Good and not so good.

The first owlet of 2012 hatched on Thursday, April 12.  My best guess, based on her behavior during the day, is that it was late morning and that she was feeding it by mid-afternoon.  Unfortunately, the other two eggs have not hatched as of this morning (Sunday) and they should have done so.  That may mean that they are not going to hatch.  Was the squirrel surprise to blame?  Or something else?  We may never know.

Anyway, one owlet appears very healthy.  Papa is providing a lot of food.  Momma had 3 mice cached for the hatching on Thursday (did she know it was going to happen??).  Papa brought her a 4th early in the evening.  As any of you who have been watching during the day (especially Saturday) know, there are a lot of flies attracted to the nest box.  Last night (Saturday/Sunday) Papa brought her one mouse early (11:28 p.m.) which she took but she sent him away when he arrived with more mice at 12:05 and again at 2:33.  She must know that if she keeps too many, they will just attract more flies.  She ate quite a bit herself and of course fed the young one throughout the night so the "cache" has been reduced a bit.

Here is a view of the owlet when she flew at 5:40 this morning (Sunday).