Sarah Is In The New Issue Of "Missouri Conservationist"

February 7, 2013

Sarah continues to nest and although she is all but impossible to see in the high steep nest except when she takes short breaks out of the nest, she has recently been seen by thousands of people in Missouri and even beyond.  There is a gorgeous photo of Sarah and one of the 2012 owlets (Christopher or Velvet) in the new (February 2013) of Missouri Conservationist, the superb monthly magazine of the Missouri Department of Conservation.  The picture of Sarah is in an article on Short-Eared Owls written by and with accompanying photographs by Noppadol  "Nop" Paothang, one of the magazine's superb photographer.  You can see the article here and at the top of the article are nine separate photos.  The photo of Sarah is fifth of the nine photos. Check out her talons!  When people see with my camera equipment they often ask if I am a photographer.  I respond that I am a naturalist who takes photos.  Furthermore, I have friends and acquaintances who are professional or semi-professional photographer and to call me a photographer is to insult them!  Photos like these by Nop are abundant proof of the difference.

If you are not already a subscriber to Missouri Conservationist, I highly recommend that you subscribe to it immediately.  I look forward to its informative articles and superb photography every month.   A subscription to it is free to all Missouri households.  I am embarrassed to say that I have only been a subscriber for a few years but it is never to late. This link provides subscription information.

I was tipped off about Sarah's appearance in this issue a few weeks ago by Nop himself, which just made my day.  I had the great honor and pleasure to meet Nop last year, another day making event itself.   I had always admired his work and had heard great things about him but to meet and chat with him took it to another level. His work speaks volumes but to converse with him revealed his copious knowledge of wildlife and a warm, welcoming and modest personality.

In addition to his work for MDC, Nop has his own photography site/business, which you can check out here.   In summer 2012 Nop and the writer Joel M. Vance put out a brilliant book about the grouse species that inhabit North American prairies entitled Save The Last Dance: A Story of North American Grassland Grouse.  This most recent Xmas I received a copy of this book as a gift from my friend and owl mentee Brenda Hente.  Brenda and Nop had corresponded and Nop kindly inscribed the book to me.  I have only had time to take a few looks at the book but trust me when I say it is superb.  It is also inspiring as a model of how to put together a book on a focused wildlife topic.  I hope to write a book or several books on Charles and Sarah and my work with them, their offspring and the wildlife of Forest Park. Thanks for reading!

Upcoming Talk At The Maplewood Public Library on January 24, 2013

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Hello and Happy New Year, everyone!  I hope the New Year is going well for you all.  I am happy to say that it going well for the owls and my work with them.  Sarah is now past the two week point of nesting and it is likely, if all has gone well, that she has laid her eggs.  Here she is flying out of the 11/13 Nest Hollow on January 7, 2013.

Charles continues to fulfill his role of food provider and nest sentry. Here is Charles (right) giving Sarah (left) some prey that he had just caught and partially eaten on January 5, 2013.

In my recent post about reaching my seventh year of owl observation and documentation, I mentioned that in 2012 I gave seven talks on the owls and my work them to a variety of organizations and audiences.  I am happy to say that I already have three planned for 2013 and hopefully more to come.  The first talk will be next week, Thursday, January 24, 2013 from 7:00-8:00pm at the Maplewood Public Library in nearby Maplewood, Missouri.  I would be honored to see you there!  Here are links to the library's FAQ with directions to the library (it is both easy and tricky to get there!) and a brochure for the talk itself.

The genesis of the talk was a phone call from this library's Program Director, Dawn Yourtee.  She called me in the summer of 2012 and asked me if I would be interested in giving a talk at the library in the new year..  I immediately and enthusiastically accepted her offer.  After we discussed details such as format, AV equipment and the like I asked how she had heard of the owls and my work them.  Dawn graciously explained that one of the library's patrons had been to one of my talks and generously raved about it to Dawn.  It is always heartening to hear that one opportunity generates a subsequent one. I thanked Dawn and we agreed to stay in touch as the months went by before the talk.

During this time, she contacted me with the above flyer to which I made a few corrections and suggestions, which she kindly approved.  Later on she asked me if I had any items that might be suitable for a display case at the library.  I replied that thanks to a solid and consistent number of appearances in a variety of publications along with thank you notes, pictures and other ephemera that I had good and appropriate content for a display case.  With Dawn's help I set up the materials in the case in December and here's what it looks like. The case is immediately to the right of the library's doors.

