Now that Mrs. Ace appears to have started incubating, Ace is occasionally dropping food off at night.
   And now that I record the night action on a DVR, we can see close up some of the bits of owl life that usually occur in secret.
  The food drop on the video took all of 10 seconds, and I nearly missed it as I reviewed six hours of recordings with a fast-forward.
  So I made a video, about a minute long, that may be the first screech owl viddeo with an instant replay and a slo-mo replay, all coming in at just over a minute.
  What critter is being dropped off?
  I don't know, but I would like to hear your ideas...

   

   Here's what happened. After dark, Mrs. Ace started calling from inside the nest box, and Ace replied from nearby.

   If you listen closely, you can hear them call back and forth.

   Mrs. Ace climbed to the opening to call to Ace, and five eggs were on view.

   I have edited the video to keep it a little over a minute. After about two minutes, Mrs. Ace flew, leaving the five eggs behind.   

   Click "Continue reading" to see a photo of the five eggs, and more.

    If you are new to this blog, welcome. If you are an old friend, welcome once more.
   Mrs. Ace, a screech owl, has been sitting on five eggs for a few weeks ...  

Click "Continue reading..." for an amazing owl video and more about the owls this spring...

   
    I went on a salamander walk at the Tenafly Nature Center last evening and saw a few spotted salamanders -- about five inches long with yellow dots.

   The walk, for center members and their families, was led by staff naturalist Debora Davidson, who was very informative and very good with the youngsters. 

   We saw several salamanders at the center's vernal pool, and I made a minute-long video of a salamander being released, to the delight of the youngsters.

   The kids were having so much fun that one adult said ruefully, "It stinks to grow up."

   Here is the link to my story on vernal pools.

Mrs. Ace is a fast worker this spring -- four eggs in eight days vs. four eggs in 10 days last year.
   She may have more eggs, but I doubt it, and I do not want to count any owlets before they hatch.
   Incubation takes from 26 to 31 days.
   Let's hope for the best.