 Ward
has been staying close to the nest as he waits for June's return, but
there has been no sign of her. By this time last year, they were
exchanging calls during the days and June was making frequent housekeeping
visits at night. No such visits have occurred this year. Ward is show here
as he prepares to go after a chipmunk that was scampering through the snow
beneath his perch. The chipmunk got away, but Ward's willingness to hunt
in daylight shows that prey is still scarce in the territory. This may
well account for June's continued absence and might even prevent them from
nesting this year. While barred owls nest in most years, they will
sometimes skip a year when there is not enough food to support a family.
Ward is, however, a very experienced hunter with a good territory and it
is still possible that the severe winter will only delay nesting by a week
or so. |
Later
in the day, this black squirrel caught Ward's attention. Black
squirrels are extremely rare in this area, and it is quite possible that
he had never seen one before. He watched curiously for almost thirty minutes, but
made no attempt to go after it; and may not have even recognized it as
prey. Let's hope that the black squirrel does not prove to be an omen of
bad luck. Ward has not hooted for two weeks and is starting to look
a bit lonely without June.