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To fill you in on what happened after yesterday's disaster:
We went out onto the balcony after Pot Plant Owl left the nest a couple of hours later. I picked the fallen chick up, checked quickly for any external injuries, and put it back in the nest. It seems okay but only time will tell.
You will see that we have also added a piece of green shade cloth to the side of the balcony. Yesterday was just so hot that the poor chicks were struggling. Unfortunately this tree doesn't give much shade. We had to replace the tree from last year because it was hit by frost over winter.
Today, Pot Plant Owl has spent most of the time with her chicks. Seen a lot of preening of the chicks and they are much happier in the cooler temperature. Pappa remains on our perimeter wall and occasionally hoots to keep in contact.
The chicks are getting bigger by the hour - virtually. You will notice that they have owl feathers coming through fast.
You can also clearly see the difference now in the three chicks:
One has a very black face. He's the biggest one and looks like his father, Pappa, who has close-set eyes and a darker face than Pot Plant Owl (apart from his magnificent white chin).
One chick is lighter in colour - looks more like its mother. It is smaller than the chick with the darker face.
And then there's the baby of the family - the one that fell out the nest yesterday. It is a lot smaller than the other two. When standing next to its siblings, this chick looks a head shorter.
We are seeing lots of king crickets being eaten. Lining the nest are lots of bird feathers (I'm not too happy about the owls taking the birds from our garden, but I suppose it is Nature). I haven't seen many bigger things, such as rats, this year. Perhaps with the wetland a devastated mess, there are fewer rodents in the area.
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I am glad that the injuries were not bad.
ReplyDeletehopefully everything will go well.
did you know that you're on ustream?(with chat ? )
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/eagle-owl-cam
I am watching from British Columbia, Canada and last evening I saw Pot Plant Owl with what looked like a large rodent and she was feeding it to her owletes and herself.
ReplyDeleteThey look wet and cold. The little one seems to have trouble breathing?
ReplyDeleteAh, just saw you took it away. Hope it will survive, good luck!
Hi Shirley from BC. Thanks for watching. Yes, the parents love rodents and bring them in if they can. If they aren't around, the next favourite morsel is a king cricket - not sure if you get those in Canada? Here in South Africa, well at least Johannesburg, we call them "Parktown Prawns" - a nickname. They are really hard to get rid of so it is a pleasure to have owls picking them off our lawn and eating them.
ReplyDeleteHi Mariska if you are still there. Please read Thur 14 Oct insert to find out about what you just saw.
Hi Fleur - thanks for the link. The guy who put in on for us is Jon Oliver. Didn't know it was done so thank you
Hello from Redwood City, CA!
ReplyDeleteyour site is wonderful! i'm a Molly fan and had to come and see your beautiful owls. i'm so happy you intervened with Teeny when it wasn't doing well. there was talk of one of Molly's owlets not doing well and the box owner said he would not interfere. i STRONGLY disagreed with that tact. fortunately it was just the parents keeping food away from the youngster to get it to start fledging. and right on que, the owlet left the box and is now doing fantastic. it came back today, but we know it will only be days before we don't see it again. (hate calling it an "it"). in fact, Carlos will be turning off the camera tomorrow until the next clutch. you may experience a surge of MODS visiting your site once that happens. the bonus is the watering hole cam!! and even better is the international good will of meeting others from around the world! sorry some of us lame Americans think you have a marijuana connection of any kind... what can i say? can't wait to read more of your blog. fascinating!! good job!
fondly,
julie aka LoveYourDNA