tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32530393325899483652025-06-14T23:29:06.783-07:00Dirt and Dogsadventures with bikes and dogs and...Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.comBlogger432125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-66546561688918775102022-12-05T18:10:00.004-08:002022-12-16T20:28:18.192-08:00Antarctica: Incident BThe Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica is one of the most dangerous stretches of ocean in the world. Circumpolar winds and currents are unimpeded by land masses as they whorl around the bottom of the planet. The latitudes south of 50⁰ are known as the Furious Fifties. At the Drake Passage, all that force is squeezed through it's narrowest ocean channel. Our ship, the Viking Bikeabouthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09871364374711057858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-83961432521409216602022-12-05T06:28:00.003-08:002022-12-16T20:29:18.667-08:00Antarctica: Incident AI accepted Dad's invite for this adventure in what I like to think is the True Spirit of Adventure: Ya never know how things will turn out. Antarctica is not to be trifled* with. It is the world's most remote continent, separated from the rest by unforgiving waters. It's also the coldest, windiest, most icy and driest, least vegetated, and least populated continent. It does not welcome. It Bikeabouthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09871364374711057858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-73120087619050266372019-03-10T19:07:00.001-07:002022-12-07T03:23:12.888-08:00Counting Down
This is not a Western Screech Owl.
As we count down anxiously to DerOwl Hannah's scheduled (ha!) 2019 ETA, which should be around March 18 or 19, it actually looks like we may not have owls this year. We know they're both still in their non-nesting boxes, Boyle one block south and DH one block west - we saw both of them a few nights ago - but they haven't been checking in at the box Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-7555501548270764762019-03-10T14:24:00.001-07:002019-03-10T18:52:16.780-07:00Evening Owl Prowl
DerOwl Hannah
Our evening routine changes once the owlets aren't in a contained space. To find them each evening we have to go prowling, tip-toe-ing around the neighborhood at dusk, listening (through all the shockingly loud urban sounds we normally don't notice quite so much) for the hoots of the parents and the raspy chirps of the owlets. Initially, the family stays within a block ofSweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-88386312620001051022019-03-10T13:06:00.000-07:002019-03-10T13:06:56.734-07:00#5 Fledges at 30 Days
#5 alone in the nest box at 5:30am on May 26, while a robin chirps outside:
I've worried about #5 from the beginning because the common understanding of nest politics is that the smallest, weakest, youngest of chicks will not get as much food as the others, will get picked on by the others, possibly even killed by the others, and one way or another, is likely to die long before the Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-45633039783301097952019-03-10T12:22:00.001-07:002019-03-10T14:25:02.576-07:00Four of the Owlets Fledge at 31 Days
There is very little usable video at this point because the owlets have bumped the camera even more, and there are a couple of videos where it looks like the rowdy little things have actually been hanging from the camera, which means that on the momentous, much awaited night of fledging, there is pretty much nothing to show. The videos at this point are more useful for sound than anything. SoundSweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com48tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-65140716389145631482019-03-10T12:22:00.000-07:002019-03-10T14:24:50.421-07:00Owlets at 30 and 28 Days
Half-asleep preening:
A parent checks in on the owlets, and one owlet works at a scrap of what looks like a wing:
A daylight view of some sweet faces:
An owlet discoing at something on the floor, then pouncing on it, while his/her sibling does an interesting throat thing:
An owlet, with pupils dilating, really checking out the camera, and leaping at it:
Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-72170151370790397142019-03-10T10:14:00.001-07:002019-03-10T10:14:19.711-07:00Owlets at 29 and 27 Days
It's all fun and games until someone bumps the nest cam. As mentioned in a previous post, the owlets are bouncing off the walls and in the process, the camera has been bumped. The resulting videos are fewer in number and poorer in quality, so we've skipped a few days for lack of anything worth sharing.
Preening (at the very end of this clip):
Clamoring for access to the hole:
Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-65454552942814483862019-03-10T09:58:00.000-07:002019-03-10T10:14:33.688-07:00Owlets at 26 and 24 Days
Two pairs of siblings do some gentle preening of each other:
A sweet, curious owlet face:
Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-40137387924185581762019-03-10T09:39:00.000-07:002019-03-10T14:51:00.539-07:00Owlets at 25 and 23 Days
A nice look at a sweet blinking owlet face:
More flapping and jostling. The camera has, by this time, been bumped in the ruckus. From this point on, it triggers less frequently and we have fewer videos, all of which feature more of the east wall of the nest box than we'd like:
Discoing:
A moth is dropped off:
A drop off, and an owlet doing the classic one-eye-closed Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-60990655501881986272018-05-30T13:24:00.000-07:002018-05-30T13:35:12.120-07:00Owlets at 24 and 22 Days
This is the owlets one week (!!!) before fledging.
A drop off, and #5 picks up and eats what appears to be a cockroach scrounged from the floor:
Two drop offs, the second one to #5, who has made his way up to the front of the pack:
A check-in and a drop off:
A drop off is split between two owlets:
Just a little leg stretch:
Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-31785408642081779962018-05-30T13:10:00.001-07:002018-06-01T10:43:45.227-07:00Owlets at 23 and 21 Days
Three rapid fire drop offs (the third delivery was just being brought in when the camera stopped recording):
DH returns to the nest at 9:11 in the morning, which suggests* that she didn't come back to the nest before sunrise like usual.
