Nature Done Wright

  A prime reason for the screech-cam is to bring the mostly unknown world of screech owls to a larger audience.

    Already, I have learned a few neat tidbits – such as the fact that screech owls sometimes return to their nesting holes (or in this case, man-made nesting box) during the night to eat their prey or just drop it off, like a sack of groceries, for later consumption.

  When Ace first started to roost in the box in late November, he seemed to be as much of a clean freak as the the TV detective Monk.

  If I hadn’t seen him roosting in the box on the screech-cam monitor, I’d never have known he was there — that’s how tidy he was.

  Beginning in January, Ace would bring home dead small rodents (yum!).    

  Sometimes he would eat them immediately. Other times he’d leave them for later.

  The weather was so cold that putting them in the nesting box was like putting them in the fridge.

    More recently, he has dined on birds of different feathers. One theory is that he has done so because the snows of mid-February made hunting rodents difficult.

  The most optimistic view is that he is feathering his nest to make it more attractive to a prospective mate.

  But beyond curiosity about what Ace is up to when he’s tucked away in the box is a need to monitor the box in the happy event that Ace finds a female friend who then lays her eggs in the box.

  The other reason for the screech-cam is to keep track of what’s happening in the box.

  Two years ago, my first resident screech owl, Otus, started a family in the previous owl box, and it was impossible to keep track of the owlets inside the box.

  In fact I didn’t even know there were any owlets until one stuck its head out of the box one Saturday afternoon in May.

   Soon after, at least two baby owls fell out of the box’s opening and died during successive storms. If there were any other owlets, I never saw them.

  With the owl-cam, I’ll be better able to monitor any owlet progress – and I’ll share that with you.

  Just keep in mind that I am a journalist, not a screech owl expert. I do
my best to report what I see and hear accurately, but I know interpretations of owl behavior can be subject to debate, and I encourage you to write if you think I’ve erred – or if you have any questions about Ace, his box, the screech-cam or other nature topics.

  The more responses this blog gets, the more informative and fun it will be.

   If you would like me to speak before your class or your group about the blog, the owls, or The Record, e-mail me at the address on the right-hand side of this site.

  I live not far from the Celery Farm Natural Area in Allendale, and I will be
writing about the spring arrivals there, including herons, egrets, swans, as
well as assorted ducks and warblers.

  In May, when brown-bat season begins, I’ll write about them as well.