I hope to see many of you next week, January 24, 2013, at this talk. If you can't make it, I will let you know about the other talks I have coming up this year right here on this blog.  Thanks for reading!

Sarah Is Nesting-An Action-Packed New Year's Eve

January 1, 2013

Happy New Year!  I hope 2013 proves to be a great one for you all!

Last night was one of those evenings with so much happening that if just one of the highlights had occurred, it would have been a great night.  Having seen Sarah check out some possible nest spots on December 30, I knew that I had to return the last  night to see if she had made her nest selection.  I arrived at the park later than I had wanted but I was armed with some vital information.  My friend and owl mentee, Brenda Hentee, had been to the park earlier that day.  She texted me that she had found Charles in The Fleur-de-lis Tree and despite a thorough search, she could not find Sarah.  As we texted back and forth, we agreed that Sarah might be nesting in The 2011 Nest Hollow and thus be out of sight. 

When I got to the park Charles was still in The Fleur-de-lis Tree.  I began to check a few spots for her not far from Charles in case she had relocated since Brenda's visit.  Charles began to blast out booming hoots.  To my delight I heard Sarah from respond The 2011 Nest Hollow.  This hollow was high on my list of possible nest spots for 2013 as both owls, especially Charles, checked it out more than any other spot this fall and early winter.  They began to duet in earnest.  Here's Charles in The Fleur-de-lis Tree.

Sarah emerged from the hollow and flew to The Fleur-de-lis Tree.  I hoped that they might mate early but instead and true to form as of late, Charles flew into the hollow.  Here's Sarah in The Fleur-de-lis Tree. 

Thankfully, Charles did not remain long in the hollow, as he had often done so lately.  He flew and landed high in The First of The Three Trees, a spot that Sarah has frequented this breeding season.  They continued to duet and Sarah flew and joined Charles in the same tree albeit many feet lower.  I patiently filmed the duet and waited for it to go up that gear or two that usually occurs before mating.  The duet gradually intensified and Charles flew down to Sarah and they mated. After mating, Charles blasted off southeast.  Watch the palpable impact that Charles makes when he lands on Sarah before they mate.  

They mated at 4:59pm just ten minutes after sunset.  I waited eagerly to see what would happen next.  Just shy of fifteen minutes later, Sarah made a slow, graceful descent at a sharp angle towards the bank of the river way.  Two possibilities leapt to mind: predatory attempt or time for a drink and/or bath.  The latter was the winner.  Sarah walked into the river way and began to drank.  It was too dark for video but bright enough to get a few poor but discernible photos of her drinking and looking vigilantly around between sips.

  

She drank for five minutes before making a short flight into The Eastern Branch Tree a mere 30-50 feet away from me.  Not for the last time, I was grateful that I was well concealed and behaving in an appropriately stealthy manner.  It was amazing to see her drink again so close to nesting.  She did this last year and you can read about it in this post on my blog.  Like last year, the needs of the growing eggs may demand more water/liquid consumption than other times of the year.  Owls get most of their liquid needs from the prey they consume.  In seven years, I have seen them drink and/or bathe fewer than ten times.

I was keen to see if/when Charles would return and if he would have prey for Sarah.  Charles did not disappoint. A mere twenty-five minutes after they had mated I began to hear Charles hoot from the southeast.  He moved closer and eventually flew to the 06/09 Nest Hollow.  His hoots were slightly muted as he had a small prey item in his bill!  Sarah flew to The Middle Tree and he joined her and gave her the prey.  I think the prey was a small bird or mammal.  From what I could tell, Sarah made quick work of the prey and they hooted gently as they perched next to each other.  I thrilled to see Charles return with prey as it demonstrates that he understands that Sarah is nesting and that he is now hunting for the both of them and if all goes well, the owlets too.  I have seen this behavior by Charles before on the first night of Sarah nesting and it always amazes.  It is as if a hormonal/behavioral switch is thrown and he goes out to grab prey as fast as he can.  I remember a similar occasion when he went blasting out to hunt on the first night of Sarah's nesting.  I saw him land in the distance and went to follow him.  I was less than halfway to where he had landed when the next thing I knew he was flying past me in the opposite direction with prey in bill on his way to give the food to Sarah.  

