and some astoundingly soft and fluffy body or contour feathers near the tree, possiblity indicating that he was getting fed and the maturation of his plumage continued.

My biggest fear about Mo was the lack of immediate protection from predators by his mother, Sarah. I felt confident that Sarah and Charles would continue to feed Mo but what could they do if a Red-tailed Hawk or other large hawk of the genus Bueto attacked Mo during the day, when he was scores of yards from his parents?

During last year's owlet cycle, I saw a dramatic example of the fierce protection that female Great Horned Owls provide their offspring. As I approached The Wooded Area not long after the owlets had fledged, I saw Sarah fly to the eastern edge of the area. Minutes later, a Bueto hawk landed in the same tree as one of owlets just 20-30 feet above the vulnerable owlet. Within seconds, Sarah came flying back, utterly blazing towards this tree and the hawk in it. The hawk lept off the tree and flew out of The Wooded Area as fast as possible.

Having found Mo, I went to look for the rest of the family in The Wooded Area. Sarah and Charles closely replicated yesterday's perch sites; she was in a big deciduous tree near The Trio Conifers and Charles was in his Favorite Conifer. I found Mo in one of the Trio Conifers, with the wind propping up his small but growing tufts.

Tufts are not ears, despite that they look like ears and some owl species with tufts are named in relation to their tufts such as the Long-eared Owl and the Short-eared Owl. Owls' ears are located on the sides of their heads. Don't feel bad if you thought that owl tufts were their ears, many, many people make this understandable error. Take it from someone that made this error-me! Tufts are thought to act as a camoflouge device and/or as a species-recognition tool. What I find particularly fascinating about tufts is that they are not just loose bits of feathers that hang about but pieces of muscled flesh that are covered by feathers that can be adjusted by their owner at will. Tuft position can help indicate moods, emotions and provide an additional camoflague tool. In my research, I have not found any literature that describes how the muscles of the tufts and the head adjust the tufts. I would love to better understand how these remarkable tufts move.

All three owls wove in and out of sleep as they tend to do at dusk. They can go from the depth of sleep to wide awake and every step in-between within minutes and even seconds. Charles, Sarah and Mo seemed pretty konked out, so I decided to reacquire Mo.

At first, I took a different approach from going right up to his perch. I went to the north side of the waterway and watched him from about 50 yards away for a time. As joggers, dog walkers and other folks passed by his perch, located right next to one of the gravel paths, Mo kept an eye on them but did not get too excited or active.

I moved back to Mo's side of the waterway and took up a concealed and close, but not too close observation post. A few European Starlings and Common Grackles began to mob Mo a little. Nothing too bad but I still felt sorry for Mo all out on his own and getting mobbed. The mobbing lasted only a short while and things improved from there.

My girlfriend, Wendy, called me and said that she was coming out to the park to see the owls especially Mo. Of all the kind and supportive people who encourage my owl observations, Wendy is by far the biggest booster. However, as a self-admitted "weather-wimp" she does come out to see the owls with great frequency. As such, all visits from her with the owls are welcome and special occasions. She arrived a short while later and reveled in watching Mo as you can see below. Please do notice the small look of annoyance (briefly furrowed eyebrows) she gives when she notices that I am filming her.

As a big, almost full moon rose in the sky, Mo became more active; looking around a little and stretching including a big double-wing stretch. His activity increased as he flew to a branch higher up in the tree. He began to head bob a little and he did some talon grooming, which was great to see. When owlets head bob, I try to keep an extra low profile as I don't want to appear too interesting to them. I would hate to have one fly towards me for a closer inspection and possibly injure themselves as they are still learning to fly and land.

As we watched Mo,Wendy and I exchanged story/hopes about helping Mo. She remarked that she would love to bring him some food. I mentioned a crazy notion I had of somehow capturing Mo then releasing him in The Wooded Area so that he could be rest of his family. The last step of my notion was to run like hell to escape the wrath of Sarah!

