Wally and Theodore visited their old neighborhood today for the first time in more than thirty days. Their loud wheezing was accompanied by the squawking of blue jays as they arrived at about 8:30pm. They spent the next fifteen minutes flying from tree to tree where they perched briefly and "pretended" to hunt by scanning the ground for prey. They were making so much noise and moving so often that no self respecting rodent would have ventured into striking distance. While their voices and vocabulary have not changed, they have grown to look much more like adults. They are as large as adults and now have distinct vertical stripes on their chests as adults do. Their faces and heads, however, are still a bit "fuzzy" and lack the distinct, tight patterns of an adult. Their continued dependence on their parents was confirmed when Ward's wailing call signaled his arrival with food much later in the evening.
Since it was
far too dark to get pictures of Wally and Theodore, I will use the excuse to display a
picture of another rare visitor. I photographed this Pileated Woodpecker in late June as
it searched for ants in a tree about fifty feet from the owl's nest box. I have been
trying to get it to nest in my yard for about five years, but its nest box remains vacant.
Perhaps it is for the best, as it would not be safe for them to live in such close
proximity to Ward and June's nest.
Back To: Summer 1998