Once again, owls have moved into Terry’s box. As before, the video and observations are entirely his and I am just enjoying the show. To see all the videos, go here.

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Five Eggs. 4/3/26

We have five eggs now and the female is sitting on them almost continuously. The male has been dropping in several times a night to bring her a small treat, like an insect. But here he brings her a kangaroo mouse and she refuses to take it even after he repeatedly shoves it in her face. He leaves with it, looking dejected. 

Four Eggs. 4/1/26

We have four eggs now. The female is spending more time on the eggs. Before now she was away for up to three hours at a time. Here she is returning to the eggs and getting settled. And shortly after, the male pops in to deliver a centipede (yum!). 

The Brood Grows. 3/28/26

We have three eggs now. The second was laid during the daytime on 25 March and the third very early morning 27 March.

In the meantime, the male has been doing his job and bringing her sustenance in the form of a large butterfly (she is not home), a kangaroo mouse (she seem to say no thanks so he eventually leaves with it), and what seems to be most of a pack rat (she gladly takes it).

Eggs! 3/25/26

We have eggs! The first egg was laid around midnight on the morning of March 23 and a second egg was laid during the day on March 25. This is in line with the dates in the past 6 years except for one year when the first egg arrived on April 2. The female did not spend a daytime in the box until March 15, whereas in all previous years she was in the box during daytime every day starting no later than early November. The male frequently enters the box to seemingly check that everything is in order, then he goes to the hole and hoots for a minute or two. He has brought her some insects (Jerusalem cricket, centipede) to eat when she is in-house. Like the female has done in the past, she is away for most of the night, leaving the eggs alone and un-incubated, but will spend more time on the eggs at night as more are laid. 

This video from the new camera shows the male performing a quick check. 

Getting Started

The new season of The Owls may finally be starting. Behavior of the owls been very different these past few months. For the first time this season, the female spent the daytime in the box on March 15. In the past, she would spent most days in the box starting in October and every day starting in November. This winter, an owl would visit the box for a quick check every several days but didn’t stay more than a few minutes and never during daytime until now. Sometimes an owl would be in the box looking around and the second owl (female?) would come in kick him out, look around or scratch, then leave. So I expect she is getting ready to lay an egg, which would be on schedule with the past six years. 

Some changes in the box: in the summer, I installed a second camera with the hope of getting a better view of the small owls and what the parents are bringing in. It’s mounted in the corner and looks across and down, instead of straight down like the first camera. Its image quality is worse, with a blue or pink tint, but the software is better, unlike the original camera’s which constantly freezes. And I remounted the mirror (the one the owl pulled off) on the other side and a bit lower.

Here’s a view from the new camera showing the male (?) showing up to an empty house with a kangaroo mouse (their favorite) and thinking “I’m doing my job; where is she and why no egg?”