Mo changed positions on the branch a couple of times, exhibiting the awkwardness these owls have when walking, be it on the ground or on a tree, whether the owl is a youngster or a seasoned vet. This awkwardness may be a type of karmic compensation for their sublime grace in flight.

With the light rapidly falling, Mo became more active and is his activites included begging cheeps and wing flapping. He then flew to another deciduous tree and made a short hop within his new perch. Next he made a longer flight still within the same tree, which you can see below. At these stages of an owlet's development, the fledging and post-fledging stages, each of their flights is a significant event. Over the days and weeks you see their skills gradually improve. I was impressed with Mo's flying and I reminded myself that he had made it from the nest all the way over to his current abode on his own power.

Mo's activities continued with more wing flapping, begging cheeps and repositioning flights along with head bobbing while looking in our direction. Wendy made her own begging cheep for food; namely dinner. I have yet to observe an owlet with a begging cheep more insistent than Wendy's. Mo's begging cheeps increased at a more frequent rate. Thankfully, this did not attract mobbing by other birds. Wendy and I departed for the home or The Boathouse to sooth her begging cheeps. We left still concerned about Mo but guardedly optimistic.

A big day-Mo no longer MIA!

2009-06-22T13:06:00.026-05:00

April 7, 2009

After the cold and grey of the day before, this day's clear and warm weather were most welcome. Initially I had my ears uncovered (hat on, of course) and I wore lighter gloves. I headed to the south side of The Wooded Area and found Edward Crim and Mark (whose last name I can't recall) across the road from the Trio Conifers. Edward was borrowing Don Love's monster lens. It is a heavy lens but it takes amazingly close photos.

As I made my way down the hill I saw Charles in his Favorite Conifer. Edward and Mark had staked out a spot that gave them a good view of Sarah in one of the big deciduous trees east of the Trio Conifers. Charles hooted twice in quick succession for his first hoots of the day. It is unusual for him to hoot like that so early in the evening. Usually rapid hooting occurs after "warming up" at a more gradual rate. In my observations, Charles' average high rate of hooting is 3 hoots a minute. Sarah took off and relocated deeper into The Wooded Area.

Charles flew off, south/southwest towards The Second Catalpa, landing possibly in The Feeding Tree. We heard some begging cheeps and we went to relocate Charles and the source of the begging cheeps when Sarah landed above us in the December 17th Tree. Just then, Charles flew back and landed in a deciduous tree just east of his favorite conifer. We could see both owls easily, Sarah in the foreground and Charles in the background, a rare and gorgeous sight to behold.

Sarah did some what I call vampire grooming of her left wing. In vampire grooming, the owl grooms the interior of its wing and surrounding areas in a way that looks like a Dracula character lurking behind its cape.

Sarah then flew off past Charles and landed near/in The Quintet Conifers. She continued eastward with a blazing flight which took her, as I guessed correctly, to The Eastern Tree. We headed out to follow her and Edward pointed out the gorgeous, nearly full moon. We reacquired Sarah in The Eastern Tree and enjoyed seeing her perched on one of the tree's highest points.

We set up shop to look for Mo in the nest. Even with the decent amount of light and Edward using Don Love's monstro lens, we did not see Mo. Edward made a short diversion to shoot some photos around Pagoda Circle, while I continued to look for Mo in the nest. Sarah took off from The Eastern Tree, heading back into The Wooded Area.

With Mo unfound and Sarah departed, we began to discuss where to go next when Edward had an unpleasant realization; the binoculars he had carried were no longer with him! We went through the drill of where he had last used them/seen them. He was pretty confident that he had used them on the north bank of Post-Dispatch Lake and around the Suspension Bridge, so we agreed to head out to these destinations.

