Sunday, April 1, 2012

Sounds like PPO Mom and Pappa visited their nest last night. Tracy posted this on facebook.

Activity on the balcony lst night = big mess for us to clean up this morning.

Some good news posted by Tracy today!

The pre-mating season has started with PPO and Pappa keeping us awake last night with their antics on the balcony. I wonder if they will nest earlier this year.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Just saw another post from Tracy on Facebook.

Pappa and PPO visit the balcony two or three times a night now. Lots of mating calls. I suspect it has something to do with the unusually warm weather we are experiencing for end of April / May. We may have an early breeding season this year.

Looks like our new season will be taking off soon!

I was away for over two weeks vacationing in Florida and missed the latest post from Tracy. Here it is for all to catch up on our PPO nest and family!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012
1 May and activity starts in the pot
It's been a while since I last wrote in my blog. Since I last wrote, I visited Houston, MN's "International Festival of Owls" to collect PPO's Lady Gray'l Award. A lot about the festival was written on the PPO Facebook pages but I forgot to post the updates in the blog - apologies! I'll cut and paste information to other posts for those who'd like to hear about the festival - it was amazing! Well, here we are at the start of the colder season in South Africa. May usually begins with a very cold spell - a sign for us to haul out the extra blankets and jackets. Today, however, feels like spring - no, in fact summer. And because of this inconsistency in the weather, we are getting frequent visits from Pappa and Pot Plant Owl - two or three times a night, lots of mating calls and of course the scraping in the pot plant. At the moment, they are using the far pot plant on the balcony, but hopefully they switch to the usual one come nesting time. I think we may well see an earlier breeding season this year, should this warmer weather continue. Other Spotted Eagle Owls have been known to have chicks in Johannesburg and surrounds in June and July, so perhaps PPO will join them for an earlier season this year. Other news is that we've got a rescue Border Collie puppy who's now approx 7 months old. His name is Destin and he was found emancipated with layers of burns all over his tiny body (hot oil or boiling water was thrown over him). We've had him now for a few weeks and he's doing well. Pappa has seen Destin - not sure if PPO has met him yet. Destin tends to stay indoors at night and has seen the owls but isn't concerned with them - unlike old 'Yaps' from next door. Come breeding season, Destin will spend a lot of time with our family who live close by, so that Pappa doesn't feel the need to target practice him, and Destin doesn't 'play' with any roaming chicks. So far, so good. And if the recent activities on the balcony are anything to go by, neither human nor puppy will deter the owls from nesting on the balcony - fingers crossed!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Good Afternoon all!

Another new post from Tracy. Looks like our new season will be starting soon.

Pot Plant Owl

Hello from cold Jozi, South Africa: As PPO and Pappa prepare the nest for the coming year's breeding season, we are fighting off colds and staying indoors. The choice of nest is the far potted plant which is not our first choice. Pappa visits briefly most nights but we don't see them much because of the dark / cold. We do hear the hooting which is wonderful.

July 2, 2012

A new post from Tracy:

Pappa hooting on the balcony last night was a welcome sound. I didn't wake up to see if PPO was there too, and my 'untrained' ears didn't pick up a second hoot.

We are getting close to the 2012 season to begin. I think the cams start rolling in August. Waiting to hear the date from Tracy!

Evening Friends

2012 Fundraising Drive & Update

Many of you are aware that Hancock Wildlife Foundation (HWF) is currently conducting their 2012 Fundraising Drive and I have offered to lend a hand and update everyone on our Fundraising efforts thus far ... where we are now and how far we have to go yet.

First and foremost on behalf of David Hancock and the entire Hancock Wildlife Foundation family it is my pleasure to extend our warmest thanks to each and everyone of you for your continued support .... your contributions in time and in donations keep this forum family thriving and without your support we would surely have to close its doors.

The forum and the cams provides all of us with a unique opportunity to share in the wonder of wildlife and to visit with our friends both feathered and human :-) here on the forum. So thanks again for all that you do to support Hancock Wildlife Foundation you truely are the heart and soul of our HWF community.

There are some amazing things planned for 2012 and if you have not yet seen the Needs List yet here is the link to the list:

forum/viewtopic.php?topic=356429#356429

As you can see HWF really needs $100,000 to make all those dreams realities!

Currently we have raised about $11,000 that means we still have a shortfall of $89,000 for 2012

The funds raised to-date includes all donations received between November 2011 to June 2012 so you can see although we have made some pretty good progress we still need to raise $89,000 to achieve our fundraising goal for this year.

I am not sure if you are aware of this ...but HWF is a not for profit organization; they do not receive any grants or government funding they rely purely on donations to keep the forum and cams streaming so your support is truely needed.

There are efforts underway to secure some corporate sponsors to help us meet our financial targets but it's a work in progress. If you have any corporate contacts that you believe would be willing to donate or sponsor HWF please contact me or anyone of our volunteers and we will certainly ensure that your tip or referral is followed up on. Please include all contact information to facilitate that process.

The birds will soon be leaving their nesting areas providing David with a very short window of opportunity to visit each site and perform cam maintenance and do any upgrades and/or installations, which must be completed before the birds return. So if you have not yet made your donation or if you can donate a bit more please consider making it asap so that the equipment can be ordered and delivered to meet this short timeline.

To make your donation click on the link below

staticpages/index.php/HowToDonateToHWF_Fast

Thank you to those of you that have donated already. To those of you that cannot afford to make a donation right now we thank you for your continued support.

Together we make a difference and as a team we create magic and keep our HWF family united

In closing on behalf of our forum family I would also like to extend our warmest thanks to David Hancock for his dream brought us all together and David is responsible for keeping us connected and for educating so many ... warmest thanks David from all of us here...you are the best.

As donations come in we will keep you updated so that we can celebrate our progress together as a family!

Now lets create some magic together ...... Lets Go Team Lets Go



PS Sorry for being long winded...next update will be shorter I promise!

Monday, July 30, 2012

I just saw Tracy has posted on her Facebook regarding our PPO Mom and Pappa. With a new puppy in the household, Tracy and Allan are waiting to see if this will have any effect on them from nesting in the Potted Plant this season. Here's her post:

Pot Plant Owl
A lot of people are asking about when the PPO season will begin, and updates about PPO and Pappa.

Right now, we can't make predictions about when/how. The new variable to our home this year, is our Border Collie rescue puppy, Destin. That's why we are quietly holding our breaths to see if the owls still nest with us. And I guess, I am a little superstitious and don't want to count these eggs before they are even laid.

That said, we see and hear the owls quite a bit. Pappa always flies to the balcony before going hunting. As I write, I'm listening to a chorus of owl hoots from behind the closed curtains. I saw PPO the other day looking a tad on the 'heavy' side - a very good sign that Pappa may well be feeding her up for the owl nesting season.

Fingers crossed that all goes well. From August, I will make more regular posts as we get more 'action'.

Thanks for all the wonderful emails and comments!