When I
heard the great horned owls hooting in the distance, I knew why things had
been so quiet for the last two nights. There are no loud greetings for
food deliveries when these deadly visitors are in the area. Instead, Ward
is more likely to bring his catch to a well hidden perch, such as this
one, and wail softly for
June to come out and get it. 
When June
hears this call, she knows it means food and flies quietly out to pick it
up. There are no frantic duets under these conditions -- she just accepts
the prey and returns quietly to the nest. Ward even delayed his final
delivery until after sunrise this morning to reduce the chances of a fatal
encounter with one of these intruders. June is shown here as she returned
to the nest after accepting the delivery. Great horned owls prefer less
heavily wooded areas than Ward and June's territory and usually go away
after a few days. Until they do; I don't expect to hear much noise around
the nest box. Her recognition of the seriousness of the situation also
explains her lack of complaining during the day.