Charles flew off to another Cottonwood and began to hoot loudly and regularly, perhaps proud in the fact that he had done his duty and in fine fashion.  Sarah began to reply to him, flew to a neighborhood Cottonwood.  I wondered if a second mating might take place.  I did not have to wonder long.  Sarah flew to Charles' spot, landed right next to them and they mated for the second time in under forty minutes.

Heading northwest, Charles hooted in flight and even hooted for a bit after landing.  I hoped to see Sarah fly back to the now renamed 2011/13 Nest Hollow.  I watched patiently in the icy temperatures but she did not fly to the hollow or any other spot before departed fifty minutes later.  Interestingly she finally began to groom, something she had not done even after leaving the nest hollow.  It was tough to go but not-so-toasty toes and New Year's plans both at friends' and at home directed me away from the park.  An amazing evening with these amazing owls and a great way to end the year.  Thanks for reading!

Seventh Owliversary!

I reached a new milestone tonight. Tonight marks the seventh 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. Observing and documenting Charles and Sarah and their progeny is a great joy as well as a great deal of work and dedication.  The owls never cease to amaze, delight, confuse, confound, fascinate and intrigue.  

As in years past, some number crunching is in order.  Between December 29, 2011 and tonight, December 29, 2012, I went to the park 261 nights to see/observe/document/do outreach with the owls. That is 71.5 %  of the days of the year.  A bit of drop from last year but not too shabby.  Travel and such in February, June and a variety of activities and furnace-like temperatures from May-August dropped the overall number and average.  This was undoubtedly the year with hottest winter and summer temperatures.  We had days in the summer with temps as high as 105 degrees Fahrenheit.  Like the previous year, this year I had a 100% success rate.  Every time I went to look for the owls, I saw at least one of them.  I have never had two consecutive years of a 100% success rate.  

This was one of the best years for outreach about the owls and my work with them.  I led 49 owl prowls this years, almost one a week.  These owl prowls ranged from "private" owl prowls for folks that contacted me to well-established events like the 2012 St. Louis Bioblitz. The 49 owl prowls I led does not take into account the scores of people to whom I showed and educated about the owls.  

As the owls nested this year in an easy to see/great to photograph spot, the owls got a great deal of attention from local nature aficionados and local media.  Local media attention included my first TV coverage on KTVI/Fox 2, a cover story in The West End Word, one and two nice mentions in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and a nice piece about winter owl prowls in the St. Louis Family portion of St. Louis Magazine. 

Furthermore, I gave 7 well-received talks for organizations ranging from Forest Park Forever to two local Kiwanis Club chapters to the St. Louis Audubon Society (my first keynote speech) and the Webster Groves Nature Study Society.  I already have 3 talks booked/in the process of becoming booked for 2013.  The first one is a talk at the Maplewood Public Library on Thursday, January 24, 2013.  I hope to see you there!  

Other highlights of the year include having the Forest Park Forever tribute tree (a Cottonwood) that my girlfriend, Wendy, bought for me planted in the owls' territory, receiving an incredible birthday present of a book of photos of the park and the owls accompanied with touching testimonials about the owls and my work with them (a book splendidly conceived and organized by my friend and owl mentee, Brenda Hente) making contact with my first long-distance owl mentee, Pam Dimeler, having a Great Horned Owl named after me by my owl mentees, Barb Brownell and Chris Gerli,  getting to release a Great Horned Owl much like this one, getting a great new job at Fontbonne University, and sightings of a wide-range of wildlife in Forest Park including Common Snapping Turtles, Baltimore Orioles, Bald Eagles, Mink and Eastern Bluebirds.  

I hope to see you all in Forest Park soon and please feel free to contact me contact me at mglenshaw@gmail.com if you would like to go an owl prowl or have me give a talk on the owls.  Thanks for reading!

