Just when you think you know Flaco’s habits, he changed things up on you. It’s what makes watching him so enjoyable after almost six months. On Sunday night, he wasn’t in his normal roost tree and couldn’t be located. Then a number of folks searched for a few hours in the trees and meadows he’s been hunting in and couldn’t find him.

After 10 pm, he finally showed up on a Tennis Court fence but only stayed there for a few minutes. With only two observers looking for him, we had troubles relocating him. But, then he appeared in the middle of a park walkway in plain sight. He got spooked by a jogger but we were able to relocate him and stay with him until the park closed at 1 am.

He was in what I would have thought was a too open area, but he was comfortable making a number of hunting passes and caught at least one rodent, which he ate on a Tennis Court fence.

After last night’s adventure in the hot weather, where Flaco explored the Tennis Courts, we ended up with a completely different night. He was much more relaxed in the cooler temperatures. He perched in two trees for hours and would periodically swoop down and catch a rodent. It looked like he was catching White-footed Mice based on their size, and he ate each one quickly, in giant gulps. By the time he settled down around midnight, he had caught four rodents.

I made a simple error that prevented me from getting a recording of him eating in good light. Otherwise it was too dark to get any good images. But it was fun to watch him make so many hunting runs and do so well at catching his prey. I think he missed only two times.

Flaco is exploring the area south of the 96th Street Transverse after fly out and hunting on a lawn south of the tennis courts, north of the reservoir and east of the West Drive. He caught a rat and quickly ate it early in the evening. He rested in a few trees and then spent about an hour on the tennis courts, either on fences or on the courts. He took a few drinks of water from some puddles. He even was on the the tennis court building, once on a railing outside the men’s room, and later on the roof. It’s enjoyable to watch him in these new locations.

After not having a chance to see Flaco for over a week due to my vacation, I caught up with him on Wednesday. He was roosting the the same American Elm he had been using when I left. However, he is now moving south after fly out. This means the area between the Reservoir and the 96th Street Transverse.

While I didn’t see it, after Midnight, Flaco went to the North Pump House (really a gate house as there are no pumps) of the Reservoir, which had been used by the Snowy Owl two years ago. It is so interesting to see our new Bubo, act like the old one.

The Eurasian Eagle-Owl, Flaco roosted in the same American Elm he’s been using for the last few days. Its understory is open and without leaves, so as he wakes up, rather than flying to another tree he has been branching within the tree. I’ve seen White-footed Mice below the tree and he seem to be looking for them before he leaves the tree.

Tonight, at fly out he went to the roof of the Recreation Center and then flew off to the northeast. We searched for about a half hour and came up empty, but then found him in plain sight on a backstop. He moved around the backstop and one of the adjacent infields, briefly perching in a London Plane tree. But for most part he didn’t move around very much. It was hot and you see the gular fluttering after even the briefest flight.

The released Eurasian Eagle-Owl, Flaco, roosted in the same tree as last night, but used a different perch. He was hot and would gular flutter every so often. His roost tree is an American Elm and it has a number of open branches in the center. It is almost like the underside of an umbrella, and before flying out, he explored a number of branches. It seemed as though he was getting vantage points to see the eastern half of the North Meadow, and the pickleball games at the Recreation Center.

After flyout, he made a stop in a tree overlooking the western half of the North Meadow, before going to backstops and spending a great deal of time on the ground. Sometimes it was in the grass but most of time he was in the infield sand. He did a silly sand bath at one point, which reminded us of similar behavior from the 2021 Snowy Owl. As he did last night, Flaco used may of the same perches as the Snowy Owl had used.