Flaco was in wonderful light before fly out. He hooted for an extended period, and did some wonderful stretches.

His first stop before heading south was a visit to a Grey Squirrel’s drey. He poked at it with his beak a few times as a squirrel looked on. Eurasian Eagle-Owls are known to raid nests aggressively, and I can only wonder if these instincts are being awakened in Flaco.

After the visit to the drey, Flaco flew south. In the beginning of the evening, things were a bit dull. He just perched on a few branches. Later on, he flew out of the protective lawn area he’s been using, to trees on both sides of the West Drive. He went to trees we’ve seen him in before but also some new perches.

After fly out Flaco made two stops before crossing the transverse. He arrived at the lawn he’s been hunting in to find two folks who had ignored the park employees requests to leave. So, we perched in a tree and waited for them to leave. He hunted a few times, but we didn’t see him catch anything.

Around midnight he finally went to the ground, then a low perch before flying off to a fence near a bridle path. But then he just few back to a tree he usually goes to eat.

Saturday evening was interesting. Flaco was in his normal roost tree, an American Elm before fly out. He hopped to a few branches in the tree before flying out and then went due west quickly. We lost track of him. But about a half hour later, he appeared on his “hunting branch”, which he’s been using for the last few weeks the overlooks a lawn which is locked at night.

He caught two rodents. The area has a mix of Brown Rats and White-footed Mice (or if you’re a purist about how to make scientific names plural, White-footed Mouses), so it’s hard to tell if he has a mouse or a juvenile rat.

After 10 pm, without any warning and without him being flushed by anyone, he flew aggressively to the north. We explored his know locations up north but came up empty. The park’s Great Horned Owl has been moving around lately, and fall migration has started, so we wondered if he was tracking another bird.

Friday was a relaxed evening with Flaco hunting on a locked lawn. Over the course of a few hours, he got four rodents.

I spent the early part of the evening stuffing envelopes for the Linnaean Society of New York’s Annual Mailing, and got to the park late in the evening. Flaco had already been observed catching four rodents! While I was with him he made one hunting attempt, but otherwise seemed to be relaxing.

Wednesday, marked the six month anniversary of Flaco’s release by a vandal. It’s good to see that he has beaten the odds against zoo escapes, and has survived.

Over the last few weeks, he’s been exploring a larger area and changing up his roosting locations. Tonight he appeared at the compost heap from the west, but it is still unclear where his new roost site is. At the compost heap he didn’t hunt, but flew back and forth between two trees before going to a Black Locust.

He hooted in the Black Locust, just like had done earlier in the year. He then flew south. We were unable to relocate him. So, we’ve ended up with a lot of questions about where he’s roosting, where he’s going, etc. Hopefully, we’ll get some answers soon.