Mistletoe Works-Much More Mating By The Owls! Part II

December 25 and 26 were amazing evenings.  Charles and Sarah mated twice on each night and each night had interesting similarities and differences.  I began on the 25th by heading to the western portion of the park hoping to see some of the Great Horned Owls and Barred Owls that reside there.  No luck on the GHOs but I did see a Barred Owl in a glade of white pines that had again become a reliable spot to find this species.  It is great to see them here again after several years of absence due, almost certainly, to human disturbance.  I could not get a good angle on the owl without strongly risking disturbing it but you can see for sure that it is Strix varia.

I approached Charles and Sarah's territory from the northwest and I began to hear Charles hoot.  From the direction of his hoots, I could tell he was in The Quartet Conifers.  I headed there, possibly hearing Sarah respond nearby and I found him in his new favorite conifer grooming away.  Check out how he is cleaning one of the nails of his talons.

I found Sarah in the tallest of The Trio Conifers but in a more exposed spot than usual.  I did not even have a time to get some stills of her before she made a short, graceful flight landing in The Jungle Gym Tree by The Archy Tree, a short distance away from Charles.



They began to duet intensely and I moved quickly to get the best angle of Sarah as I thought mating could happen at any point.  I was not fast enough to film the beginning of their mating but I got most of it, unfortunately a little out of focus.  Everything happened so fast!



Charles flew down to The 06/09/11 Nest Tree.  They had mated at 4:18pm, 27 minutes before sunset.  This was the earliest I had seen them mate so far this breeding season.  Most of their matings have been well after sunset, which is less typical for them.   This was also the first time I had seen them mate this season in The Jungle Gym Tree by The Archy Tree.  They frequently mated in this tree during the previous breeding season, so much so that I sometimes referred to it as The Marital Bed Tree.

Sarah began to groom.  I was in a close, concealed spot by her and was able to get some nice shots of her grooming.  Kindly notice the immense size of her talons. Bloody hell.

I went to find Charles and found him at the edge of the 2011 Nest Hollow in The 06/09/11 Nest Tree.  

I ran into my friend and owl mentee Brenda Hente.  She was stunned to hear how they had mated already and well before sunset.  We watched Charles and we even managed to find an angle where we could see Sarah and Charles.  Sarah continued to groom and eventually flew off to The Hilly Wooded Area, presumably to hunt. Charles began to staccato hoot interspersing these rapid hoots with his usual hoot.  Charles flew out to The Middle Tree and began to hoot more.  He blasted off to The Hilly Wooded Area just as Sarah had.  

We headed off to reacquire Charles and/or Sarah.  We entered The Hilly Wooded Area and heard Sarah make a hunger demand call in a tree in front of us.  Brenda's sharp eyes found Sarah in a tree parallel with The 2010 Nesting Tree.  She flew off south towards The Southern Branch Tree, one of Charles' favorite hunting spots.  It looked like she landed in this tree but was still flapping her wings as if she was struggling to keep her balance.  Then we heard the high-pitched mating sound!  We realized that she had landed near Charles and they were mating! This second mating was at 5:13pm, just under an hour after their first mating.  Seconds later Charles landed about 40 feet from us horizontally and 10-15 vertically.   

He had flown so fast and so quietly it seemed that he had just appeared from a completely different trajectory.  We even wondered if there was another male out there.  Thankfully we were able to go over what we each had seen and we worked out that it was indeed Charles.  Charles blasted off east and we went to watch Sarah.  I had never seen Sarah in The Southern Branch Tree before, which made this a neat sight.  She did not stay long before blasting off, also in a easterly direction.  We decided to call it a night.  I returned home and had a delicious Xmas dinner that my girlfriend ,Wendy, had made. We had a beef shoulder roast, baked potatoes and green beans as I told her all about the amazing evening with the owls.  

The next night, December 26, was another incredible night with Charles and Sarah mating twice that night. 

I headed to the east side of the park, which I had not been to for a little while.  I saw some Crows, Mallards, Eastern Grey Squirrels and the below raptor I have not positively identified yet, possible a Merlin.  I welcome any and all input on IDing this raptor. (I cropped in the picture to give more detail)

I continued to the owls territory and Charles was in the 2011 Nest Hollow in The 06/09/11 Nest Hollow.  He was giving me the "I am not happy with you, please go away" look and I reacted accordingly and went elsewhere.  

