Upcoming Talk On The Owls

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

I’m excited about this post. A few months ago I received a great honor. I was asked to give the keynote note address at the annual awards dinner for the St. Louis Audubon Society. I eagerly accepted and now the announcement has been made in the March issue of the Society’s newsletter, Tail Feathers. The dinner is on Saturday, April 14. All of the details and registration information can be seen here as well as a picture of Sarah taken by your humble speaker. Registration ends on April 1, so register soon and avoid becoming an April fool. I hope to see as many owl friends, old and new, as possible at this august occasion.

This will be the second time I have given a talk for St. Louis Audubon Society. The first talk was held in January 2011 at the Dennis & Judith Jones Visitor and Education Center in Forest Park. The audience of around eighty people was a keen and supportive group and the talk went splendidly.

Like my first talk I will talk about Great Horned Owls both in general and Charles and Sarah in particular. I will again show pictures and videos to illustrate some of the different behaviors I have seen. The talk will differ slightly as I will conclude with a bit of a call to arms. One thing that my work with the owls and the sharing thereof continuously demonstrates to me is that people want to connect more with nature. It is up those knowledgeable about nature, be they birders, naturalists, gardeners, to help other people connect more with with nature. I will offer methods, suggestions and advice on how to help people achieve this greater connection with the natural world.

Thank you to Jim Wilson, Chris Ferree, David Rogles, Mitch Leachman and everyone in St. Louis Audubon for their gracious invitation and support. I will do my utmost to deliver a compelling and educational talk. At the very least it will be an opportunity for me to prove that I do not always wear outdoor clothes, carry a backpack and have cameras and binoculars hanging from my neck. As a tease/incentive to attend the talk, below you will find two pictures that I will likely use for my talk. Be sure to double click on them to see a larger image. Thank you for reading and I look forward to seeing you on April 14!


Sarah feeding Dalton and Monica on March 31, 2011



Charles in The 06-09-11 Nest Tree, December 25, 2010

Names For The 2012 Owlets!

Friday, March 2, 2012.

After watching for further signs of three owlets for over a week I made the call that there are two owlets this year. These two owlets are the fourteenth and fifteenth owlets that I have seen Charles and Sarah have in the over six years and seven breeding seasons I have been privileged to have seen.

As in recent years when the owlets have numbered two, I have picked names belonging to recently deceased beings as an in memoriam tribute and homage. The older, larger owlet further distinguished at this point by its larger facial disc is named Christopher after the late writer Christopher Hitchens. Christopher Hitchens died at the age of 62 on December 15, 2011. An elegant, penetrating, erudite and prolific writer on a vast array of topics. These qualities combined with his strongly voiced and often iconoclastic opinions made him many admirers and detractors. I certainly disagree with many of his conclusions and opinions but I admire many of them as well as his conviction and candor.

I had not thought of naming an owlet after him until I was reading his memoir Hitch-22: A Memoir in January. On pages 333-335 he submits himself to "The Proust Questionnaire" to offer some insights on himself. When asked what his favorite bird is his response of "The owl" elicited a stunning but pleasant "Eureka" moment from me. Sarah was already nesting. I thought that, depending on the number of owlets she and Charles had, I would name of of them Christopher.

The younger, smaller owlet currently with the smaller facial disk is named Velvet after my mom's late female black Labrador retriever mix. After nineteen years of loyal companionship and a tough last few months of life, Velvet was put down on October 14, 2011. It was the best decision for her but it was still a tough one and a sad day for my mom and the rest of my family. My girlfriend Wendy had the great idea to name one of the owlets Velvet as a way to remember Velvet the sweet, soft-furred dog and to connect the name with the velvety softness of owl feathers. I asked my mom her thoughts and for her blessing on the idea and my mom gave it an enthusiastic green light. Thanks, Wendy and Mom!

Now for some pictures of these beauties with and without Sarah. Be sure to double-click on the to see a bigger image.

On February 20, 2012 from left to right: Velvet, Christopher and Sarah.



On February 21, Velvet on left, Christopher on right, Sarah swooping out of the nest.


With Sarah out of the nest the owlets have more room to move. Yawning, head bobbing and first feather grooming that I have seen this year.



On February 25 with Sarah in the background Christopher yawns while Velvet does an Escalator Stretch (the stretching of a wing and leg on the same side of the body).


To conclude on February 29, Sarah is again in the background but Velvet is now on the left and Christopher on the right. It's amazing how fast they grow. Thanks for reading!

OWLETS!!

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!!

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!

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!!

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.

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!