Urban Hawks

After fly out, we got to see and hear some fun activity.

The owls continued their campaign against the raccoons nearby.  We got to see the male make ten passes at a raccoon as it made its way down a tree close to the nest cavity.

The nest cavity clearly has nestlings.  We got to clearer pictures of young ones tonight.  Soon their should be fledglings.

It was a warm evening.  Before fly out, the female posed for pictures while it was still light.  The male must be sleeping elsewhere, but we can’t find his roost.

What did we see tonight?

• The male might be sleeping somewhere else again, but we haven’t figured this out yet.
• The female came out and spent a great deal of time outside the cavity.
• She has been using a new call, that seems to be an alarm cry.  It was used before and after the male owl attacked a raccoon.
• We may have had a nestling sighting.
• The nest has lots of insects.

I’ve been away for almost a week.  I’ve come back to what may be the first signs of a nestling.  But I can’t be sure.  Both adult owls were out, but I only have photographs of one leaving the cavity.  Are the fuzzy blobs, nestlings or an adult paying a visit to the nest?  I can’t be sure.

One of the owls made lots of calls this evening, but they didn’t seem to be directed at the owls mate.  Could they be calls for the nestlings to start exploring the outside world?