June remained in her territory throughout the summer; but there has been no sign of Ward
since the fisher attack. June appears to be troubled by Ward's
disappearance and has spent many nights circling the boundaries of her
territory while calling with her classic hoot for hours at a time. The
classic hoot is her primary contact call and she expects an answer to come in a
matter of minutes. There were no answers this summer, and there is no way
to know what might have happened to Ward. The lack of a response has not
discouraged June and she continues to call in the night. She did not,
however, visit the nest box even
once during the summer. Only time will tell if Ward will return
before the spring nesting season, or if June will find a new mate. I will report on any future developments.
This picture of Ward and June was taken in their first nesting year and is
still my favorite
June's persistence has inspired me to look for ways to make the nest box a safer place to raise owlets in future years. Because the fisher can reach the nest box tree through the upper canopies of several large nearby trees, I am conceding that I cannot keep it from getting into the tree. My efforts are therefore focused on changing the design of the nest box itself to prevent the fisher from reaching the doorway after arriving on the tree trunk next to the box. The new box should be completed before the end of November and pictures will be posted after it is installed. I am also installing night vision cameras that will allow me to monitor activities both inside and outside the nest box in total darkness. The inside camera is now being tested and has already revealed two nocturnal visitors that I had never seen in the area before. Check out the "Night Vision" link below to see them.
I have recently reviewed a six-hour tape that was recorded the night that the first owlet was lost, and have updated the May 17, 2003 OwlCam entry with what I learned. Click the doorway of the empty box on that page to see the update.
Finally, I am developing an OwlCam DVD that will allow others to see the owls in their full glory as I have seen them on my TV monitors over the years. It will be a feature-length DVD that will tell the story of a complete nesting season and will include the full-motion, full-resolution versions of many of the more spectacular scenes that I have previously described with narratives and still images. I hope to complete the DVD before next spring and will announce it's availability through the OwlCam Home Page.