In my experience, if an owl is giving you this look, go away and come back a while later.  I went to look for Sarah in The Overlook Hotel Tree but she was not there.  I returned to see Charles and he was fine with my being there.  I took another tack to look for Sarah by heading up to The Trio Conifers.  She was there and in a more typical, hard to find spot than she was the day prior.  

She was not there much longer. Charles and Sarah began to duet.  As they were a decent distance apart and with one on top of a hill and the other at the bottom of said hill, I tried to find a spot where I could observe both of them.  I was partially successful.  I missed Charles at some point because the next thing I knew Sarah made a low gliding flight landing in The Training Area of The Wooded Area and a second later Charles was mating with her.  

They had mated a 4:28pm, eighteen minutes before sunset.   Charles flew back to The 2011 Nest Hollow.  I found Sarah in a unusual albeit not unprecedented perch in a tree between The Fleur-des-lis Tree and The 08/09 Salon Trees.  I had a great view of her and I took a look at Charles in The 2011 Nest Hollow.

After a while they began to duet again.  Charles moved to the 06/09 Nest Hollow.  Sarah remained in her approachable perch.  Charles flew closer landing near me and Sarah.  Even though the light was fading I still had a good silhouetted view of Sarah.  I hoped that they would mate in this perch so I could film it.  Well, one out of two is not bad.  Charles flew deeper into The Training Area but was out of sight as their duet intensified. Sarah flew towards him and they mated at 5:15pm a little over forty-five minutes after their first mating.  Charles flew and landed directly above me, staccato and regularly hooting as he flew and then perched.  I took up a less close position and he flew right over me in a typically gorgeous and breath-taking manner. 

I looked for Charles for a little but headed home for another amazing meal from the beef shoulder roast.  After enduring intense cold on December 24, I went up to six layers on my torso and made sure I had a thermos of hot tea with me.  These measures helped...immeasurably.  

Charles and Sarah mated again last night, Thursday, December 27.  It took them a while to get their duet going but what made this mating special was that I was leading an owl prowl.  Mary Butler had contacted me  and I happily led a prowl for her and her family.  Brenda came along and as always was quite helpful, chipping when I forgot a key point as well providing a good pair of eyes and ears.  

I'm going to conclude this blog post in a slightly different manner so be sure to watch the next two videos to see/hear the post's conclusion. Thanks for reading/watching/listening!

Mistletoe Works-Much More Mating By The Owls! Part I

Even though I am more of a fauna person than a flora devotee, I am reasonably comfortable in saying that I have never seen mistletoe in Forest Park.  That said, there must be some near the owls' territory as they are mating and mating some more.  I am more confident that they will nest so frequent is their mating.

In my last post, the last mating was observed was on December 19.  Charles and Sarah did not mate while I was watching them on December 20.  The next time they mated in the same place as they had on December 17, the glade containing The 2010 OP (Observation Post) Trees in The Hilly Wooded Area.  Check out this footage and listen closely at the 20 second mark for the high pitched that female GHOs make when mating.



They did not mate on December 22 despite some intense duetting and even perching immediately next to each other in The Middle Tree for several minutes.  Starting on December 23 they have mated every night including last night.  On December 25 and 26 they mated twice on each night!  I have seen two matings in one night before but this may be the first time I have seen it in consecutive nights.

The mating on December 23 was interesting and demonstrated something a behavioral point I have seen in prior years, namely that where the owls are matters when mating.  Charles and Sarah had a great duet and met up in The Middle Tree on the same branch, mere inches from each other.  However, where Sarah was perched made her, for lack of a better word, inaccessible.  Several branches above her prevented Charles from hopping on her back to mate with her.   Sarah solved the problem but hopping over Charles as if she was playing checkers and he promptly hopped on her and they mated.  Unfortunately it was too dark when I was filming to see this but you can hear my narration and hear them mate below.



