25 December 2021
And now . . .?
At 16:25 on Wednesday, I glanced out the kitchen window . . . and saw an owl on the parapet amongst the foliage. ‘She’s early’ I thought . . . but then took another look. It was the male – way earlier than he’s been moving away from his roost for the past few weeks!
He was very alert and restless, looking around almost expectantly and staring intently into the corner under the overhand. Could it be the female? – downstairs to the office window to check . . . no female. Out onto the roof to photograph the male (still looking good in spite of moulting heavily), and then back upstairs to the kitchen window to observe developments.
For the next two hours, the male remained very alert and restless, looking around constantly. He reminded me of someone who had arranged to meet and was now wondering if they had mixed up the date, place or time. Eventually, he went walkabout on the roof and just after 19:00 he called twice and flew off into the park. I was concerned that I hadn’t seen or heard the female – so it was out onto the back roof . . . and there she was under the top overhang???
On Thursday the female was back under the top overhang and the male flew directly out into the park from his roost on the window sill. No interaction at all! Yesterday evening, the female was on the lower roof early – moving to ‘her’ spot under the overhang just after 17:00. The male was around the corner on one of the window sills, and both birds were preening intensively as a result them moulting heavily. Just after 19:00, the male called once, . . . the female answered . . . and the male simply flew past her out into the park in front of the Centre ??? These guys need ‘counselling’.
Male owl
By Geoff Lockwood
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