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March 2008

OWL: Three eggs and counting?

3_eggs

  The screech owl egg count as of Tuesday morning is three.  They were laid roughly two days apart.
  Last year Mrs. Ace had four eggs. The first three were roughly two days apart, and then another week went by before she the fourth.
   Three or four eggs is a typical clutch.
   Last year, the eggs all hatched the same day, roughly 25 days after the last egg arrived.
    What's interesting to note is the entire cycle is two weeks earlier this year so far.
   No, I don't think it is the result of global warming. I think it's because screech owls just do things by their own internal clocks.
   Tomorrow: An index of my
significant posts from last spring, including owl milestones, owl-box information, wood duck arrivals and other occasions of interest.


VIDEO: Mrs. Ace with mouse

     

    I took this video with the digital recorder on Saturday night. I ran the recorder for six hours and came up with this 30-second video. 
   Mrs. Ace flew out around 2 a.m. and return over an hour later with this morsel.
   You can hear her "drum" loudly during the brief clip, and you can see her two eggs quite clearly.


Red-shoulder update

Stiles_and_hawk
  Thanks to my buddy Jerry Barrack, I have some photos to share from last weekend's release of the red-shoulder -- with a little intrigue to boot.

   Above is a picture of Laura the red-shoulder with her Samaritan, Stiles Thomas, who took her to the Raptor Trust three weekends ago when she was injured and who released her
last weekend at the Celery Farm.
     After she was hurt, the male found a younger girlfriend.
   At any rate, after Laura was released, she flew to a nearby tree (below) to get her bearings.
   Not missing a trick, the younger female flew overhead  ...
   The last I heard, the male and younger female were still together. Whither Laura?
   A red-shoulder was twice seen flying over the CF yesterday, but it remains unidentified...
   Thanks for sharing your photos, Jerry!

Laurareleased2