One owlet standing tall to look out the hole; the other four are at the back looking up. At lower right, #5 can be seen laying down, which Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-72472022993717450352018-05-30T12:28:00.000-07:002018-05-30T12:28:34.908-07:00Owlets at 22 and 20 Days
This was an important day. This was the day that the owlets were bouncing off the walls so much that DH moved out of the nest in the middle of the day. It was that bad.
In this video, you can see how crowded the nest box is getting, and how rambunctious the ruckus. (The noises you hear outside are those of a graduation ceremony at the park a block away.)
Here, it looks to me likeSweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-55058884105435405652018-05-30T10:11:00.002-07:002018-05-30T10:11:54.544-07:00Owlets at 21 and 19 Days
The older owlets are really starting to look like owls:
#5 picks up a scrap of wing from the floor. He seems to spend much more time than the others scrounging around on the floor for scraps. Perhaps his runt status will result in him being more resourceful.
A drop off:
Owlets clamoring for the hole; #5 is jostled to the back:
An owlet almost makes it up into the Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-57225605226688526992018-05-30T09:26:00.000-07:002018-05-30T09:26:02.597-07:00Owlets at 20 and 18 Days
More serious flapping, and little #5 appears briefly at the end:
Discoing:
Still trying to get up into the hole:
Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-48506146356564301852018-05-30T09:14:00.000-07:002019-03-10T17:07:06.105-07:00Owlets at 19 and 17 Days
At 19 days, flapping is getting more animated, and now the owlets are starting to practice leaping:
Owlets trying valiantly to get up into the hole:
The owlets' little faces are looking more and more owlish:
Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-63252379234875324992018-05-29T21:53:00.002-07:002018-05-30T08:42:47.149-07:00Owlets at 18 and 16 Days
At 18 days, the owlets are exercising their wings more:
...and stretching their legs:
#5 peeks out:
Owlets are starting to disco (move their head around to "adjust" their vision which is still not owl-like):
Boyle delivers to DH; she feeds, sits in the hole, leaves:
Two drop offs and a baby face:
Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-18643806236577560072018-05-29T21:26:00.001-07:002018-05-29T21:26:28.125-07:00Owlets at 17 and 15 Days
Owlet horking a bird wing:
Flapping and preening:
Parent checks in, leaves, returns with a delivery:
A live cockroach in the nest:
Baby faces:
Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-88766716202128464402018-05-29T20:59:00.000-07:002018-05-29T21:14:24.512-07:00Owlets at 16 and 14 Days
Owlet with a moth that was just delivered by a parent, whose talon is still visible in the hole, on the left. Young #5 is in the upper right corner:
Owlet with a grub or caterpillar, maybe:
A parent brings a moth in to feed the owlets, but it makes a getaway:
Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-35951406454382246982018-05-29T18:34:00.002-07:002018-05-29T21:14:32.886-07:00Owlets at 15 and 13 Days
A parent feeds the owlets (15 and 13 days old) something white, fluffy and unidentifiable to me:
Here, an owlet pesters its mom:
Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-91224586942748634682018-05-29T18:28:00.002-07:002018-05-29T18:28:23.267-07:00Day 14, Day 15
A parent feeds an owlet (14 and 12 days old) a moth:
Here, owlets (15 and 13 days old) get a little more assertive with a bird carcass:
Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-45007880781976816842018-05-29T18:20:00.001-07:002018-05-29T18:20:06.880-07:00Newsflash: Owl Moms Don't Get Any Sleep Either
Owlets are fidgety. Even during the day when they, and especially their mom, who has spent the entire night hunting and feeding them, needs to be sleeping. Owlets here are 14 and 12 days old:
Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-69242888285329739362018-05-29T18:04:00.001-07:002018-05-31T03:19:57.310-07:00Finally, Some Gore
I've received some complaints about the lack of excitement in the owl videos. The thing about nest cam videos is that this is nature, the way it's unfolding in the real world, and sometimes it's calm. There are periods of time where not much happens, or the juicy action is hidden from view, and there aren't many car chases or bike jumps, but for those of you lamenting that fact, I can, finallySweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-56272788218425068992018-05-29T17:30:00.004-07:002018-05-29T17:30:41.632-07:00Mantling, Feeding
Often when DH is feeding the owlets, she mantles around them and they (and the food) are almost entirely hidden. Here is what we'll call a half-mantle, allowing a partial view of the owlets at 12 and 10 days:
This is a long (4 minute) feeding sequence with decent visibility and both parents:
Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3253039332589948365.post-25670794001463159652018-05-29T10:14:00.001-07:002018-05-29T17:25:43.808-07:00Falling Asleep at the Dinner TableIn this series, the owlets (at 12 and 10 days) have been left a bird carcass to do with what they may. They sleep on it, drag it around, sleep on it some more, and finally wake up and start to tear into it.
Sweet Solitudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05590125807595780614noreply@blogger.com0