OWLETS In a Box and Another Occupant

Ken was able to check the owlet box this week; the chicks look healthy and mom is still roosting in the box with them. Both owlets are losing their down feathers and looking more and more like adults as their contour feathers grow. They were more curious about the camera then mom, who has the adult wisdom to avoid predators, lie flat and be still.

This owlet in the box is still pretty downy.

This owlet is slightly older, showing more contour feathers

The nestling phase is about 35 days so they should fledge between the 3rd week and end of June. We were hoping to put up some cameras around the nest box to watch the parents deliver food and the chicks fledge, but the supporting trees were too far away. We'll have to come up with other ideas.

Meanwhile, last week we found another occupant in nest box #2. We have deduced, based on the list of cavity nesting birds in the area, that it was an ash-throated flycatcher egg. Since there was only one egg and it had ants on it, we determined it was abandoned. This weeks' box check confirmed it, no new eggs, more ants.  Here's how Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes the egg, "creamy white with reddish brown streaks and elongated blotches." Click this link for more information about the ash-throated flycatcher.