To say that going in this direction turned out to be serendipitous is an understatement. We had just started heading north when I spotted an owlet midway up a large deciduous tree close to the water way-it was Mo!! I could tell it was Mo and not Art by Mo's smaller size and less developed plumage. We marveled at finding him and wondering how he got there. He fledged about the same distance that Art had. However, whereas Art fledged to The Wooded Area to be with his parents, Mo had gone the same distance from the nest tree but in the completely wrong direction. How did he get over? Was it a mistake on his part, an independent streak or was there some precipitating incident (threat of a predator, owlet curiosity and foolishness) that led him to be so close but so far from the protective eyes of Charles and Sarah?

Unfortunately, we were not the only ones to have found Mo. Several American Robins were mobbing him with loud warning calls and close fly-bys. Mo dodged them as best as he could all the while emitting begging cheeps. It was a hard sight to take in and while I had decent confidence that Charles and Sarah would hear Mo's begging cheeps; I couldn't help but fear that Mo might come to an all too premature end. This is a very vulnerable stage for owlets both from predators and injuries incurred when flying and landing. At the same time, their food demands are still quite high and if Charles and Sarah lost track of him, starvation would be a very real danger.

We reluctantly left Mo to continue our search for Edward's binoculars. Our search failed to turn up the binos so with additional reasons for concern we headed back to reacquire Mo before heading home.

Just as we approached Mo's tree, one of the adult owls, most likely Sarah, went flying off east from the same tree, just a short distance from where Mo was perched! This sight heartened us immensely! At least one of the parents knew where Mo was and they could feed him and keep some watch on him. I think it was Sarah judging by the size of the owl and that female Great Horned Owls take the lead in the feeding and protection of owlets. The male Great Horned is focused on obtaining food for the family.

While we were thrilled to see one of the parents close to Mo, I reminded myself that Mo's position away from his parents' roosting sites still put him in a pernicious situation. Luckily the good turn of events did not end with the owls as Edward found his binoculars. They were in his jacket or backpack the whole time! We had a good laugh about that and I gladly accepted Edward's kind offer of a ride back home. I couldn't wait to get home and tell Wendy about Mo and everything else.

To see Edward's perspective and photos of the day, check out this page on his great Forest Park 365 website: http://web.me.com/edwardcrim/FP365/FP365/Entries/2009/4/7_Oh%2C_me_aching_back!.html

Update on damaged nest tree!

2009-06-16T13:09:00.006-05:00

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

I received a call on this day from my friend, colleague and fellow owl/park fan Chad Henry. He was making his way through the park and saw some work taking place in the waterway besides the nest tree. A work crew from the City of St. Louis Forestry Division was there and from Chad's perspective, it looked like they were working on removing the portion of the branch that had been ripped off of the the nest tree and fallen in the waterway. Knowing and sharing my concern for both the fallen portion of the branch and the rest of the tree, he kindly dialed me immediately. Getting my voicemail, he left a message but later stopped by my office to clarify what he saw.

I then called Chris Gerli to ask him if he was aware of the work being done. While Chris hadn't been by that area yet and did not anticipate getting over there any time soon, he was curious and anxious about what might happen to the tree.

I made a call to a contact of mine on staff with Forest Park Forever. My contact had seen the tree crew by the tree earlier but did not know exactly what they were going to do. I asked him if he could:

a) Communicate to the crew that the while the nest hollow was damaged the remainder of the branch and the tree could still prove useful to the owls and as such should not be chopped down nor should the remainder of the branch containing the hollow be removed.

b) Find out what they were going to do with the portion of the hollow that was in the water. I hoped that the hollow would remain in the water so that I could still show people the opening of the hollow. Also, I thought the portion of the hollow and the other branches in the water could act as a good basking site for turtles and frogs, among others.

c) If by any chance, could I have the portion of the hollow as a relic of this important site in the lives of Charles and Sarah and their offspring.

My contact was extremely gracious and stated he would do everything possible to safeguard the tree and that he would update me later that day. True to form he e-mailed me and let me know that:

a) the portion of the hollow that fell into the water had been removed from the water and chipped but that nothing else had been done to the tree and most likely would not as it would have occurred already

b) he spoke to his boss about the tree and that the supervisor of the Forest Park Forestry crew was aware that this tree was and still could be an important site for the owls

c) he, my contact, would let me know as he learned more about the tree and its prospects.

