1st September and PPO arrives..

It's official. On this first very warm day of Spring, Pot Plant Owl is comfortably sitting in the pot plant.

This morning we woke up early and checked the balcony for any signs of our owl visitors. The sun was just rising and there seemed to be no owl in sight. A few minutes later, I happened to look on the balcony again.

And there she was - standing on the balcony railing staring straight at me. I knew immediately that PPO wanted to move in and nest, so I quickly hid out of view. No sooner had I done that, I heard a murder of crows on the rooftop nearby. The crows were perched on the edge of the rooftop - staring in the direction of Pot Plant Owl on the balcony railing, waiting to attack.

I stuck my head out of the window, and in my best immitation of Allan's 'crow-crowing-with-flailing-arms' stunt, I scared the crows off pretty quickly. (Perhaps 'scared' is not the correct word. They were probably not the least bit afraid of me, but thought me too odd to hang around near). With crows away, I turned my attention to PPO again.

The little stinker! While I was protecting the territory, she seized the opportunity to settle down into the pot plant container. But hold on - that's not the 'stinky' part of this tale.

I know that PPO knows where the cameras and the microphone are. I know that she has sussed this all out long before this morning. I know she, along with Pappa, saw us all puzzling over the best angles and distances for the camera views and sound. And I bet, she sat and chuckled to herself thinking: 'Just you wait, you know-it-all-humans!' - a message that, were I an animal with general telepathic abilities, I would have picked up days ago.

PPO a.k.a. Little Stinker is dozing off in the 'wrong' pot plant. She's sitting pretty in the pot plant NOT covered by the big camera, night light, microphone...

For the first time in 5 years, Pot Plant Owl has chosen the far pot plant as her nest for this year, and there is nothing we can do about it.Except change the camera, swivel the night light, move the microphone....

What has caused this change of pot plant container? We don't know for certain, but I suspect a lot has to do with the increase in crows in the Jozi area, and in our area in particular. The container she has chosen has a small 'Mickey Mouse' bush in it. She ducks out of sight of crows perfectly. Very close to the container is a reed wall cover which further protects her from the crows. And perhaps PPO wants more cover from our summer thunderstorms. Who knows!

Sigh! She's been here for 8 hours and already she's got us running around after her.
Still, I wouldn't have it any other way...

27 Aug and PPO is looking good

This past week I've noticed a distinct 'roundness' to Pot Plant Owl. For a number of nights, we've watched her on the neighbour's rooftop - standing looking out onto the wetland. This 'full-figured-look' is typical of this time of year. Just before the breeding period starts, Pappa hunts for PPO, while she does as little as she can and conserves her energy. Good girl, PPO! (How do you get that right?)

The balcony is prepared for their arrival. Africam guys came in and installed not one, but two fantastic cameras for the webcam streaming. New camera angles should make this season an exciting one!

Of course, in the back of my mind is always the thought that perhaps we may not be so lucky this time, and the owls may decide NOT to nest. We had a close call the year after PPO and Pappa first arrived on our balcony.

That second year, we watched PPO sporting her 'fuller figure' and Pappa flying in and out like Mr Delivery with food for her. At the time, we were putting the finishing touches to our book on the owls so we only watched them with half an eye.

Suddenly one day the owls disappeared. The August date marking the start of the previous years' breeding season came and went, without an owl or an egg in sight. Two, three weeks went by and absolutely no sign of our feathered friends. I'll never forget writing that last entry in our book - mixed emotions and tears streaming down my face. We thought that was it. We had been given one chance - just one -of being up close and personal to these beautiful creatures. I was heartbroken to think that the owls would not return, but eternally grateful that we had captured everything in photographs and words.

The day we submitted the final copy of our book to the printers,having given up hope that the owls would return, PPO flew to the pot plant and laid an egg - just like that! Before settling down in her nest, she shot me a look that said 'Took your time, silly human. Glad you finally got it'. It was as if she was waiting until I got it - we got it.

So what did we 'get'?

Like church bells ringing, the message rang out:

Take nothing for granted.
Appreciate every moment you have.
Nothing is 'owed' to you, so in everything that you do and have and experience, feel gratitude.

And don't count your chickens (or owls) before they hatch!

11 August and the balcony is a mess

It's the norm now to wake up in the morning to find that more soil has scattered all over our balcony floor - all thanks to Pappa and PPO getting ready to nest. We sweep and clean up after them each morning, and ask them nicely not to make a mess on their next visit. Wishful thinking!

