Two weeks have gone by since we first spotted a boreal owl using the nest box in our yard. For three days following that initial sighting, a single owl, who we assumed was a female, was regularly seen hanging out at the entrance of the box. Whenever we would approach the tree she would pop out and give us a stern looking over. About a week ago, however, she became less visible and stayed in the box despite our attempts to lure her out. We began to question whether or not she had abandoned the box altogether, until one night, again while watching a movie, the male swooped in and shattered our doubts. He landed on a branch below the box, gave out a quick call, and hopped up to the entrance hole to deliver a fresh kill to the awaiting female. With boreal owls, females handle all of the incubating and brooding duties while males provide territorial protection and food. It would appear the female we now call Owl-berta, is sitting on a clutch of eggs, and the male we named Owl-fred, is hunting at night, provisioning Owl-berta while she incubates. With an approximate lay date of April 3rd, and an incubation period of roughly 29 days, if all goes well we should have chicks by the first week of May.
Canon EOS 60D, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM + 1.4x, ISO-320 f/5.6 @ 1/640 sec.
I want to come visit owl-berta she looks friendly. Great picture (Pete W. just shared with me)!
ReplyDeleteHey Amy. Flights to Fairbanks are cheap-er right now, you guys should stop by. Ol' Owl-berta's pretty friendly so far, we will she what happens once her chicks start wandering out of the box. She keeps a sharp eye on Reef.
ReplyDelete