Title photo was just screenshot. Mrs Owl looks to be taking a nap on a bright and breezy morning.

Not too much news this week, but it won’t be too much longer until we get owl babies!

Got some interesting food facts from the cam comments. I didn’t feel Mr Owl was bringing food often enough, but one of the park people explained at this point the male will not always bring food all the way back to the nest, but will stash it nearby for her and let her know it’s there for when she gets up to take a break. That was reassuring!

While the GHO female is incubating her eggs, the male will sometimes bring her a snack right to the nest, but more often than not, the female will pick up her meal at one of her mate’s “prey cache storage areas”, which are usually in tree branch crevices, roof tops, anywhere high where he tries to hide it from other takers. He will usually tell his mate that it is there and for her to “take her break”, which is only between approx dusk until dawn. She will literally swallow her prey whole on a branch somewhere on her break, and then maybe a fast “flyabout” before returning to her nest. In the day, there is no hunting, and Mom does not take any breaks, protecting her nest from predators/intruders. / Also, after they have eaten throughout the night, they will eventually need to expel their pellets which take 6 - 10 hours to do. This will give them more room to eat again. They will look like they are “yawning or trying to throw up” on and off.

Once the eggs are just about to hatch or one has hatched, the male will be seen more often in and out fast, dropping off the prey straight to the female on the nest where she is brooding now, and where she will collect a “prey pantry” in the nest to make it available to feed her owlets. The male will also still have his “prey cache storage stashes” close by and around the area for Mom to pick up if she wants to feed herself or bring needed prey in, if there is any around on her break, or she’ll take a fast break. She usually takes approx 3 - 5 breaks from approx dusk until dawn, but it might be less or more depending on the circumstances.

Again, even when the owlets are hatched, in the mornings/day until approx dusk, the male will roost very close by to their nest in one of his favourite trees, and the female will NOT take any breaks until approx dusk and on. Just around dusk the male will then leave his tree and start his hunting for the night/morning until approx dawn.

This is also when the female will start to “food beg call/squawk” to her male, even in the day and on and on if there is no prey pantry, to make it clear to her mate that he needs to get out and hunt asap right at dusk and bring in prey for the family. He needs to feed not only the owlets, but also his mate and himself each night. If her pantry is low or she feels the need to tell him to bring in prey, she’ll “food beg call/squawk”, which almost sounds like an owlet “food beg call/squawk”. This is when she is stressing to him she needs prey for their owlets, and that when he starts to hunt, to get back asap so that she can feed them to start off the evening.

Without a rewind, we unfortunately may miss the male come in and drop off prey to the female, because he doesn’t stay, he’s in and out FAST, lol!! Also, we unfortunately can’t hear their hoots or just faintly, so we’re missing their duets while he’s close by, and also will miss her “food beg call/squawks”. This might be because of the wind, because we can hear other birds etc.