This assuaged my fears about the immediate and long-term prospects for this tree and for that and more, I am very grateful to my contact and his colleagues! Many thanks also to Chad Henry and Chris Gerli for their assistance and leads during this episode!

Still, it was sad to hear that the remains of the hollow were no more and I wish I had taken more photos and videos of the fallen portion of the hollow. Sadder still was the initial damage to the hollow. This hollow has been an important site for the owls and it is such a unique hollow. When conducting an owl prowl I have always shown people this hollow, even when the owls have not been using it, it was that unique and special.

I am curious and optimistic about what happens in the future with this tree but I know that a key aspect of it and its interaction with the owls is over completely.

Yikes-Nest Tree Hollow Damaged In Storm!

2009-06-05T13:00:00.008-05:00

Friday, June 5, 2009

I was out of town for a few days during the middle of this week when a brief but intense thunderstorm rolled through the area on Tuesday. The following night I received a phone call from Edward Crim and he told me that the nest tree hollow was damaged in the storm! He said that the top portion of the branch containing the hollow (and many smaller sub-branches) had fallen into the waterway below! I was saddened to get this news but grateful for the heads up from Edward. Even though I was in the middle of a nice jaunt to Lake of the Ozarks where I saw some cool wildlife (Red-headed Woodpecker, many Turkey Vultures, two Eastern Chimpmunks and a Map Turtle-uncertain of the exact species), the news of the damaged hollow kept coming back to my mind. This hollow was the site of this year's nest and the nest in 2006. It is one of the key sites of the owls lives and history. One of the few items of consolation was that this damage did not occur when Sarah was on eggs or owlets were in residence.

After a longer than expected drive home, I needed some down time. Once I had dined and rested, I grabbed my gear and headed for the park. Even though I was prepared for it, the absence of so much of the hollow was startling. Here are a few shots:

I will be sure to write more but I wanted to get this information out there. Thanks for reading!

Extra! Extra! Friend of The Owl Man Gets Great Press!

2009-06-01T13:06:00.005-05:00

My friend, Edward Crim, just got a great write up in the new issue (June 2009) of Popular Photography (http://www.popphoto.com/) about his amazing photography project Forest Park 365, http://web.me.com/edwardcrim/FP365/FP365/FP365.html

Congratulations, Edward!

It's a great article that does a superb job of describing him and his project. Edward is a superb photographer of animals, plants, people, architecture, landscape, you name it. His dedication to the park and to his project of photographing the park every day is beyond reproach.

Edward mentioned the owls and even made reference to me in the interview-thanks, Edward!

One muskrat+one owlet feather+owls=a great night

2009-05-25T19:08:00.063-05:00

Monday, April 6, 2009

In my video narration I noted that it was "ridiculously cold and grey" and that earlier in the day we had experienced snow, sleet and freezing rain. Thankfully, the weather held off enough for me to venture into the Forest Park and look for the owls.

I first made my way through Kennedy Forest. Yet again, I did not see the other pair of Great Horned Owls that I first saw in Kennedy Forest in early February. It had been several weeks since me or anyone else, to my knowledge, had seen this pair. I was close to making the call this day that these owls had moved on or otherwise change status. However, my optimistic side allowed a few more visits after today's before making the final call.

I continued east stopping at the point of Post-Dispatch Lake where the south bank meets its western counterpart. This general vicinity can be a great spot to find Muskrats especially in the early morning and early evening. My ESL level (experience, skill and luck) was soon rewarded with the sight of a Muskrat swimming the south bank of the lake to the south bank of Wilderness Island. I even managed to shoot some video of this large rodent. Please to enjoy a Muskrat:

The nest was my next destination. Despite looking carefully from the some of the best viewing points, including Barb's Post (located by Barb Brownell) and Edward's Landing (located by Edward Crimm), I could not find any clear indication that Mo was in the nest. I was not discouraged as it was a good hour before sunset, when the owls are often enganged in their early evening routine of stretching, grooming, calling and waste management.

