Hey Jewill! this is a pleasant and unexpected visit...wooohooo I love those. Oh well then I'd say that name is fitting for wee Flinger. I love him he's gorgeous and I'm glad you aren't afraid of him. That is a rather gory eating style I must say. Boy I hope you're right and I just posted on Sidney today about your spotting eagles so now I'm really anxious to see my Ma and Pa that I miss so much. Me toooo for the Sidney cam! I've not heard a word but am keeping everything I own crossed. By the way, reading with your eyes crossed aint easy

By the way Flinger led to some good discussion on EA because I brought up the "Road Side Hawk" that I'd never heard of and that led to me finding out there's 17 types of hawks. The end result was that Linda has some new birds now to add to her Bird Talk 101 and for our Bird of the Day on EA, neat huh?

See you Sunday my friend

(shhhh don't tell anybody but I like that pic you posted above of Flinger better than the one on his profile. It looks like it was shot through glass or something)

I'm afraid it was another sad day at OWL. We lost Otus, our Eastern Screech Owl education bird, overnight to a predator, possibly a rat. You can read about him here: Otus
His little body was found by the volunteer who was assigned to Front Education today. He is the 2nd Screech owl we've lost in this manner, the other being his cage mate Chewy in March of this year. There is a 3rd one still left, Sammy, who spent the day cowering in the upper corner of the cage. He has now witnessed both executions so I'm sure he is traumatized by it all. Because of that I convinced Rob to let me go and remove him from the cage so he can spend a few nights indoors, safe in a kennel. A live trap was set in the cage and hopefully we can determine just who or what is doing this; it could be a rat or a wild mink; I doubt that it's a raccoon judging by the size of the hole that the offender dug to get in. If we don't trap anything, then Rob has said he will put Ladyhawke, a Red Tailed hawk, in the cage for a few days (minus Sammy of course). She is an extremely skilled hunter and will definitely kill anything that dares come in the cage.
Other than that, there is not much to talk about - it was business as usual. We had a few visitors, all of whom arrived in the morning when it was pouring rain; none in the afternoon when the sun came out. I looked after 3 sections today which contained mainly Barn owls and Barred owls. The little Barred who is the possible electrocution is holding his own, so that's good news. We are still waiting on an assessment of the property for the fellow from last weekend who wants a pair of Barn owls.
I saw a few wild Bald eagles in the area - I wasn't counting, but I'd guess 7 or 8. I am keeping an eye out for Ma and/or Pa Delta OWL and have my camera ready to (hopefully) capture a few pics of when they return to their new nest.
I can't think of anything else that's new or exciting, so maybe there will be something by Wednesday. Until then...cheers!

Ohhh no Jewill!! I'm so sorry to you all for the loss of sweet Otus and awww poor Sammy is scared to death! Poor guy. I'm so glad he's getting a break in a safe place and go get em' Ladyhawke show whoever where it's at!

Well that's good news at least that the wee Barred is still holding his own. Does Rob still think electrocution then? woooohooooo to you seeing more eagles!! That must have helped the sadness a little right?

Gee tell everybody I'm really sorry ok? and thanks for the report sad and all. See you Wednesday

Judy I am so saddened to hear about Otus and I am sure it must have been a huge loss for everyone at OWL and poor Sammy to have witnessed it ...again!! I have pictures of Otus from my visit last Sept.....awwww I feel so bad for Sammy I am so glad to hear Sammy will get to stay indoors for the next few nights. Let us know if the RT Hawk catches that mean predator....

Very glad to hear you have seen the baldies back in your area that is wonderful news I had a feeling they were come back early this fall.
I remember Flicker well and have lots of pictures of flicker on the glove and he was definitely a very messy eater

Thanks for your great reports Judy and look forward to the next one already

Judy,
Such a shame to have lost an educational bird It must have been very traumatic for your volunteer to find him dead Poor Sammy; I hope he will feel more secure being inside until the predator is caught Thanks for your report; it must have been hard for you to give us such sad news

Judy, please let Bev and the gang know how sorry I am to hear about Otus.
That is devastating to lose Curious George, Chewy and Otus all in one year I know how attached you all are to each and every resident bird.

It was exceptionally quiet at OWL today, so much so that I decided to call it a day at 1 pm and go out to enjoy the spectacular weather.
I only have 2 little tidbits of "news" to share, the first being that Rob caught, according to him, a giant rat the size of a small cat, in the live trap he placed in Otus and Chewy's cage. We are all hoping that this is the culprit that has been feeding on our birds. The trap will remain for several more days while Sammy continues to enjoy some indoor time, at least I hope he's enjoying it. As for the rat, let's just say that Rob disposed of it (humanely of course).
The 2nd is good news...electrocution has now been ruled out for the little Barred owl who was found on the ground at a local school. Since there are no other obvious injuries Rob now has to figure out what's wrong with him because he's not acting completely right. He is eating and as far as we can tell he can fly, but he's not doing much of either on his own. It may just be that's the way he is, and if so, he will be released back at the school and nature will be allowed to take it's course (I'm sure if he goes to ground again the students will notify us). He will be kept at OWL for another week or so for monitoring.
That's it for now...don't know if I'll have anything to report on Sunday because I'm going with Sue on an off-site presentation at BCIT. We're taking Stella (a Red Tail) and Jesse (a Barred owl) and apparently all we have to do is stand there and look pretty (Sue's words, not mine).
Cheers!

Holy doodle Jewill, how could a rat get a bird that can fly I wonder? That's crazy. I sure hope he's the culprit cause then we know it's gone and Sammy will be safe when he goes back.

wooohoooo that it's not electrocution but oh man to not knowing now what it could be. I wonder why he won't eat and fly much, those two are not good combinations for survival are they? Be sure to keep us up on him

I'm glad you got to go out today, Elle was telling me how perfect it was out there. It wasn't bad here either. hehee to just standing there looking perty on Sunday! Well have fun and if you're up to it, tell us how it goes ok?

Thanks for your report my friend