A simple night, a fly out after it got very dark and with only one owl leaving.

Tonight was a one owl night, with it quickly giving us the slip.  We’ve started calling them the Monty Python owls, because each night they perform “And Now For Something Completely Different”.

These owls keep confusing us.  Tonight, it was hard to tell if one or two owls went out of the cavity.  Plus, an owl spent some time on the ground and then returned to the cavity.

Tonight started out with two young raptors,  a Cooper’s Hawk and a Red-tailed Hawk, playing what looked like tag.  One hawk would chase the other and then vis-versa.  Along the way, I found a Titmouse eating birdseed left by someone after the snowstorm.

A squirrel was in the male’s normal roost, so we were concerned.  Our concern for the male grew as fly out took much longer than usual.  The hawks being around, so close to fly out, must have made the owls more cautious. 

Both owls flew out from the same cavity tonight.  This was the first time we have seen this occur this season.  Was it because of the snow in the male’s usual spot, the squirrel or has something happened in the nest?

We were right yesterday.  We had found the second cavity.  It feels great to have finally found her home after all this time.

It was a wonderful evening.  After a few nights without owls, I got to see both of them copulate, saw one of them with a mouse and best of all, we might have discovered their nest cavity.