I headed off towards Charles' Favorite Conifer and other parts of the southern end of The Wooded Area. I had only gone a few steps when I found a feather, most likely from the owlet Art. In my time watching the owls, I have found relatively few feathers. As this feather was the first owl feather I had found in quite a while, I was especially glad to chance upon it. The softness of an owl feather has to be experienced. Doing so, redefines the word soft. Along with the construction of the feathers, the softness of owl feathers allow them to interact without making sound. Not all owls fly silently but the vast majority do and this silent flight is a key part of their hunting strategy. Silent flight not only allows an owl to approach its prey undetected audibly, it also allows the owls to sort through the maze of sounds without adding its own sounds to the maze thus providing the owl with a auditory tabula rasa with which to work. This feather I found was most likely a body or contour feather.

Just as I saw the feather, I heard Charles hoot. I headed towards his favorite conifer and he hooted four times in quick succession even though it was well before sunset. Perhaps the cold and cloudy weather made Charles more active than he would have been on a clear day. In my observations, the owls "start of the day" activity tracks closely with the level of light. In general, they become active earlier on a cloudy day than they do on a clear day.

As I reached Charles' Favorite Conifer, I saw an owl fly within the glade that contains this tree this tree. The flight was just brief enough that I could not ID it. Just then an owl, perhaps the same one, flew south/southwest inside of The Wooded Area. I still couldn't make an identification.

My luck improved minutes later when I saw an owl fly also south/southwest with something in its talons. It landed in a particular dead tree between The Cut In and The Second Catalpa. Last year, I was privleged on several occassions to see Sarah feed that year's owlets, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, in this same tree. Now seeing an adult fly to this same tree with food in its talons, I thought that this owl was most likely Sarah. I quickly but cautiously approached closer to this tree and saw that it was definitely Sarah. Her dark coloration, massive size and astoundingly thick black rings around her eyes are some of the main hallmarks I use to ID her.

I was excited that she had food as I hoped this would let me see her feed Art and perhaps Mo too. That is if Mo had fledged but remained yet unfound so far by me. I saw an owlet fly within The Wooded Area and I heard a few begging cheeps but no owlet joined Sarah in this feeding perch. Sarah began to feed, holding the prey down with her powerful talons as she used her bill to tear pieces of food to swallow. The prey was a bird or mammal but I could not tell anything beyond that. As Sarah removed the fur or feathers, some pieces of this exterior layer went flying by me. Charles hooted a few times while she ate and I heard a few begging cheeps from an owlet too. Sarah fed for a few minutes before flying off east with the prey in her left talon, perhaps to feed the begging youngster.

As I followed Sarah, I found Charles in the tallest conifer of the glad that contains his favorite conifer. I had seen him in this tallest conifer only occassionaly including a few times this winter so it was curious to see him here again. He looked very animated and on the alert.

Moments later Sarah flew up to the top of the tree, joining Charles. He was just beneath her on the same side of the trunk until he moved to a lower branch on the opposite side of the branch. Sarah bent over and rubbed her bill along a branch. This is a cleaning technique that many birds use to keep their bills clean after eating. I've only seen the owls do this a few times so each time is noteworthy.

Charles hooted some more and I continued to hear an owlet emitting begging cheeps. Charles moved to an even lower branch and fluffed out all of his feathers, an always charming sight. I looked at first in vain to locate the begging owlet. I moved further away for a wider view and my move was rewarded. There in large branch of Charles' Favorite Conifer was Art, very fluffy and fluffed out.

I changed position and took some photos of 3/4 of the family group. Let's play "Find The Owl!"

