Owls
In The Park
Observations - 2009, February
Early February - occasional sightings, one death
As for January, I only managed to get into the park early evenings - about as far as the Stone Bridge. but I was checking some of their usual haunts from time to time, as well as scouting out possible habitat for the Eastern pair.
At the Bridge I did hear multiple calls one day and actually saw two owls flying around together, calling on another occasion. I will add in more details at a later date (if ongoing owl activities leave me any time).
On the 14th I had news of a death. Some time in the previous week Park workers found a dead Barred Owl near Prospect Point. The body was passed on to the Ecology Society. It was not banded - so it is not the young owl released in the area lat last Summer. No obvious cause of death was determined. It could have been one of the Northern Territory pair (but they have since been sighted), but was most likely a "floater" from another area.
On the 21st the Ecology Society presented a "Stanley Park Owl Prowl" with Al Grass. This was an indoor presentation on the owls of British Columbia followed by a prowl to Beaver Lake. It was fully booked and very informative. Unfortunately no owls presented themselves during the prowl. Given that this is the heart of the Eastern pair's territory, we had high hopes of a Barred Owl sighting.
February 27 - nesting under way?
Just after sunset today I heard a couple of single "who" calls from a trail in the eastern/central area of the Southern pair's territory. The source was so close that I could quickly locate them and then observed them grooming each other. Then one of the owls flew a short distance south towards a blow-down area, prior to flying further away and out of sight. The remaining owl then flew north-west to a large tree with a fork and disappeared into a (presumed) cavity. It made a few appearances in the fork before the light finally failed and I could no longer see it.
If this is the southern pair then they have moved quite a distance from last year's nest site which was towards the west of their territory.
It is possible that the calls I head were made by the male to inform his mate that he was nearby, thus enticing her to meet for the grooming. It is also possible that I missed an exchange of food - typically the male brings food in such circumstances.
February 28 - more activity at the Southern site.
Being a Saturday, I was able to get out late morning to have a look around the potential new nest site. It is in a well travelled area, so I do have some concerns about the birds safety (I will not reveal the site here). I did not see activity at the nest tree, but I did hear crows nearby - leading me to an owl in a nearby clearing. This area is one of many in the park where people feed peanuts to squirrels (and crows). The owl was being mobbed by the crows (some even made contact). After a while the owl flew a short distance away and waited for the crows to leave. Though, first it chased one crow - the only crow that had picked up a peanut!
The crows did leave and the owl returned to the clearing and began watching squirrels (the crows returned occasionally, at first). Over the next couple of hours several people came by, including a nature tour. During this time the owl made occasional swoops on Douglas Squirrels - including at least one classic scenario whereby the squirrel would spiral round (usually down) a tree while the owl flew in a matching spiral. It did not chase any of the Grey Squirrels present.
A while later, standing near a tree with peanut shells at its base I watched (with 2 human visitors) while a grey squirrel climbed the tree immediately below the owl and they just stared at each other. Shortly after that another grey appeared on the tree just at my right. The owl watched it but did nothing. However, when a douglas did the same thing the owl immediately flew towards us. It passed the tree on the other side and they then both spiralled down with the owl almost touching me from somewhere behind. The squirrel had disappeared into a hole at the base of the tree. At no time did any of us feel threatened by the owl, which then flew into another tree.
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I returned to the site in the evening (just before sunset) to find one owl sitting at the cavity entrance. Shortly after sunset it flew to a branch of the tree just in front of the cavity and about ten minutes later flew over my head and into a dark tree. Some time later there was a full call of "who cooks for you" from that area and soon after the owl flew further away.
A further set of two single "whos" led me to an owl (probably the mate, not the one I had just watched). Now in darkness I watched this owl for a while until we were both distracted by something of the trail behind and to my right. From the sounds I just assumed it to be a racoon or such making its way through the bush. The I caught sight of something in the water under the bushes - it was the other owl bathing...
This owl (probably the female I had seen earlier leaving the cavity) finished its leisurely bathing then flew past me to join its mate. They sat on opposite sides of the trail for awhile before one flew back past me in the direction of the cavity tree. I did see an owl above the back of the "pool" - this owl did not look wet - the male? The light had now failed completely, so I left the owls to begin their "day" in peace.
It would be interesting to keep a watch on the nest location from last year for the Southern pair - at the same time of day (evening). This would let us determine if it is indeed the same pair. If there is activity at that (old) site, then we may have a 4th breeding pair in the park. I believe this to be unlikely, but then the books all say that there is only room for one breeding pair in an area the sixe of Stanley Park.