A great (horned owl) lady on the nest

Finding a Great Horned Owl on the nest is one of the great quests each winter. Not only is it great fun to find one, but these magnificent birds can be very patient nest-sitters and provide wonderful photo opportunities. There's nothing more fun on a cold day, when the other birds are absent, than to visit a Great Horned's nest to see the female patiently staring with those yellow eyes.

My schedule this winter has been challenging with my dad's hospitalization and a full workload so my birding buddy, Terri Underhill, and I just haven't had much time to spend searching for an owl's nest. There is no easy way to say this -- my father passed away February 15th and I was more than ready this week to chase birds to lift my head and heart from the saddness. So Terri and I headed out on Thursday just to see what might be floating on the water or perching in a tree. It was one of those "just because" birding trips. And to our absolute delight we were heading home when we heard four crows sounding very upset and swooping around a tree at Lake Overholser in western Oklahoma City. A close look at the tree revealed a beautiful Great Horned Owl in a cavity -- the first cavity nesting Great Horned Owl I've ever seen! Its mate created a diversion to lure the crows away from the nest and we were able to get a few photos of the bird "in the hole." From the looks of this photo, the bird is really wedged in there. It appears her body is across the left side of the hole?

Great Horned Owls are early nesters, usually starting in January after finding an abandoned hawk or crow nest. They incubate the eggs (usually a pair) for four weeks which means this owl could have hatchlings very soon. In 2003, I found a discarded, empty egg under a Great Horned Owl's nest on March 11th. That nest produced two owlets -- one was later found dead, perhaps having been pushed from the nest, the other survived. I was able to photograph the young bird on one of its last fledgling days.

And so Terri and I have a project to keep us busy for the next 4-6 weeks -- owl watching!! It will be fascinating to see how the owl family handles life in rather cramped quarters in the tree cavity. I'd enjoy hearing from others who have experienced the Great Horned Owl nesting experience! Is cavity nesting at all common? Does it influence the success of nesting? This expectant nest watcher would like to know!

A White-winged Dove winter

What causes shifts in bird populations from season to season? I know that extremely cold weather brings the Harris's Sparrows to my backyard feeders. An occasional White-crowned Sparrow will also show up when the food is scarce because of snow cover. This winter has been unusually warm and dry, creating conditions for wildfires across Oklahoma. How has this shift in weather affected the birds in my yard? Well, the Harris's are a rare sighting and I haven't seen any unusual sparrows. The American Goldfinch numbers are way down, due in part (my theory) to the abundance of dried seed-bearing wildflowers still standing in nearby fields. The exciting news, however, is the significant increase in White-winged Doves in my backyard! The appearance of this favorite bird has increased from numbers as small as one-a-day to more than 20 at one time. It's been several years since I've seen that many of this rare dove in the yard. Their numbers decreased last year in direct proportion to the increase in the number of Eurasian Collared-Doves at the feeders. Now, I'm happy to see their return in such significant numbers while the Collared-Dove numbers are still high (more than 20 at a time).

The White-winged Dove is native to the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas and is a rare sighting in Oklahoma. In Texas the White-wings migrate to Mexico during the winter months. The ones that are resident to Oklahoma are very gregarious and appear to fare well in Oklahoma's winter weather. With the mild weather we had in January, perhaps conditions are even more favorable for them. The White-winged Doves show up first thing in the morning but are easily spooked by the Sharp-shinned Hawks. In the afternoon though, they are usually seen feed on BirdCam #2 from 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Visit the Backyard BirdCam in the afternoon (Central Time) and enjoy watching these beautiful birds!