07 August and it's snowing

We have snow. While it may not be the thick white blanket typical of northern hemisphere winters, it is certainly enough to say that it is well-and-truly snowing in Johannesburg. Pot Plant Owl and Pappa are nowhere to be seen. I suspect that the shock of having a truly cold spell just as they begin to prepare for another breeding season has forced them to hide from the biting wind and snowflakes. Snow! Who would have thought!

30 July and we have frequent visitors

Pappa is not taking 'no' for an answer. For the past couple of weeks, we've been watching Pappa do everything in his power to entice Pot Plant Owl to the balcony, and the nest. In the twilight hours, Pappa flies to the balcony and begins. First he hoots. And hoots. And hoots... If this doesn't illicit a response from PPO, Pappa jumps into the pot plant, and shuffles his talons and scratches the soil, all the while looking around for Pot Plant Owl. If this doesn't bring PPO to the nest, Pappa gets out of the nest and flies to the rooftop nearby,and hoots again - this time louder and more 'forcefully' - as if to say 'Okay now. I'm calling you here. Come on!' Pot Plant Owl, in the meantime, lazily watches the scene unfolding from her hunting pole. She seems to enjoy Pappa's pre-mating display (although she's not letting him know that). When Pappa eventually flies off hunting, we've spotted PPO make a quick fly-over the nest as if making sure that everything is still there, and (almost) as she left it months ago. We've watched this display for four years now. It never ceases to amaze me how routine owls can be. And no matter how much Pappa entices, or we encourage, or other people 'will' the breeding season to start - the breeding season will begin exactly on time - when Nature (and PPO) intend it to.

1 May and activity starts in the pot

It's been a while since I last wrote in my blog. Since I last wrote, I visited Houston, MN's "International Festival of Owls" to collect PPO's Lady Gray'l Award. A lot about the festival was written on the PPO Facebook pages but I forgot to post the updates in the blog - apologies! I'll cut and paste information to other posts for those who'd like to hear about the festival - it was amazing! Well, here we are at the start of the colder season in South Africa. May usually begins with a very cold spell - a sign for us to haul out the extra blankets and jackets. Today, however, feels like spring - no, in fact summer. And because of this inconsistency in the weather, we are getting frequent visits from Pappa and Pot Plant Owl - two or three times a night, lots of mating calls and of course the scraping in the pot plant. At the moment, they are using the far pot plant on the balcony, but hopefully they switch to the usual one come nesting time. I think we may well see an earlier breeding season this year, should this warmer weather continue. Other Spotted Eagle Owls have been known to have chicks in Johannesburg and surrounds in June and July, so perhaps PPO will join them for an earlier season this year. Other news is that we've got a rescue Border Collie puppy who's now approx 7 months old. His name is Destin and he was found emancipated with layers of burns all over his tiny body (hot oil or boiling water was thrown over him). We've had him now for a few weeks and he's doing well. Pappa has seen Destin - not sure if PPO has met him yet. Destin tends to stay indoors at night and has seen the owls but isn't concerned with them - unlike old 'Yaps' from next door. Come breeding season, Destin will spend a lot of time with our family who live close by, so that Pappa doesn't feel the need to target practice him, and Destin doesn't 'play' with any roaming chicks. So far, so good. And if the recent activities on the balcony are anything to go by, neither human nor puppy will deter the owls from nesting on the balcony - fingers crossed!

Our family visits

Sat 28 Jan: In the early hours of this morning, I heard Pappa hooting on the balcony. I peeped through the curtains and saw him in the pot plant - shuffling his feet and hooting, and looking at PPO on the far side of the balcony. She caught sight of me, and flew off to the neighbour's roof, and Pappa followed.
Just before I turned away from the window, I heard the familiar hiss of the chicks. I l...ooked at the pot plant and the first chick flew in, and landed in the pot. The second chick flew in and landed on the balcony pillar behind the pot.
For about 5 minutes, I watched as the chicks took it in turns to jump into the pot and scratch around in the soil - almost like chickens. When they had enough, the flew to one of the pillars and looked out over the wetland.
I can't tell the difference in the two chicks from appearance anymore. One is still a lot more vocal and continued to beg for food, while looking towards PPO and Pappa.
The parents flew off to roost, leaving the chicks on the balcony for a few more minutes. Eventually, they too, flew away to sleep.
I'm thrilled to have seen the entire family, and to know that they are safe and sound, and doing well.