12 November 2023
Situation_the ‘new’ normal.
Cyn and I got back on Friday from a magical trip to Ecuador where we joined long-time birding friends Jorg and Celseta for an incredible 18 days of Neo-tropical birding at its best. I took over 5000 photographs and will be posting extensively about the trip – but, back to the owls.
Once I had caught up with what had been happening at the Centre, I went out onto the roof to see how the chicks had fared during my absence. The female was back in one of her favourite roosts in the Cabbage Tree, but the male was in the Tea Garden with the three chicks. They were all looking well, but later that evening they started their wheezy begging calls around 17:00. They were obviously hungry, and when the male flew up to join them on the roof, one of the chicks ‘mugged’ him, almost knocking him off his perch in an effort to get food.
Saturday evening was fortunately better, with no early begging from the chicks, and they seemed to have at least eaten well the previous evening. It is concerning however that the female is again distancing herself from the chicks and may not be helping the male to provide food. Here’s hoping that all goes well!
By Geoff Lockwood