A Two-Owl Day

A wise old owl sat in an oak,

The more he saw the less he spoke,

The less he spoke the more he heard.

Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?

                                                 Anon.

03 April, 2022

Great Horned Owl

     We were alerted to the presence of a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) nest, with young, in Kitchener, and set off to see it.

     

     This large, powerful owl is ubiquitous throughout North America, from the Arctic to Central America, and in South America south to Brazil and Central Argentina.

     Despite its ubiquity it is not easily found and when roosting high in a dense conifer it is so well concealed it defies detection.

     Indeed we spotted one of the adults off in the distance being harassed by a couple of Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata) - one nest robber being chivvied by another.

     Our pictures reflect the distance from the bird, and the fact that we were shooting through the canopy with branches everywhere.

     Great Horned Owls do not construct their own nests and routinely take possession of an old crow's nest, or that of a hawk; even a squirrel drey will do. Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) whose nests have been commandeered by a pair of Great Horned Owls have found it impossible to dislodge the new tenants.

     The nest we saw this morning seemed very small, but two owlets were safely ensconced there, and obviously the nest has been of sufficient size for the female to incubate her eggs.

     There were many pellets beneath the nest, but none were intact, having been battered apart by  heavy rain, sleet and ice. 

     The diet of a Great Horned Owl is as eclectic as one might imagine, ranging from prey as large as geese or as small as crickets. Typical fare includes lagomorphs and small and midsize rodents, but skunks are favoured too, and anything the owl is able to capture may be on the menu. Small items such as rodents are swallowed whole by the young, larger prey is ripped part by the adult and fed to the nestlings.

     It was in every way a very pleasant encounter (thank you, Heather), and we plan to return every few days to monitor the progress of these owlets.

     I'll be sure to bring you news of them.

Eastern Screech Owl

     Bechtel Park in Waterloo has for years been a reliable location to find Eastern Screech Owl (Megascops asio) and this past winter a couple have been surprisingly easy to locate, showing great fidelity to a couple of tree cavities.

     It always give us great pleasure to see any owl, and the fact that this individual is not hard to find does not in any degree diminish our satisfaction.

     I have covered the life style of this tiny owl in previous posts so I won't go into it again.

     But I will leave you to imagine our happiness at seeing one of the largest owls and one of the smallest on the same day. For a birder, that's about as good as it gets!