While I looked closely at Art with my binoculars, Sarah disappeared on me. As closely as I watch the owls, on countless times I will glance away from them for a few seconds and in that time, they fly off at great speed and a complete absence of sound. If I'm lucky, I might catch the direction in which they are heading but often I will be bereft of any information. Sarah's exit was one of this type. While I watched Art, I heard begging cheeps to the east of him. I thought it might be Mo, as yet unseen. I kept in mind that owlets are superb ventroliquists, throwing their voices so their calls do not pinpoint their location for potential predators.

As I scanned for Mo, Sarah flew out of the depths of The Wooded Area and landed on the December 17th Tree. Here again, she did some bill grooming and I managed to get a picture of her doing this interesting behavior.

A park ranger who I had met recently and showed the owls to, Ranger Brown, drove by, stopped and asked about the owls. He liked hearing about Art fledging and seeing Sarah just above him. As much as I enjoyed seeing Sarah, Charles and Art, I was curious about Mo's whereabouts. I headed to the nest but despite my best efforts, I could not find him.

I walked along the north side of The Wooded Area hearing Charles hoot when I saw Art fly eastward from his perch. It took me a moment but I realized I had just seen my first owlet flight of the year! All things considered, it was a pretty decent flight and landing for such a recently fledged owlet.

Next I went back to the area containing Charles' Favorite Conifer. Charles was still in the same tree when I left but he had moved yet again. Sarah was still long gone and after a while Charles disappeared on me. I looked around Mo inside The Wooded Area but he was not to be found. At somepoint Charles left but Art took his place in a high branch of this tallest conifer. Many begging cheeps continued to be heard from many different areas within The Wooded Area.

I then saw Charles in the December 17th Tree. Had he he gone there and I didn't see him or did he go somewhere else and then go to this tree? I hope it was the former as the latter indicates a lack of vigilance on my part! I try to prevent myself from being complacent or lazy but sometimes it happens and you can overlook an owl without meaning to do so.

Still eager to find Mo, I started to head back to the nest. As I did so, Charles defecated and launched off heading west/southwest. Before I could resume my trip to the nest, Sarah flew back into The Wooded Area with prey in her talons landing in the dead tree in which she had fed last year's youngsters on several occassions. Art flew around the center of The Wooded Area and Sarah flew off in his direction. I did not see them rendezvous but minutes later Art was presumably eating as no begging cheeps were heard!

I headed back to the nest and was actually able to get there this time. Like before there were no clear signs of Mo in the nest. However, there was still more to see of the owls. I found Charles in The Middle Tree and Sarah flew there a short while later and landed near Charles. Sarah flew back to the nest tree with prey in her talons. She began to feed while perched on a large branch. Perhaps she fed there in an effort to lure Mo out. Sarah then flew off with prey to The Wooded Area. Did the parents do a food exchange in The Middle Tree or had Sarah caught something or uncached some prey on her own? I'm not certain but I think it was a food exchange. This was the third time I had seen Sarah with prey that night, which is a record for me.

After Sarah returned to The Wooded Area, Charles hooted and eventually took off, blazing over McKinley Drive. Exhausted but thrilled with all that I had observed, I left for the warmth of home.

Flickers, frogs and hawks. So much for alliteration

2009-05-20T12:43:00.024-05:00

Sunday April 5, 2009 Part II

Where was I? Oh yes, Edward Crim and I were just east of Deer Lake and I saw a Northern Flicker. Just as I began to take a photo or two, a second Northern Flicker landed to the right of the first. In a flash, the newly arrived flicker hopped on to the back of the other and they mated! To say that the mating was brief is to define an understatement. This made the brief mating of Charles and Sarah (which I have been extremely privleged to have seen well over twenty times) seem lengthy in comparison. What turned out to be the male flew off and the female remained on the branch. The mating was so fast that neither Edward or I got a photo of it. Here is a photo of the pair just before mating.