December 24's mating was wild because I was doubtful that mating would happen.  Thankfully due to patience and perseverance by Charles and your friendly neighborhood Owl Man, mating was observed. The night began on an interesting note.  Earlier that day my friend and fellow owl devotee Robin Street-Morris had been to see the owls and posted some photos of them on Facebook.  Judging by the photos, I was pretty sure where the owls but asked Robin for confirmation, which she kindly gave.  In Robin's photos, Sarah was in her recent favorite perch in the tallest of The Trio Conifers and Charles was perched at the edge of the 2011 Nest Hollow in The 06/09/11 Nest Tree.  Of late Charles has been using this hollow a great deal, sometimes perched edge and other times deep within this cavernous hollow.  I arrived at their territory and headed to look for Sarah first.  No Sarah, at least not in The Trio Conifers.  When not there she has also roosted lately in The Overlook Hotel Tree.  No dice and no Sarah.   I tried to look through The Wooded Area for a long distance, needle in a haystack view of Charles in The 2011 Nest Hollow.  I trained my binoculars to find Charles only to find myself looking at Sarah's back.  She was in an unusual perch in a tree between The Fleur-de-lis Tree and The 08/09 Salon Trees.

I headed down to The Arena to see Charles and get a better look at Sarah.  Charles was at the edge of the 2011 Nest Hollow but as soon as I trained my camera on him, he turned around and went deep into the hollow.  Check out his gorgeous tail feathers.

With Charles out of sight I went to look at Sarah.  She began to groom as you can see her here grooming her leg or pants, as my girlfriend, Wendy, would say:).

As sunset approached, the owls hooted a few times but as time went on they never got into a duet groove.  Sarah flew to a couple of different perches including The Eastern Tree and hooted but at this point Charles was not responding.  Sarah flew off northwest landing about 100 yards from Charles.  I had not given up hope and I was thrilled when Charles finally emerged from the hollow.  My hopes were diminished not because he did not hoot, on the contrary he was hooting at his peak rate, 3-4 hoots per minute, but because of where was hooting.  Instead of landing in a nearby spot and hooting he landed in The Jungle Gym Tree by The Overlook Hotel Tree.   He was now 150-200 yards away from Sarah.  While it was jolly cold that night there was only a light wind so I am reasonably certain that Sarah could here the now vastly vocal Charles. She did not reply at all.  She eventually flew off going further northwest but then I saw a largish shape head back closer The Arena but I was not sure if it was Sarah or not.  Charles continued to hoot and I decided to stick with him. 

The cold was biting and nasty, eating through my five layers on my torso, balaclava, hat, two pairs of gloves, two pairs of socks and boots.  I lamented my decision not to bring a thermos of hot tea with me. In an effort to stay warm, I changed positions, which helped keep the blood flowing.  This can be a risky move as an owl can fly off so quickly and quietly that you can never know the direction in which they flew unless you see them depart.  I was in mid-position change when I noticed the tempo and tonality of Charles' hoots change.  His calls came faster, more trilling/purring and softer.  I realized that Sarah must be nearby.  I didn't hear her hoot but the next thing I knew I heard them mate. Charles then flew right over me, staccato hooting as went. He landed in The Middle Tree and Sarah made a hunger demand call.

They had mated 31 minutes after Sarah had flown off northwest! Sarah made a few more hunger demand calls before flying off northwest.  Charles hooted triumphantly and moved to the 06/09 Nest Hollow, eventually disappearing deep into the hollow.  I headed home grateful to have seen them mate and grateful to be walking home fast and feeling my body warm up gradually.  Be sure to check out part two of this post, thanks for reading!

More Mating and Save The Date

After mating on December 7, the owls, to the best of my knowledge, did not mate until December 15.  The mated that night, December 17 and last night, December 19.  Each mating was different in all respects, where, when and the behavior prior to and occurring after each mating.  Seeing them mate more as the mating season progresses makes me more hopeful that they will nest.  Furthermore, I am more confident that after mating and nesting early the last two years, they are back to a more conventional time frame of mating (and hopefully nesting). At the end of this post I will post videos of all three mating moments.

In just over a month, I will be giving a talk on the owls and my work with them at the Maplewood Public Library in nearby Maplewood, Missouri. Please save the date:  Thursday, January 24, 2013, 7-8pm.  I would be honored to see you at this talk.  This will be my first and hopefully not last talk of 2013.  Perhaps in 2013 I will eclipse the six talks that I gave in 2012.  I give talks to nature organizations, schools, scouts, churches, you name it.  If you know of a group that might be interested in a talk, please have them contact me at mglenshaw@gmail.com  . I use my photos and videos to show the owls and their behavior and I do a decent job of connecting with a wide range of audiences.

Thanks for reading!