GHOs and WSOs

That's 'bird name' shorthand for Great Horned Owls and Western Screech Owls

Here is a collection of some of the owl photos I've taken this spring. I like to find and observe Great Horned Owl nests every year. This year I didn't have much luck finding them and many of the nests I saw were either very high in trees or heavily obscured by branches. There were just a few with openings that made the owls visible. I am showing these photos now that the birds have fledged and left the nest. One nest beyond the Tucson Mountains was in a saguaro and had two young owlets in it.

Great Horned Owls do not build nests. They find and use nests that were built in prior years by other large raptors or Ravens. Here is an owlet in another Tucson area nest.

In midtown, an owl decided to 'nest' in something other than a bird nest. This was just in an open part of a pine tree where the main trunk branched into several different large branches. Pine needles had collected in this flat surface amidst the branches and it looked good enough for the owls. Besides nesting in actual nests, Great Horned Owls may just nest on any flat surface that looks good to them.

I have had nest boxes for Western Screech Owls and, over the years, been fortunate to often have owls nesting in them. Two years ago I placed one box on my back porch facing my kitchen door. This year it seemed that a female Western Screech Owl liked the spot and, for the second year in a row, moved in. The shot below was taken on March 24. I wasn't certain she had eggs at this point.

On April 8, Mike Shaw from Hawk Watch International came over to survey the nest box. The female owl was in the box and if you look closely, there appears to be part of one egg under her. Click on the photo for a larger image. It also looks like much of her diet to this point has been various bird species.

On April 16, Mike returned. He uses a tiny camera on a long pole that is linked to an app on his cell phone. The camera is inserted into the nest box for just a second or two. The photo he captured shows Mom with at least three eggs.

On May 14, Mike returned and we discovered that the three eggs had hatched. The hatchlings were still very young as you can see by the downy feathers on them.

This week the mother Western Screech Owl began spending much more time at the opening of her nest box during the day. I think that is because it has become very hot and also due to the fact that the young in the nest are growing larger, making the nest more crowded. During the day, young may be pestering Mom for food and the opening of the nest box is just a quieter and cooler place for her to spend time. This photo was taken the morning of May 22.

Guess who popped up during the night of May 22? The biggest of the baby Screech Owlets has grown enough to begin exploring the world outside of its nest box. This owlet may fledge and leave the box within a week or two!!!

I will keep you posted. Things are definitely picking up around here!

The next newsletter will have a final wrap-up of our Birdathon. Final donations have come in from Jini K., Carol and Charles S., Jeffrey P., Linda P., Mort W., and Iris Y. Special thank-yous to them and to all of our Birdathon Team's generous donors.