Over the past few months I have seen several animals mate, Great Horned Owls and Cooper's Hawks in Forest Park and Northern Watersnakes at the Peggy Notebart Nature Museum in Chicago and now Northern Flickers. Perhaps I should refrain from carry the boombox blasting out Barry White around with me.

We continued on heading towards Steinberg Skating Rink. Near the rink, the park's waterway terminates in a small pond. Even with the day's cold temperatures and blustery winds, I thought it was worth taking a peek at this pond. We were pleasantly suprised to find three frogs, either Bullfrogs or Green Frogs, hanging out despite the bracing air. This pond is one of the best places in the park to see frogs but even now I am impressed that we saw them on this cold day. Check these hearty frogs out here:

Not to keep going on about the day's weather but as much as I hate to admit it, I was unprepared for the weather. I often say, "I was never a boy scout but I'm usually prepared." On this day, I could not make this claim. For whatever reason, I did not bring the proper clothes for the climate. As we continued our exploration of the park, the weather became more and more of a factor for me. Edward was properly attired, smart man that he is.

We moved next to the under-renovation golf course of the Triple A Golf and Tennis Club. I pass this golf course every morning on my commute and the progress on the course's renovation was and continues to be intermittent. On the plus side, the unfinished state of the course gave us the opportunity to tread where we often would not do so. As we crossed the golf course, a spitting rain began. This rain was just sufficient enough for me to put my still camera and binoculars away but not bad enough for me to prevent me from shooting some video and stills with my video camera.

One destination in this area was foremost on our minds and we headed directly for it; the nest of a pair of Red-tailed Hawks. I first saw this nest three years ago but it was not until last year that I saw it in use. My friend Chris Gerli was the first to tell me that the nest was active last year and this year. Both years, we were able to positively identify the hawks as Red-tailed Hawks. The subtle differences in hawks of the genus Bueto, makes discerning the species accurately a substantial challenge. Here's a shot of this classic stick nest of a Red-tailed Hawk:

We saw one of the adults pop its head momentarily out of the nest and we were thrilled by this glimpse. It is worth noting the many intersections between Red-tailed Hawks and Great Horned Owls. The two are the most wide-spread, commonly found birds of prey in North America; one diurnal and the other nocturnal and also crepuscular. They both eat a wide variety of prey and display great adaptability and range in nesting sites.

That said, the Great Horned Owl is the more powerful of the two and subsequently impacts unfavorably on Red-tailed Hawks. Great Horned Owls often take over Red-tailed Hawks nests and are known to eat both chicks and adults of the species. That said, Red-tailed Hawks and other hawks of the genus Bueto are a threat to Great Horned owlets. Among the amazing things I saw with last year's owlets, one of the most amazing involved a Bueto hawk.

I arrived at The Wooded Area after work and soon found some of the owlets and Sarah. Sarah flew off a short distance. Moments later, a Bueto hawk landed in the same tree as one of the owlets, a mere twenty-thirty feet away from the vulnerable owlet. Milliseconds later, Sarah came blazing towards this tree. The hawk blasted off, flying away as fast it could. This encounter vigorously underlined the protective nature of female Great Horned Owls and the intersections of these owls and Bueto hawks. It is worth noting that this hawk nest on the golf course is around a half mile from Charles and Sarah's territory.

As dusk came closer, Edward and I headed back to The Wooded Area to look for the owls. We found the owlet Art in a mostly bare deciduous tree not far from the glade of conifers containing Charles' Favorite Conifer. This deciduous tree was one of the first places I saw all three of last year's owlets, in The Wooded Area and it heartened me to see an owlet in this tree again. Here's Art in this tree:

We went for a closer look but as we did so sharp-eyed Edward saw Sarah barely visible in a nearby tree. We kept our distance not wanting to risk the wrath of Sarah. The weather continued to deteriorate so we headed back to the nest. We took a look for Mo in the nest from several different vantage points. In spite of our best efforts, we could not see Mo. Edward and I said our goodbyes and headed for home. I was glad to see three of the owls but I was anxious to know what Mo was doing.