The Iron Jungle Owls

Sunday, April 29, 2018

April 29, 2018 (Failed season)

Something happened. Our guess is a Ringtail, but we have no way to confirm.
We wait for next season.....

Saturday, April 7, 2018

April 7, 2018 (Is she gone?)

No sighting of the female in the hole for a few days. Haven't seen the male in his typical place nearby. Could be bad news for the clutch.

Sunday, April 1, 2018

April 1, 2018 (all nornal. no pics)

Sunday, March 25, 2018

March 25, 2018 (all nornal, no pics)

Monday, March 12, 2018

Sunday, December 31, 2017

December 29, 2017 (1st sighting of season)

Turned on the camera before heading to a Bison and Bubbles party. Was surprised to find an owl sitting in the hole. Fingers crossed.

Also, the near infra red emitters are very weak so night viewing is 'dark'.

Saturday, April 8, 2017

April 7, 2017 (Ringtail ends it all)

Turned the camera on at 10P and a Ringtail Cat was eating the eggs. This is most likely what happened to the other clutch a few weeks ago. The Ringtail remained sleeping in the box all night.

We are saddened by the event. Nature is a bitch.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

April 5, 2017 (all is well; Male/Female working together)

4 eggs.
Witnessed male making food drop to female.

Saturday, April 1, 2017

April 1, 2017 (4 eggs)

It is no April Fools. Four eggs. The owl only leaves the box for short intervals. Things seem more 'normal' with this clutch.

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

March 29, 2017 (3 eggs; we're back in business!)

The owl in the box was acting fidgety; like it was going to lay. And...

Our guess is a new female took over the box as we don't think one female could put out two separate clutches in such a short time frame. Also, an owl (male) is heard from the trees when the female is in the box. Image of the eggs is poor quality, but they are there.

Saturday, March 25, 2017

March 25, 2017 [No eggs, but owl remains]

Same owl (we think).

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

March 21, 2017 (Confused and eggs destroyed)

Strange things...

The owl back all day and in the hole around 8PM. At 9PM we turned the camera on and were shocked to see the eggs destroyed! Only egg shells remained. Typically this means a Ringtail Cat, but the wildlife cameras have not shown them to be active. I could not find any information regarding Eastern Screech Owls destroying their own eggs.

Today the owl sits in the hole of an eggless box.

Monday, March 20, 2017

March 20, 2017 (Owl back after a few days)

The owl is back in the box after a long 'vacation'. Something tells us the eggs are no longer 'good', but what the heck do we know. Time will help answer that. We searched with for three days with the Fluke Ti25 Thermal Imager and never found more than one owl around the box. This is unusual, never happened. Stay tuned.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

March 18, 2017 (Male found?)

This morning we noticed the eggs had been moved; probably by an owl. A ringtail cat or raccoon would have eaten them.

We used a Fluke Ti25 Thermal Imaging camera to help find the owl (they are really really REALLY hard to spot). The 'red dot' near the center of the image below is the heat signature of an owl watching over the box. Male that lost a mate? Female leaving unfertilized eggs? We have no way to know.

Friday, March 17, 2017

March 17, 2017 (Mother doesn't return to eggs)

Bad news. Yesterday the mother owl did not return to the box. Weather has been fine and there is really no way to know what happened to her. It looks like a sad end to the season.