Tonight, I played a hunch that the female had moved to a Black Locust tree that had been used a few years ago by the owl pair in 2007 after they moved out of the Willow.

I must have learned how to think like an owl, because she appeared right at dusk.  I was happy for her, since I suspect she got some rest.  The cavities she been using around Glen Span Arch, require her to be alert during the day.

After her fly out, she went to a nearby tree, then to a tree on the shore of The Pool.  Quickly she went across the Pool, to the north shore langing on a Sweet Gum tree, and then to a tree across the foot path where she preened.  Then she went to the down near the ground and I lost her.  She may have been hunting or making her way up the Great Hill.

She made no calls while I was there.  I lost her after about an hour.

I certainly hope that the owl tour scheduled by the parks department or any Birding Bob tours, don’t use owl vocalizations over the next few weeks.  The female is finally starting to settle down and get used to being a widow again.

I went up to the North Woods to see how things were going for our single girl.  She was in a high hollow stump that she had used a few months ago.  It had been sunny out, but started to rain.  She moved to a nearby branch.

Maybe because of the rain she seemed to be in no hurry.  I was by myself, without my usual camera gear or binoculars, but managed to quietly keep up with her for over two hours.

At first she stayed near the cavity and took her time preening.  Then she made a few trills.

She surveyed the area east of the pool, sometimes just seeing the lay of the land, and other times hunting.  She went to the ground a few times, and one occasion hopped around a bit, as though she was trying to catch a rodent but was missing it.

Eventually, I lost her as she went of the stream that feeds The Pool.

On a wet afternoon and early evening, we found the female at Glen Span Arch.  At fly out, she went to a nearby branch and then went from tree to tree in the area east of the West Drive from 104th to 102nd. 

She didn’t make a sound.  It might have been the damp weather, but it seemed as though she knew she was alone.

Nature can throw you a left hook sometimes.  Today, it felt like the left hook was followed up by a knock out punch.

The female was found sunning back at Glen Span Arch.  Her old cavity, the one we suspected had become a nest, was found to have a squirrel in it.  The squirrels didn’t leave her alone at the bridge either.  A squirrel came into the tree and forced her out on an open branch for about half an hour.

The knock out punch was delivered after dusk however.  The male continued to be missing, even after the female called and called (using a trill rather than her normal whinny), before giving up and going hunting.  While it’s possible he’s just taking a break, given how close this pair has been, I suspect he’s dead. 

One of the mysteries is, did he get injured defending the Bridle Path cavity or did he get injured and the female couldn’t defend the cavity on her own?

After what looked like two weeks of nesting behavior, tonight we had quite a shock. 

Arriving earlier than normal, we saw the female on a small branch outside the cavity in bright light just after sunset.   The last time this happened, she had lost a cavity to a raccoon by Glen Span Arch.

After a few minutes, she flew into the triangle south of the bypass road, and then went into The Loch.

This is the fourth night we haven’t seen or heard the male.  We’re trying to come up with a positive explanation, but haven’t found one yet.

The movie includes a pellet being coughed up.

Saturday Morning Update:  The female was sunning in her Glen Span Arch cavity. The cavity she abandoned was being mobbed by two Blue Jays.  Their mobbing caused a squirrel to pop out of the cavity.  It would be ironic one of the factors caused Screech Owls to disappear from the park in addition to car traffic, city lights, poisons and pesticides, was an over population of squirrels due to people feeding them. 

The disappearance of the male is now a real mystery.  I saw a squirrel go to bed, way after dark around 7 p.m. earlier this week.  Could something have happened?  We should know in a few days.

Tonight, we only saw and heard the female again.  She quickly left her cavity, went into the triangle area and perched in a tree.  She then went down to the ground and we lost her.  I suspect she returned to the cavity, but we didn’t hear any calls from her.

The mystery of where the male is continues.