After
almost continuous feedings last night, there were no food deliveries
during daylight today. While Penelope took it calmly, Spencer resorted to
desperate measures. The extent of his hunger became apparent as he sat in
the doorway at 7pm and opened his mouth wide as if to expel a pellet. What
came out, however, was clearly not a pellet. It was a square piece of wood
about three inches long which had been on the nest box floor. He had eaten
the piece of wood that can be seen just as it leaves his mouth in this
picture. While owls are known to eat some strange things, I would
have expected even Spencer to be more selective than this. It's a good
thing that there was nothing more dangerous to be found in the nest box.
Penelope
made great progress today by spending more than two hours perched in the
doorway. She is now able to leap into the doorway with ease, and even
forced herself in next to Spencer on a couple of occasions. June made only
one daylight trip to the nest box today, and that prompted both of the
owlets to scramble into the doorway where June preened them for almost ten
minutes. The picture on the right was taken much later as the owlets sat
waiting for a food delivery just before darkness. Both of them now appear
to have the climbing and perching skills needed to survive outside the nest,
and I would be quite surprised if they remained in the nest for another 24
hours. The heavy feeding has resumed again tonight with June entering the
nest twice to rip up large prey items for the wildly wheezing owlets.