Sunday afternoon's owl prowl

Another in my series of bird tales! Attribute my interest, and that of 14 other "owl prowlers," to my post on the Barred Owl who fell down the Westmoreland Place chimney right before Christmas. Readers may remember that's when we were introduced to Mark Glenshaw (above), aka The Owlman of Forest Park. After attending an Audubon Society-sponsored talk Mark gave about his study of a pair of Great Horned Owls who inhabit Forest Park, he and I set up an "owl prowl"  for friends of this blog.

The group, including from left, Abbey Wolf, Caroline and Isabelle Barnes-Knapp, George Knapp, and David Wolf, assembled by the flagpole at The Boathouse in Forest Park at 4 o'clock Sunday afternoon. After Mark gave us a condensed version of the Audubon talk, we set off across the road in search of "Charles" and "Sarah." Mark has named the pair, as well as the 11 owlets they have produced over the past five years. 

As we were walking to the woods where Mark had spotted Charles a short time earlier, he told us that Sarah was nesting in the hollow of a cottonwood tree nearby, so would not be visible until dark when she would come out of her nest briefly to groom and stretch her wings, which span 4-6 feet. Mark is an extremely humorous raconteur as he shares observations of his subjects. He described Sarah's search for this year's nest in human terms. At first, he thought she had settled into one tree, and then, the next time he went to observe her, found that it must not have been quite the real estate she was looking for, as she had picked up and returned to the familiarity of an old hollow in a nearby cottonwood that had served as her nest a couple of years earlier.

Photo of Charles at edge of wooded area courtesy of Mark Glenshaw.

We walked into the woods to find Charles, and sure enough there he was...watching us. Mark sent his photo of that amazing moment. Our guide took us in groups of three to observe Charles as he began to awaken from his day's sleep and start the active part of his day. We prowlers were being very quiet, but a flock of honking Canada geese that flew overhead was creating quite a ruckus. The smaller specks you see in the photo below are crows who were tagging along.

 

 

After we left Charles in the woods and headed back down the hill to the nesting spot, we heard Charles start to hoot. As dusk fell, the air turned much chillier and the families with children headed home. While that was understandable, it was most unfortunate because a short time later---just as Mark predicted---Charles swooped in closer to Sarah's nest (see the large creature perched in the tree above), whereupon a hooting duet began. If that doesn't bring tears to your eyes, you are not a "sentimental so and so," as the old song goes. Charles called to her and she hooted back from her residence deep inside the hollow of the old cottonwood tree. During the nesting period it is the male's role to hunt for both of them. We were privileged to see him try to nab (and miss) a squirrel who was scurrying up the nesting tree. See Mark's video below of that moment.  

(According to Mark, Great Horned Owls miss their prey more than one might expect. In fact, starvation is a concern.)

 

Photo of Charles after he went for the Eastern grey squirrel courtesy of Mark Glenshaw

Of the two, Sarah is darker and larger, so when she suddenly swooped out of her nest and flew above us it was another sight to behold. She flew into a nearby treetop where she perched for only about four minutes as she stretched her wings and, as Mark said, performed her toilette. Then she was back to the nest to sit on the eggs as Charles set off in search of dinner, and we headed home so very happy to have been able to observe this magnificent pair. It was a huge break from bad weather reports, even worse world news reports, and everything else we worry about, to be out observing nature right in our own backyard.

Mark suggested he might lead others on an owl prowl, so if you would like to contact him, do so through his blog: www.forestparkowls.blogspot.com. Mark suggested a donation to Forest Park Forever as a thank you for the tour...a win-win combination to be sure.

P.S. - I asked Mark about how this dreadful weather day was impacting the owls hunting abilities and this is what he replied: "Indeed this is an intense weather day for the owls. Snow does make prey animals stand out more but the precip also interferes with the owls flying performance and visual acuity. The playing field remains even!"

Comments

[Elizabeth]

A Sharp Shinned Hawk (I looked it up) must have heard that I missed the owl prowl for it flew into our backyard with its prey this afternoon and proceeded to devour it calmly over the period of about 45 minutes. I got quite the show:-)

[Marjorie Hoeltzel]

Thank you for some amazing photographs of your prowl for owls! A delightful diversion on a cold, snowy, housebound day.

[charlotte]

wow, that is the coolest ever!