Tonight started out with two young raptors,  a Cooper’s Hawk and a Red-tailed Hawk, playing what looked like tag.  One hawk would chase the other and then vis-versa.  Along the way, I found a Titmouse eating birdseed left by someone after the snowstorm.

A squirrel was in the male’s normal roost, so we were concerned.  Our concern for the male grew as fly out took much longer than usual.  The hawks being around, so close to fly out, must have made the owls more cautious. 

Both owls flew out from the same cavity tonight.  This was the first time we have seen this occur this season.  Was it because of the snow in the male’s usual spot, the squirrel or has something happened in the nest?

We were right yesterday.  We had found the second cavity.  It feels great to have finally found her home after all this time.

It was a wonderful evening.  After a few nights without owls, I got to see both of them copulate, saw one of them with a mouse and best of all, we might have discovered their nest cavity.

On a rainy night, no sign of the owls.  These one again, off again sightings are confusing but it might just be a function of our strange weather.  It was 60 degrees today.  Who knows?

I had a family dinner on Sunday, but Jean sent this wonderful report…

Oh Bruce, oh Bruce, oh man did you pick the wrong night not to be there. We had such lovely stuff this evening – owls for most of an hour, lost one or the other for a few minutes at a time, but almost always had at least one and very often both.

Flyout was earlier than it was before the Friday-Saturday blank – 5:40 out the back door, short flight north, then north again. Never did see the other come out of that cavity – just materialized near us, down in ravine, as has happened so frequently. One of them was eating something, for a long time, on a branch right over our heads while the other was nearby. Later they were together here or there – usually in woods between path and Drive – mostly just sitting near each other, but also two short copulations.

Best part was two together for a very long time on a fat horizontal branch directly over the path: he was holding a mouse in his beak, came ooching along the branch and offered it to her. She didn’t seem to be interested (maybe she was the one who had already stuffed herself earlier?). He kept picking it up, showing it to her, putting it down at her feet, picking it up again and holding it. Finally – this is maybe 10 MINUTES! later – he decided if she really didn’t want his mouse he would go off somewhere and eat it himself (or cache it somewhere, maybe – we lost him after that). We started heading back about 6:50, and she was still on that branch.

Nada.  A second night without sighting any owls.  Our luck has run dry.